Portland State pulls away from Idaho in second half to win 74-58

MOSCOW, Idaho – Challenged to match Portland State’s energy throughout Saturday, Idaho battled the Vikings to a first-half standoff and took a 30-27 lead into halftime.

But with 13 minutes and 55 seconds to play and Idaho’s leading scorer and lockdown interior defender Isaac Jones on the bench getting an ankle taped, the tone changed. The Vikings’ Isaiah Johnson put PSU in front with a reverse layup and drove the lane on the next possession, drawing a foul from Michael Hanshaw and hitting a pair of free throws. The four-point flurry gave the Vikings a 42-39 lead they expanded the rest of the way in a 74-58 win.

With 2:30 left, Idaho’s Divant’e Moffitt flipped in a shot in the lane through traffic to cut the deficit to 67-58. After forcing overtime Thursday against Sacramento State after trailing by four points with 10 seconds left, Jones said the Vandals remained hopeful against Portland State almost to the end.

“I felt like it all the way until there was a minute left,” Jones said. “You don’t want to give up. Fight. That’s what we do.”

Nonetheless, Idaho has dropped five straight, including four Big Sky Conference games. Heading into their next game at Eastern Washington on Saturday, the Vandals are struggling at 6-11, 0-4. Portland State improved to 7-9, 1-2.

“We lost four in a row now,” Jones said. “We’re going to come together. Practice harder. Get some extra shots up.”

Vandals coach Zac Claus seconded that.

“We’ve got to pick up our collective spirits right now,” Claus said. “We are in a game, a profession, where you are measured every time you go out. We have got to regroup, have a great week of practice and take our best to Cheney Saturday.”

Claus and Jones said the Vandals didn’t suffer a letdown from the Sacramento State game. But Idaho had difficulty matching Portland State’s pace, especially as the Vikings made a concerted effort to pick up early on defense, and PSU shot well all afternoon. Led by Cameron Parker with 18 points, Jorell Saterfield with 13 and Johnson with 10, the Vikings connected on 26 of 50 attempts from the floor, including 9 of 14 on 3-pointers.

“That’s a pretty good shooting night,” Jones said.

Jones led the Vandals with 17 points, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, had three assists and blocked a shot.

Moffitt followed with 13 points, and Yusef Salih added 12, hitting 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.

PSU harried the Vandals into 13 turnovers, and made good on many of them.

“They scored 23 points off turnovers,” Claus said. “When we allow them to play downhill, it makes them incredibly dangerous.”

Claus said the Vikings are known for picking up early on defense .

“We got as many quality looks as we could,” Claus said. “We did a good job of penetrating, looking for one another, making passes. But we have to shoot better.”

Idaho shot 21 of 53 from the field (39.6%) and 6 of 26 on 3-point attempts (23.1%).

“Our guys got a bunch of good looks, Claus said. “The ball will find its way to the bottom of the hoop. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.”