Portland State remains unbeaten in Big Sky play with narrow win over Idaho
MOSCOW, Idaho – You only have to be the best team at the end.
For nearly 35 minutes Saturday, Portland State looked like it had that readily covered against Idaho. But the Vikings almost let it slip away in the second half before Biko Johnson’s contested 3-pointer in the closing seconds came up short for the Vandals, and PSU secured a 69-66 victory at ICCU Arena.
With the win, the Vikings (13-5, 7-0) continue to lead the Big Sky Conference. Idaho (12-8, 4-3) is in fourth place.
Vandals coach Alex Pribble said he considered calling a time out with eight seconds remaining to set up a play after the Vikings’ Jaylin Henderson hit a pair of free throws to give PSU its final three-point lead. Weighed against that was the chance for the Vandals to get down the court quickly and attack a PSU defense before it was set.
“Biko wasn’t able to get off a clean shot. Sometimes that’s how it plays out,” Pribble said.
He shrugged off the cries of assistant coaches that Johnson was fouled on his final attempt.
“We don’t want to put ourselves in situations where officials control the game,” he said.
One of the season’s largest and most engaged crowds was fervently behind Johnson the final 5:40 as he did his best to will Idaho to a win. With the Vandals trailing 59-51, Johnson hit a pair of 3-pointers and three free throws down the stretch before curling off a high post screen with 9.2 seconds to play, getting fouled by Kelcy Phipps and burying two more free throws to bring the Vandals within a point, 67-66.
Isaiah Brickner led Idaho with 22 points, and Johnson was right behind him with 20. Jackson Rasmussen followed with 11.
Terri Miller led all scorers with 29 points for the Vikings, and Portland State outscored Idaho in the lane, 38-26. Pribble was not displeased with that.
“38 points is not a terrible number against them,” he said.
Although the Vikings led at the break, 33-26, and got ahead by as much as 11 points early in the second half, Idaho was able to keep in contact throughout.
Midway through the first half, the Vikings made a concerted effort to push the pace and open up the game. While both teams seemed eager to play at that tempo, the Vikings got the better of a 94-foot match. They outscored Idaho 13-7 over the final 10 minutes of the first half to take their seven-point lead.
At the same time, Idaho’s perimeter game generated from half-court offense virtually deserted it. The Vandals were 2 of 12 from behind the arc in the first half. The outside shooting didn’t improve much after the break. For the game, Idaho was just 7 of 24 on 3-point shots, and Johnson had four of those.
“We are a much better shooting team than we showed tonight,” Pribble said.
He was pleased, however, with Idaho’s ability to lock in on defense and keep the game close. The Vandals got things tightened down in the second half to force the Vikings into a half-court game.
“A big part of the game plan against those guys is controlling the tempo. I thought we did a really good job of adjusting,” Pribble said.
Rasmussen and Trevon Blassingame missed Idaho’s 86-76 win against Sacramento State Thursday with the flu, and Pribble said other Vandals were playing under the weather. While Idaho had a full bench against Portland State, lingering effects of the flu still slowed the Vandals, according to Pribble.
“This team’s best basketball is still ahead of us,” he said. “We are exactly where we need to be right now.”
Idaho has a rematch with Portland State in Portland on Feb. 19. The Vikings may be undefeated in the Big Sky, but Pribble insisted “we do feel like we can beat this team.”
Women
• Idaho 84, Portland State 66: Idaho, which has emerged as one of the top teams in the Big Sky, outclassed one of the conference’s bottom teams.
The Vandals led the whole way, surging in the third quarter and breezing to a win over Portland State on Saturday afternoon at Viking Pavilion in Portland.
Idaho (15-5, 6-1 Big Sky) led 42-35 at the half, then erupted for 31 points in the third, outscoring the Vikings (5-14, 1-6) by 18 points in the period. The Vandals hit five 3-pointers in the third – three from guard Hope Hassmann, who starred with 20 points and a career-high 12 assists on the day.
Guard Kyra Gardner added 19 points and seven rebounds for the Vandals, who shot 45.6% from the field and matched a season high in 3-point makes, hitting 11 of 23 (47.8%) from deep. Idaho outrebounded PSU 46-34 and held the Vikings to 36.5% shooting.
The Vandals sit in second in the Big Sky standings.