PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (18-8, 12-3) at
MONTANA STATE BOBCATS (15-13, 9-6)

Thurs., Feb. 26, 2026, 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT • Worthington Arena (6,772), Bozeman, MT
Television/Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: www.ViksLive.livestats.us
 

OPENING TIP

The Portland State Vikings have earned the hot fudge sundae of the Big Sky Conference season, capturing a share of the league title with three games remaining to be played. Now, they seek to put a cherry on top of that sundae with one more win on Thursday at second-place Montana State. The Vikings (12-3) hold a three-game lead in the conference standings over second-place MSU and Eastern Washington (9-6). A single win by PSU and/or loss by those two teams gives the Viking program the outright league championship heading to the Big Sky Conference Tournament, Mar. 7-11 in Boise, ID.
     
Portland State earned a share of its first regular-season league title for the first time in 18 years on Saturday. The Vikings lost a game to Eastern Washington, but Montana State also lost at Idaho State, keeping PSU's first-place lead at three games with three to play.
     
Portland State is in its 30th season as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The Viking program has now won regular season titles in 2005, 2008 and 2026. They have won Big Sky Tournament titles in 2008 and 2009, advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
     
Earning the outright title is job one for the Vikings and they want to do it at Montana State (though it could occur on any of the final three league dates - Thursday, Saturday or Monday). Portland State defeated the Bobcats in Portland, 63-54, on Jan. 31. The Bobcats have gone 2-3 since that time, while the Vikings have gone 4-2.
     
Montana State is 9-2 at home this season. Portland State is 8-5 on the road, including 6-1 in Big Sky road games. Another Big Sky road win would set a new record for the PSU program. PSU's best Big Sky road record is 6-2 in 2007-08.
     
Although the Vikings have earned a share of the Big Sky regular season championship, they come off a 67-55 loss to Eastern Washington. It was their poorest shooting (.311) and scoring effort of the season. PSU has lost two of last three games while shooting .383 and .311 in the losses. Re-igniting the offense will be key to PSU's stretch run and Big Sky Tournament hopes.
     
Montana State (15-13/9-6) is battling to maintain second place and earn a first-round bye in the Big Sky Tournament. The Bobcats have lost two in a row, three of four and five of their last seven. 
     
The Vikings and Bobcats tip off this Thursday at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT in Bozeman. The Vikings will play at Montana on Saturday, then close out the regular season at home on Mar. 2 against Weber State in Viking Pavilion. All games air on ESPN+. A live statistics link can be found at GoViks.com.
 

PORTLAND STATE'S BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

Big Sky Regular Season Championships
2004-05: 19-9/11-3 Big Sky (Head Coach Heath Schroyer)
  Lost Big Sky quarterfinal tournament game to Weber State
2007-08: 23-10/14-2 Big Sky (Head Coach Ken Bone)
  Beat Northern Arizona in Big Sky Championship, 67-51;
  #16 seed: Lost to Kansas (eventual national champion) in NCAA Tournament, 85-61 (Omaha)
2024-25: 18-8/12-3 Big Sky (Head Coach Jase Coburn)
  Three games remaining in regular season
 
Big Sky Tournament Championships
2007-08: 23-10/14-2 Big Sky (Head Coach Ken Bone)                     
  Beat Northern Arizona in Big Sky Championship, 67-51;
  #16 seed: Lost to Kansas (eventual national champion) in NCAA Tournament, 85-61 (Omaha)
2008-09: 23-10/11-5 Big Sky (Head Coach Ken Bone)         
  Beat Montana State in Big Sky Championship, 79-77;
  #13 seed: Lost to Xavier in NCAA Tournament, 77-59 (Boise)
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. MONTANA STATE

• ALL-TIME SERIES: Montana State leads the all-time series, 42-30, and the Big Sky series, 35-27.... Portland State is just 6-24 in Big Sky games played in Bozeman.... PSU has won the last two meetings, both in Portland... the Vikings' last win in Bozeman came in 2019-20, a stretch of six straight losses.
• EARLIER THIS SEASON: Jan 31, 2026 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 63, MSU 54: Behind a career-high 24 points from Keyon Kensie Jr. the Vikings won the battle for first place. The teams entered the contest one-two in the Big Sky Conference standings, PSU at 7-1, MSU at 7-2. The junior guard scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half as Portland State pulled away in a close game. Kensie was 9-16 from the field for the game, 6-8 in the second half, making all three three-point attempts and 3-4 free throws. He added six rebounds and career-highs of four assists and five steals. Perhaps as important as the points were Kensie's steals. He had four in the second half to help spark a sluggish offense. In all, the Vikings made 10 total steals that led to 16 fast break points... PSU's defense was vital to the win. The Vikings held MSU to a Division I opponent season-low shooting mark of 19-56 (.339). The Bobcats, who were averaging over 10 three-point field goals per game, made just 5-25 from behind the arc. They entered the game averaging 79.2 points and were held 25 points below that number... The Bobcats were led by Patrick McMahon and Jeremiah Davis with 16 points each
• COACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn (Arizona State, 2006) is in his fourth 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 80-72. He is 3-6 against Montana State... the Bobcats are coached by Matt Logie (Lehigh, 2003) in his third season. Logie is 47-49, including 2-3 against the Vikings.

 

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

• Montana State is an original member of the Big Sky Conference. The Bobcats have won five regular season Big Sky Championships, five Big Sky Tournament titles and made seven NCAA Tournament appearances... the Bobcats were 15-18 last season, 9-9 and fifth place in the Big Sky Conference.
• This season, Montana State is 15-13 overall, 9-6 and second place in the Big Sky Conference... the Bobcats average 77.8 points and allow 71.9 points per game. They also average 9.5 three-point field goals per game and commit a league-low 10.1 turnovers.
• Senior guard Jed Miller leads the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game. He shoots .400 from three-point range and .817 at the line. In addition, he leads the team in rebounding (5.4), assists (76) and steals (47). Miller ranks third in the Big Sky in three-pointers (2.7 pg), second in steals... senior forward Patrick McMahon averages 14.4 points and 4.6 rebounds... senior guard Davian Brown average 12.7 points and shoots .430 from three-point range.

 

HOT SHOTS

• WINNING: PSU's 18 wins currently ranks as seventh-most in the Big Sky Conference era (30 seasons)... the Vikings' 12 Big Sky wins ties for second-most in school history (PSU was 14-2 in 2007-08)... PSU's six straight road wins (Jan. 1-Feb. 12) established a new school record. It broke 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)... the six Big Sky road wins ties for most in a season (6-2 in 2007-08)... 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).
• SWEEPING: Portland State has swept season series from Idaho State, Sacramento State, Northern Arizona and Idaho.
• WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE: Last Thursday's game against Idaho had an attendance of 2,180, which is a new record for the eight-year old Viking Pavilion. It marked the sixth time that a game had 2,000+ fans, and broke the old mark of 2,077, set in 2019 in a win over Montana State. Three of the top 10 attendances in Viking Pavilion history have come this season... it is worth noting that PSU has had larger home crowds when hosting games at Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Garden/Moda Center. This was the largest crowd since PSU drew 4,113 at the Rose Garden on Mar. 12, 2008 for the Big Sky Tournament Championship game win over Northern Arizona, 67-51.
• DEFENSIVE PRESENCE: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in four defensive categories: scoring defense (69.5), field goal percentage defense (.407), three-point field goal percentage defense (.308), steals (7.5), and turnovers forced (12.6).
• BIG SKY CONFERENCE LEADERS: Speaking of leaders, Portland State also leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring margin (+7.3) and winning percentage (.696)... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott leads in rebounding (8.8) and double-doubles (8).
• 20+: SR F Terri Miller Jr. had his 12th 20-point game of the season against Eastern Washington. He averages 19.2 points to rank second in the Big Sky. It is currently the highest scoring average by a Viking in 10 seasons (Cameron Forte, 19.2, 2015-16).
• MILLER TIME: SR F Terri Miller Jr. has made the second half of games "Miller Time," particularly in Big Sky Conference play. Miller averages 13.8 points in the second half of Big Sky games compared to 7.1 points in the first half. He has been in double figures in 11 of 15 second halves... in addition, he comes up big when most needed. Trailing NAU (2/12) by three at halftime, Miller scored 19 of his game-high 27 after the break, leading to a nine-point win... 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 (37.0) and ranks ninth 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 55 dunks (previous record, 44). He has 102 career dunks, passing Scott Morrison (91) for that record... Minott's 55 dunks account for nearly half of his field goals (112). Not surprisingly, he shoots .651 from the field.
• TRENDING: Portland State is undefeated when leading at halftime (13-0) and scoring 80 or more points (8-0)... the Vikings are 14-1 when out-rebounding opponents, 17-1 when out-shooting an opponent.
• MORE GOOD STUFF THAT DOESN'T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE: SO G Kelcy Phipps is shooting .600 from the field in Big Sky Conference games, .524 from three-point range (11-21).... SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott ranks sixth all-time in blocked shots (90), second all-time in field goal percentage (.649) and first in dunks (102) 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 18-8, the Vikings have led at halftime in only 13 games (13-0) while trailing 13 times (5-8).