Flagstaff, AZ – Once the Vikings found the handle on the ball it was business as usual as Portland State defeated Northern Arizona, 77-68, at Walkup Skydome. It was the sixth consecutive road victory for the Vikings, setting a new school record.
 
The only thing stopping the Vikings in the first half was turnovers. PSU started 4-5 from the field, but over the same span had eight turnovers. An early 7-3 lead was quickly turned into a 16-9 deficit. NAU's lead was up to 10 points on three occasions before the Lumberjacks settled for a 32-29 halftime lead.
 
The Vikings were 12-21 from the field (.571) but had 10 turnovers at the break. NAU was 13-27 (.481) with only six turnovers.
 
When it the second half started it became Miller Time. Vikings senior forward Terri Miller Jr. scored inside on the Vikings first possession, then hit a transition three-pointer on the next possession. Miller assisted on a driving layin by Jaylin Henderson, then hit another three-pointer and it was 39-32 Vikings just a few minutes into the half.
 
The game remained close as Northern Arizona came back to tie it at 53-53 midway through the half. That is when the Vikings relied on their senior stars, Miller, Henderson and Tre-Vaughn Minott to carry them down the stretch. PSU got the lead to double digits on a handful of occasions before settling for the nine-point win.
 
Those three combined for 65 of the Vikings' 77 points in the game. Miller had 27 points on 9-15 from the field and 7-9 at the line. Henderson had 24 points on 9-12 from the field and 6-7 at the line. And Minott had 14 points, hitting all four field goal attempts and 6-7 at the line.
 
In fact, when the Vikings stopped turning the ball over, about all they did was make shots. PSU was 26-42 from the field in the game, a season-best .619 shooting percentage. The key was getting inside as they scored 42 points in the paint, and drew a number of fouls leading to a 22-27 free throw effort (.815).
 
 "NAU played their butts off tonight. Give them a lot of credit," said Vikings Coach Jase Coburn. "But in the second half we starting playing Portland State basketball."
 
Portland State's win was its 17^th on the season as the Vikings move to 17-6 overall. They are 11-1 in Big Sky Conference games, giving them a three-game lead with six to play in the regular season over the second-place teams Montana and Montana State (both 8-4).
 
The sixth consecutive road win broke a PSU school record that dated all the way back to 1954 when the Vikings played NAIA basketball and won five in a row on the road. In addition, the six Big Sky road wins (6-0) has matched the most by a Viking team in a Big Sky season (6-2 in 2007-08).
 
Northern Arizona entered the game having won three of its last five games. But the Lumberjacks' loss dropped to them to 9-17 overall, 3-10 in Big Sky games.
 
Diego Campisano scored 18 points for the Lumberjacks. Karl Poom came off the bench to score 21 points with six rebounds.
 

GAME NOTES

• Portland State won the rebound battle 30-24. Terri Miller Jr. had a game-high seven boards, while Tre-Vaughn Minott and Keyon Kensie Jr. each had six.
• Terri Miller Jr., who leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring (19.8), had his 11^th 20-point game of the season... Jaylin Henderson now has eight 20-point games this season.
• PSU is now 8-4 on the road this season.
• The Vikings swept the season series from Northern Arizona. PSU beat the 'Jacks, 63-52, on Jan. 17 in Portland… the Vikings have won nine of the last 10 games in the series.
• Portland State will play at Northern Colorado on Saturday. That game tips off at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT and can be seen on ESPN+.