PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (17-6, 11-1) at
NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (16-10, 6-7)

Sat., Feb. 14, 2026, 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT • Bank of Colorado Arena (2,734), Greeley, CO
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: https://uncbears.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 

OPENING TIP

Since the first of January, the Portland State Vikings have been nearly perfect winning 11 of 12 games. In fact, on the road they have been perfect, going 6-0 and setting a new PSU record for consecutive road wins. That streak will be tested in a big way on Saturday as the Vikings take on a team even hotter than they are; the Northern Colorado Bears. Portland State takes a four-game overall winning streak to Greeley, CO to face a Bears team that has won its last five games in what promises to be an exciting Big Sky Conference contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
     
Portland State (17-6, 11-1) set that new Park Blocks standard on Thursday night, winning at Northern Arizona, 77-68. SR F Terri Miller Jr. and SR G Jaylin Henderson combined for 51 points as the Vikings shot a remarkable .619 from the field and .815 from the free throw line.
     
The win marked a sixth Big Sky road win in a row in what is becoming one of the great seasons in PSU's Big Sky history (30th season). PSU now has a three-game lead in the standings with six games remaining to be played in the regular season. The Viking program has not won a Big Sky regular season title since 2008, and has not won a Big Sky Tournament title since 2009.
     
PSU beat Northern Colorado, 76-73, on Jan. 15 at Viking Pavilion. The Bears were in the midst of a five-game losing streak at the time. Since then, Northern Colorado has turned it around, winning five in a row, including a 95-79 decision over Sacramento State on Thursday. UNC is 8-3 at home this season.
     
Like the Vikings, Northern Colorado has a trio of stars that lead the way: Quinn Denker, Brock Wisne and Zach Bloch. That group combines for 47 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists per game. Perhaps most significantly, they average nearly six three-point field goals per game among them.
     
The Bears are a dangerous offensive team, averaging a league-leading 83.2 points while shooting .493 from the field, .368 from three-point range and .755 at the line. They make 10.0 threes per game.
     
Can the Vikings make it seven in a row on the road this Saturday? If so, they will need to show the same offensive efficiency they had in Flagstaff.
 

COMING UP

The Vikings come home for a pair of games next week. On Thursday, PSU hosts Idaho in a 6 p.m. game at Viking Pavilion. That game will air nationally on ESPNU and locally on Rip City Radio, 620 AM.
     
On Saturday, the Vikings play Eastern Washington in a 2 p.m. game at Viking Pavilion.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHERN COLORADO

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 26-18, and the Big Sky Conference series, 22-18... the Vikings are 9-10 in Big Sky games played in Greeley... PSU has won the last two meetings, including one earlier this season, and three of the last four... the Vikings have lost three in a row in Greeley.
• EARLIER THIS SEASON: Jan. 15, 2025 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 76, UNC 73: PSU trailed 30-21 late in the first half but battled back to beat Northern Colorado. The Vikings closed the gap to 33-28 before intermission then continued a 13-2 run over into the second half. Portland State took its first lead at 36-35 with 15:54 left on an Alex Dupre jump shot. Northern Colorado tied the game five times over the next few minutes, but PSU never trailed again. The Vikings also never pulled away in the game, with the largest lead being seven points, and eked out the win in the final two minutes... Jaylin Henderson led the Vikings with 19 points and seven assists. Terri Miller Jr. scored 18 points with eight rebounds. Tre-Vaughn Minott had 17 points and seven rebounds... Quinn Denker scored 18 points with six assists for the Bears... PSU's 17 total turnovers were costly, allowing the Bears to score 26 points. But, the Vikings more than made up for it with inside play. They won the glass with a 38-23 edge, and scored 38 points in the paint to 24 for UNC... Portland State finished at .491 from the field while Northern Colorado shot .453.
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his fifth season as Head Coach. He spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach. Coburn's overall record is 79-70. He is 5-6 against Northern Colorado... the Bears are coached by Steve Smiley (Northern State, 2004) in his sixth season. Smiley is 103-80 overall, 7-6 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING THE BEARS

• Northern Colorado joined the Big Sky Conference in 2006-07. The Bears have won one Big Sky Championship, playing in the NCAA Tournament in 2011... the Bears were 25-10 last season, 15-3 and tied for first place in the Big Sky. They lost in the Big Sky Tournament Championship to Montana, but advanced to the NIT, losing to UC Irvine.
• This season, UNC is 16-10 overall, 6-7 and fifth place in the Big Sky Conference. The Bears average a league-leading 83.2 points per game and allow 77.2 points. They shoot .493 from the field, .368 from three-point range and .755 at the line. They also have a +5.4 rebounding margin... UNC leads the Big Sky in scoring and assists.
• Senior guard Quinn Denker averages 18.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game. He leads the Big Sky in assists... senior forward Brock Wisne averages 16.3 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting .581 from the field... senior guard Zach Bloch is averaging 12.3 points and has made a league-leading 81 three-pointers at a .440 clip.

 

HOT SHOTS

• WINNING: PSU's six straight road wins establishes a new school record. It breaks a mark of five set between Jan. 21 and Feb. 15, 1954! (the Vikings longest Big Sky road winning streak is nine games and stretched over two seasons - 2008 and 2009)... This season Portland State reached 7-0 in league play for the first time in its Big Sky history (30th year). The Vikings had gotten to 4-0 twice previously (1997-98, 2004-05)... the Vikings' win at Eastern Washington (1/22) was its first at Reese Court since 2014-15. PSU had lost nine straight in that venue... PSU won its fifth straight game over Northern Arizona (2/12) and ninth in 10 meetings.
• SWEEPING: Portland State has now swept season series' from Idaho State, Sacramento State and Northern Arizona.
• SHOOTING: Portland State shot a season-best .619 from the field in the win over Northern Arizona. SR G Jaylin Henderson was 9-12 from the field and SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott was 4-4.
• DEFENSIVE PRESENCE: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in six defensive categories: scoring defense (69.5), field goal percentage defense (.407), three-point percentage defense (.304), steals (7.7), rebounding margin (+5.6), turnovers forced (12.9)... in the current four-game winning streak, opponents have shot 82-213 (.385).
• BIG SKY CONFERENCE LEADERS: Speaking of leaders, Portland State also leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring margin (+8.9) and winning percentage (.739)... SR F Terri Miller Jr. leads the Big Sky in scoring (19.8), while SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads in rebounding (8.6).
• MILLER TIME: SR F Terri Miller Jr. has made the second half of games "Miller Time," particularly in Big Sky Conference play. Miller averages 14.9 points in the second half of Big Sky games compared to 7.4 points in the first half. He has been in double figures in 10 of 12 second halves... in addition, he comes up big when most needed. Trailing NAU by three at halftime on Thursday, Miller scored 19 of his game-high 27 after the break... leading by a single point at Eastern Washington (1/22), Miller scored seven points with a blocked shot and an assist in the final 1:47 of the game, leading the Vikings to a 65-61 win... with SR G Jaylin Henderson on the bench with foul trouble for most of the second half at Idaho (1/24), Miller scored 20 of his game-high 29 points in a 69-66 win... in a win over Montana State (1/31), Miller scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half... earlier this season, Miller hit a three-pointer at Idaho State (1/3) with three seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime and an eventual Viking win. He had 19 points in the second half of that game... Miller also had 19 points in the second half of a win at Weber State (1/1)... Miller scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half of a road win at Sacramento State (2/7)... He was Big Sky Player of the Week on Jan. 27. 
• IRON MAN: Earlier this season, SR G Jaylin Henderson had a stretch of eight straight complete games (330 consecutive minutes) before having to sit down in the second half at Idaho (1/24) due to foul problems. His total stretch of consecutive minutes played was 354. He leads the Big Sky in minutes (36.7) and ranks seventh in the nation.
• DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott broke his own school record for dunks in a season and has set a new school record for dunks in a career. Minott now has 53 dunks (previous record, 44). He has 100 career dunks, passing Scott Morrison (91) for that record... Minott's 53 dunks account for more than half of his field goals (103). Not surprisingly, he shoots .660 from the field.
• CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: Portland State has been dominant on the boards this season.  The Vikings have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 5.6 per game... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads the Big Sky with 8.6 rebounds per game. JR G Keyon Kensie Jr. ranks third at 7.3 per game.
• TRENDING: Portland State is undefeated when leading at halftime (12-0) and scoring 80 or more points (8-0)... the Vikings are 13-1 when out-rebounding opponents, 16-1 when out-shooting an opponent.
• MORE GOOD STUFF THAT DOESN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE: SO G Kelcy Phipps is shooting .706 (24-34) from the field in Big Sky Conference games, .600 from three-point range (9-15).... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott ranks sixth all-time in blocked shots (88), second all-time in field goal percentage (.647) and first in dunks (100) at Portland State... And speaking of shooting, JR F Charles Chukwu is 14-17 from the field this season (.824). Throw in his 30-game career at Tulsa a couple of seasons ago and Chukwu is a remarkable 30-40 from the field (.750) as a Division I player.
• STRANGE BUT TRUE: Although they are 17-6, the Vikings have led at halftime in only 12 games (12-0) while trailing 11 times (5-6).

 

NEW VIKING RECORDS

• Best undefeated start in Big Sky Conference Play: 7-0 (previous 4-0, twice)
• Consecutive Road Wins, Overall: 6, Jan. 1-Feb. 12, 2026 (previous 5, 1954-55)
• Consecutive Big Sky Conference Home Wins: 15, 2/15/2024 to Jan. 17, 2026 (tied)
• Most Dunks, Season: 53, Tre-Vaughn Minott (previous 44, Tre-Vaughn Minott, 2024-25)
• Most Dunks, Career: 100, Tre-Vaughn Minott (previous 91, Scott Morrison, 2005-09)
• Most Rebounds, Big Sky Conference Game: 20, Tre-Vaughn Minott (tied, Cameron Forte, 2016)