Boise, ID – Portland State leaned hard on its Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player and Terri Miller Jr. delivered. Miller turned in a career-high 31 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a blocked shot in leading the Vikings to an 85-78 Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal win over Idaho State at Idaho Central Arena.
 
Miller led the Vikings through the majority of the game, then running mate Jaylin Henderson (20 points) and defensive whiz Isaiah Williams (16 points, 6 steals) helped seal the contest in the closing moments. Portland State improved to 20-10 on the season and will advance to a Big Sky semifinal on Tuesday night against the winner of Monday's quarterfinal between Montana and Northern Colorado.
 
Nothing is easy and it's very hard to beat the same team three times in one season. Those are the cliches. But number-nine seeded Bengals proved them to be true, giving the top-seeded Vikings everything they had.
 
PSU led for nearly 35 minutes of the game, but only once got that above 10 points as the Bengals stayed in touch all night. Miller had three key bursts during the game that showed his bona fides as league MVP. They came at the start of each half, and during a key sequence with five minutes to play.
 
At the outset, Idaho State gave Miller the outside shot and he responded, hitting his first three three-point attempts in the game to put the Vikings on top. PSU led most of the half, but never by more than six.
 
The game was tied 36-36 at the break. Miller had 13 points by then. The Bengals used solid shooting and a balanced attack, hitting 12-24 from the field, 4-10 from distance and 8-10 at the line, to square the Vikings.
 
Miller got going again early in the second half, scoring nine points in a row and giving the Vikings their largest lead at that point, 48-40 with 14:55 to go. The Bengals roared back with seven straight points, trimming the margin to one.
 
The game was a dogfight after that.
 
PSU's lead was never above seven points until Miller got rolling again with 5:03 remaining. First, he scored on a driving hoop, then followed with another three-pointer. The 6-8 forward was fouled on PSU's next possession and made both free throws. Finally, Miller drew a double-team on the perimeter, but found a cutting Williams inside for an easy basket. Seven points and one assist for the MVP and suddenly the Vikings had their largest lead at 73-62 with just over three minutes left.
 
Unfortunately, Miller was called for a charging foul – his fifth – on a drive to the hoop on PSU's next possession. The Vikings would play without him the rest of the way.
 
With PSU still on top by 10, Idaho State had to resort to the fouling game and PSU responded by making 12-16 free throws down the stretch, 7-8 by Henderson.
 
The Vikings had plenty to overcome in the contest: the absence of Keyon Kensie Jr. due to injury, some subpar shooting early on, foul trouble on big man Tre-Vaughn Minott that limited him to 17 minutes, and the eventual loss of Miller. The Vikings ended the game with only two regular starters on the court. But they persevered.
 
"I'm really proud of the resilience of this group. I've said it all year," said Vikings Coach Jase Coburn. "We were in foul trouble and had to play a lineup down the stretch that we had never played before. Everyone accepted the challenge and it was a true team win."
 
Said Henderson: "Us, being in that situation, we gave our best effort and energy. Coach told us we would have adversity at some point in the game, and we hit that adversity, and I think we handled it really well."
 
"We missed Keyon out there. He is a big part of our success," said Miller. "At the end of the day, people had to step up, and they did and we got the job done."
 
When Miller was asked about his game, he said: "It was a physical battle. (Idaho State) played a hard game and I felt like I just took advantage of the opportunities I had. I just see what the defense gives, sometimes they double team, sometimes they don't. If it's a one-on-one, I'm going to take it. And if not, I'm going to kick it out to my teammates and trust them to make a play."
 
PSU shot 24-54 from the field (.444), 5-15 from three-point range (.333) and 32-48 at the free throw line. They had only four turnovers.
 
Idaho State's season ends at 13-20 overall. The Bengals were led by 20 points from Gus Etchison and 14 points and eight rebounds from Caleb Van De Griend.
 

GAME NOTES

• Lost in the hubbub of the victory and Miller's 31 points was the fact that he passed 1,000 points in his collegiate career. Miller now has 1,002 points, 947 at Portland State and 55 at Louisiana Tech… Miller's 31 points are the most all-time by a Viking in a Big Sky Tournament game. He scored 18 points in the second half... in two career Big Sky Tournament games, Miller has 48 points, 24 rebounds and seven assists.
• Isaiah Williams scored a season-high 16 points. Alex Dupre had nine points and four rebounds starting in place of Keyon Kensie Jr.
• There were 55 fouls called in the game and 76 free throws shot.
• Portland State swept the season series with Idaho State, winning 93-87 in Pocatello, and 88-65 in Portland.
• Portland State is now 15-19 all-time in Big Sky Tournament games, 7-10 all-time in quarterfinal round games and 4-0 all-time against Idaho State in the tournament… Head Coach Jase Coburn is 3-4 in Big Sky Tournament games.
• Tuesday's semifinal game will tip off at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT and can be seen on ESPNU.