Bursting on the Scene
Portland State nearly upsets Pac-12 champs, football heads to Sacramento on three-game winning streak
Portland State’s new-look men’s basketball team led Pac-12 champion Oregon State by 11 points with 13 minutes to play in Tuesday’s season-opening game in Corvallis.
The Viks went cold down the stretch, making just five of their final 19 shots, including a scoreless stretch of more than three minutes to surrender their lead, eventually losing, 73-64.
The Viks had 17 turnovers that led to 17 points for the Beavs and missed five of seven free throws in the last seven minutes of the game.
Vikings head coach Jase Coburn kept a lot close to the chest before the game started. He was purposely vague when talking this summer about his preferred style of play. He hadn’t hinted at a starting five. We knew he and his staff — all but one in their first year on the Park Blocks — brought in a ton of talent but we didn’t know exactly how it would translate to this level or even how much each individual would play.
We knew names and numbers and that the new coach has a literal and figurative hunger to outwork the opposition.
We saw Tuesday that his team plays pretty hungry, too.
While there’s still a small sample size, Coburn ran a pretty short bench, playing eight total players with seven getting the bulk of the rotation. The Viks can still play tough defense and their shooting looks better than last season.
“I'm really proud of this team,” Coburn said to GoViks.com after the game. “This group has a really competitive spirit. They competed the whole game, we just had one rough stretch where they went on a run. We needed stops and didn't get them.”
Khalid Thomas finished with 16 points and James Jean-Marie had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
We’ll see if the Viks get deeper into the bench this week in games against NAIA-level Evergreen State and Division III-level George Fox.
The Portland State women made a statement against Warner Pacific, overcoming a slow start to rout the Knights 87-64 at the Viking Pavilion.
Freshman point guard Esmeralda Morales went off, hitting a school record eight 3-pointers to finish with 32 points, the most ever by a Viking freshman. She shot 71% from the field and 72% from 3.
“She's an exciting player,” Viks coach Chelsey Gregg said after the game.
“She's special, and I think the most special thing about Esme is that she just wants to keep getting better. She's a competitor. She's bought in. She wants to be a great teammate, and she wants to be the leader that she is.
"She joked around a bit after a couple of bank shots, about that touch and clean living. But she's a special player to watch."
Trailing 33-29 midway through the second quarter, the Viks closed the half on a 19-3 run. PSU led by as much as 25 points in the fourth quarter on the way to the easy win.
Three other players scored in double digits for the Viks, freshmen Alaya Fitzgerald and Rheme Ogele and senior Savannah Dhaliwal, who was playing her first game in three seasons after sitting out the last two with a knee injury.
Portland State will host Dixie State on Friday before heading to Hawaii for a pair of games next weekend.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’
Portland State football has won three straight games and is playing as confident as ever.
“Winning solves everything,” coach Bruce Barnum said on Tuesday.
The Viks (5-4 overall, 4-2 Big Sky), who just toppled No. 24 Weber State, will square off with the hottest team in the conference this weekend, traveling to No. 12 Sacramento State (7-2, 6-0) on Saturday.
The Hornets have been solid all around this season, fielding a top-four offense and defense in the conference.
Quarterback Jake Dunniway has been one of the most efficient signal-callers in the conference, completing 63% of his passes this season, and the Hornets offensive line has allowed the fewest sacks in the Big Sky this season despite passing more than any team outside of EWU.
That should be a good matchup with Portland State’s defense, which has lived in the backfield the last few weeks and is second in the Big Sky in sacks, led by defensive player of the year candidate VJ Malo, who has 10.5 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss and has forced three fumbles this season.
The Hornets haven’t lost since dropping two of their first three games of the season, reeling off six straight wins, including an impressive 28-21 victory at No. 9 Montana.
A win keeps the playoff hopes alive for Portland State, which would still need to win against Eastern Washington next week to have a chance at an at-large bid.
AROUND THE BIG SKY
Speaking of the Eagles, No. 7 EWU gets another challenge this week, playing at No. 6 UC Davis in a clash of Big Sky titans this weekend.
The Eagles, once flying high at No. 2 in the country after winning their first seven games and putting up video game numbers on offense, have lost their last two games and are trending in the wrong direction as the season draws to a close.
UCD has won its last three games handily since its confusing loss at Idaho State and could give itself a chance at playing for a Big Sky title the final week of the season with a win.
Both Montana State and Sacramento State can claim at least a share of the conference title with a win this weekend.
Saturday, Nov. 13
No. 9 Montana (7-2, 4-2) at Northern Arizona (4-5, 3-3), Noon PT (ESPN+)
Idaho (3-6, 2-4) at No. 3 Montana State (8-1, 6-0), Noon (ESPN+)
Weber State (4-5, 3-3) at Southern Utah (1-9, 0-7), 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Idaho State (1-8, 1-5) at Cal Poly (1-8, 0-6), 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 7 Eastern Washington (7-2, 4-2) at No. 6 UC Davis (8-1, 5-1), 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
Portland State (5-4, 4-2) at No. 12 Sacramento State (7-2, 6-0), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
The football team isn’t the only group of Vikings making its way to Sacramento for a big event.
The cross country team has sent 20 athletes to the NCAA West Regionals at Haggin Oaks Golf Club in California’s state capital for a chance to advance to the national championships on Nov. 20 in Tallahassee, Florida.
Katie Camarena and Jordan MacIntosh have come up big in the big races for the Viks this season, each setting school records at the Big Sky championships.
The women’s 6-kilometer race leads off the racing at 10 a.m. on Friday followed by the men’s 10-kilometer at 11 a.m.
TITLE IN SIGHTS
The Viks volleyball team (11-3 Big Sky) moved back into a share for first place and can lock up its first regular season title since 2013 with a sweep of Montana State (9-5) and Montana (6-8) this weekend.
PSU beat both earlier this year in Montana, edging out a 3-2 win in Missoula and cruising to a 3-1 win in Bozeman.
If the Viks win both, they would be promised at least a share of the Big Sky title with Weber State and Northern Colorado, with each team currently 11-3 in conference.
Weber, which has lost three of its last four matches, hosts Northern Arizona (9-5) and Southern Utah (2-12) on the deciding weekend. UNC has won four straight, including a win over Weber last weekend, is on the road at Eastern Washington (7-8) and Idaho (2-13).
Thanks for reading Big Sky Valhalla. Subscribe to the free newsletter for new content on Sundays and Wednesdays.