Idaho upsets Portland State 80-70 for first Big Sky Tournament win since 2017

BOISE – Bolstered by a relentless defensive effort and a solid shooting performance, sixth-seeded Idaho defeated Portland State 80-70 in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament Tuesday night at Idaho Central Arena.

Idaho (14-18), which hadn’t won a game in the Big Sky tournament since 2017, advances to face No. 2 seed Montana in the semifinals Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. PDT. The Idaho victory also snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Vikings.

“This is another marker saying this program is moving forward,” second-year Idaho coach Alex Pribble said. “I know it’s moving forward watching the guys and the hard work they’re putting in every day. But it’s nice to have everyone else seeing it as well.”

After Portland State (19-13) put up a combined total of 108 points in the paint in two regular-season wins over Idaho, the Vikings struggled to find any sustained success near the basket and finished with just 28 points in the paint.

“We learned two hard lessons during the regular season against Portland State,” Pribble said. “They dominated us in the paint for two games in a row, so allowing them to pound it in the paint wasn’t going to be good for us.”

The Vandals responded well to Pribble’s challenge.

Portland State was held to 38 % shooting from the floor, while the Vandals shot 49 % and 34 % from 3-point range.

Idaho sophomore Jack Payne turned in one of his best performances in his first year with the program, scoring 20 points and grabbing seven rebounds in his first collegiate game in his hometown.

“This is a lot of fun,” said Payne, whose 20 points was his second-highest offensive output of the season. “My house is 10 blocks from here. It’s super cool being back and I love playing in that gym.”

“Jack has that real competitiveness and toughness, which is really what this team needs,” Pribble said. “He’s gonna go out and play and give the team everything he has.”

Idaho took control early, going on a 15-5 run to take an 18-8 lead near the midway point of the first half.

The Vikings stayed within striking distance before a 6-0 run to close out the half pushed Idaho’s lead to 34-20.

Idaho opened the second half like it closed the first, sparked by a 3-pointer by Payne. Before Portland State had a chance to catch its breath, Idaho led 39-20.

Trailing by 19 midway through the second half, Portland State deployed a full-court press to get back in the game.

And it worked – for one possession.

After forcing Idaho into one turnover and a timeout during one attempt to get the ball over half court, Portland State couldn’t duplicate the results again as Idaho were able to get a handful of easy transition points and increase its lead to 60-40 with just over seven minutes remaining.

The Vikings turned to its long-range game to claw their way back into it, but it was too late, and Idaho salted the game away at the line.

Kristian Gonzalez scored a game-high 24 points for Idaho, while Julius Mims added 10.

Portland State was led by Terri Miller Jr. with 17 points and Qiant Myers with 14.