{"id":162386,"date":"2026-02-03T20:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T20:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162386\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T20:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T20:05:09","slug":"first-place-vikings-move-on-to-face-red-hot-hornets-in-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162386\/","title":{"rendered":"First-Place Vikings Move On To Face Red-Hot Hornets In Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n COMPLETE GAME NOTES AND STATS<\/a>
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PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (15-6, 9-1) at

\nSACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS (9-13, 5-5)
\nSaturday, February 7, 2026, 7 p.m. \u2022 Hornet Pavilion (3,000), Sacramento, CA
\nLive Stream: ESPN+
\nLive Stats: www.Vikslive.livestats.us
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\nOPENING TIP
\nPortland State embarks on a three-game road trip this week, opening against one of the hottest teams in the Big Sky Conference. The first-place Vikings will take on Sacramento State on the road Saturday in a 7 p.m. game that can be seen on ESPN+.
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\nThe Vikings (15-6, 9-1), winners of nine out of ten in Big Sky play, had a resounding 88-65 victory over Idaho State on Monday night. That rounded out a three-game home stand and put the Vikings two games ahead of second-place Montana and Montana State (both 7-3) in the Big Sky title chase with eight games remaining. At the same time, 600 miles south of Viking Pavilion, Sacramento State was putting the finishing touches on a 104-90 victory over Weber State. For the Hornets, it was a third straight home win and fifth win in seven games.
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\nPSU and Sacramento State met on Jan. 10 in Portland and the Vikings turned in a convincing 96-69 win. The Hornets have been a different team since that time, picking up five wins, including over Montana and Montana State, and moving into a tie for fifth in the Big Sky at 5-5 (9-13 overall).
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\nIn fact, the Hornets have been brilliant at home this season, going 9-1 in their new on-campus facility; Hornet Pavilion aka The Well.
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\nPortland State has proven to be a strong road team, winning six of 10 away from home. PSU is 4-0 in Big Sky road games, and will try to tie a school record with a fifth straight road win at Sacramento State.
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\nThe Vikings can expect the Hornets to score points – they averaged 91.0 in their last three at home. Fortunately, PSU’s offense looked good on Monday, scoring 88 points on .559 shooting and committing a season-low four turnovers. SR G Jaylin Henderson<\/a> was almost unstoppable with 30 points (10-18 FG, 2-2 3-pt, 8-10 FT) and seven assists. SR F Terri Miller Jr.<\/a> had 22 points (9-14 FG, 2-6 3-pt, 2-3 FT) in just 26 minutes of action.
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\nPortland State leads the Big Sky, but will have a very challenging stretch of play to close out the Big Sky Conference regular season schedule. The Vikings play five of the last eight on the road. Included is a trip to Montana and Montana State late in the month.
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\nBut, first things first. The Hornets await.
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\nCOMING UP
\nThe Vikings’ are on the road again next week at Northern Arizona (Feb. 12) and Northern Colorado (Feb. 14). PSU’s next home game is Feb. 19 against Idaho. All Big Sky Conference games can be seen on ESPN+.
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\nGAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE vs. SACRAMENTO STATE<\/p>\n


\n\tALL-TIME SERIES: Portland State leads the all-time series Sacramento State, 37-24, and leads the Big Sky series, 36-23… PSU is 11-17 in Big Sky games played in Sacramento and the Vikings have lost three in a row on the road in the series… the Vikings have won the last two meetings, both played at Viking Pavilion.
\n\tEARLIER THIS SEASON: Jan. 10 at Viking Pavilion, PSU 96, SAC 69: Portland State’s senior stars shone bright in this game. Jaylin Henderson<\/a> had a big performance with 26 points and five assists. Tre-Vaughn Minott<\/a> had the game of his career with career-highs of 23 points and 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and making 9-11 shots from the field. It was the first 20-20 game by a Viking in 10 years. And, Terri Miller Jr.<\/a> recorded the second triple-double of his career and third in Viking history with 14 points, a career-high 13 assists and 10 rebounds… Mikey Williams came out on fire for Sacramento State, hitting his first five shots and scoring the Hornets’ first 12 points. Williams had 21 by halftime and finished with 29… But the Vikings were getting contributions from all sides, and overcame Williams and an early Sacramento State lead… The second half was a runaway as PSU led by as many as 36 points… PSU dominated the glass behind Minott’s performance. At one point the Vikings had 43 of the 59 total rebounds in the game. They finished with a healthy 47-25 advantage on the backboards… the Vikings also made 35-64 from the field (.547), 10-25 from three-point range (.400) and 16-20 at the line (.800).
\n\tCOACHES: Vikings Coach Jase Coburn<\/a> (Arizona State, 2006) is in his fifth season as Head Coach. He spent eight previous seasons on the Park Blocks as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach. Coburn’s overall record is 77-70. He is 5-4 against Sacramento State… the Hornets are coached by Mike Bibby (UNLV, 2017) in his first season. He is 0-1 against the Vikings, 9-13 overall. <\/p>\n

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SCOUTING THE HORNETS<\/p>\n


\n\tSacramento State was 7-25 last season, 3-15 and 10th place in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornet program joined the Big Sky Conference the same year as Portland State, 1996-97.
\n\tThe Hornets are 9-13 this season, including 5-5 in Big Sky Conference games… Sacramento State averages 79.4 points and allows 82.3 points. The Hornets shoot .426 from the field, .344 from three-point range and .773 at the line.\u00a0
\n\tSenior guard Prophet Johnson averages 18.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game… sophomore guard Mikey Williams averages 16.7 points per game and 4.6 assists per game… freshman forward Mark Lavrenov is averaging 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds. <\/p>\n

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HOT SHOTS <\/p>\n


\n\tANOTHER BIG NIGHT FOR JAYLIN: SR G Jaylin Henderson<\/a> had his second 30-point game of the season in Monday’s win over Idaho State. Henderson scored exactly 30 (10-18 FG, 2-2 3-pt, 8-10) with seven assists on one of his best shooting nights of the season… Henderson scored a career-high 34 points in a Jan 1. win at Weber State… he averages 17.4 points and a team-high 6.3 assists… Henderson also had a stretch of eight straight complete games (330 consecutive minutes) before having to sit down in the second half at Idaho (1\/24) due to foul problems. His total stretch of consecutive minutes played was 354. He leads the Big Sky in minutes (36.7) and ranks in the top 10 in the nation.
\n\t6TH-MAN SUCCESS: SO G Kelcy Phipps<\/a> is excelling in his sixth man role for the Vikings. He scored 10 points in the win over Montana State and 11 points in the win over Idaho State. Moreover, he made 8-9 from the field, 3-4 three-pointers and 2-2 free throws while making four steals and playing excellent defense in the two games… in league play, Phipps is averaging 5.4 points, 1.2 steals and shoots .724 from the field (.583 from three-point range). For the season, he shoots .576\/.474.
\n\tMILLER TIME: SR F Terri Miller Jr.<\/a> has made the second half of games “Miller Time,” particularly in Big Sky Conference play. Miller averages 13.5 points in the second half of Big Sky games compared to 7.4 points in the first half… in addition, he comes up big when most needed. Leading by a single point at Eastern Washington (1\/22), Miller scored seven points with a blocked shot and an assist in the final 1:47 of the game, leading the Vikings to a 65-61 win… with SR G Jaylin Henderson<\/a> on the bench with foul trouble for most of the second half at Idaho (1\/24), Miller scored 20 of his game-high 29 points in a 69-66 win… in a win over Montana State (1\/31), Miller scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half… earlier this season, Miller hit a three-pointer at Idaho State (1\/3) with three seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime and an eventual Viking win. He had 19 points in the second half of that game… Miller also had 19 points in the second half of a win at Weber State (1\/1)… Miller leads the Vikings in scoring and ranks second in the Big Sky (19.4) while ranked in the top eight in rebounds (6.0), assists (3.9) and shooting (.536)… He was Big Sky Player of the Week on Jan. 27.\u00a0
\n\tDUNK YOU VERY MUCH: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott<\/a> broke his own school record for dunks in a season and has set a new school record for dunks in a career. Minott now has 49 dunks (previous record, 44). He has 96 career dunks, passing Scott Morrison (91) for that record… Minott’s 49 dunks account from more than half of his field goals (94)… Minott averages 10.8 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting .644 from the field (.721 in league games).
\n\tWINNING: This season, Portland State reached 7-0 in league play for the first time in its Big Sky history (30th year). The Vikings had gotten to 4-0 twice previously (1997-98, 2004-05)… the Vikings’ win at Eastern Washington was its first at Reese Court since 2014-15. PSU had lost nine straight in that venue… PSU has won four in a row on the road. The school record for consecutive road wins is five (1954-55).
\n\tCHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: Portland State has been dominant on the boards this season.\u00a0 The Vikings have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 5.0 per game… SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott<\/a> leads the Big Sky with 8.6 rebounds per game. JR G Keyon Kensie Jr.<\/a> ranks fifth at 7.0 per game. And SR F Terri Miller Jr.<\/a> is eighth with 6.0 rebounds per game.
\n\tTRENDING: Portland State is undefeated when leading at halftime (11-0) and scoring 80 or more points (8-0)… the Vikings are 11-1 when out-rebounding opponents, 14-1 when out-shooting an opponent.
\n\tBIG SKY CONFERENCE LEADERS: Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage defense (.408), three-point field goal percentage defense (.299), scoring defense (69.3), steals (8.0), scoring margin (9.2), turnovers forced (13.4) and winning percentage (.714)… SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott<\/a> leads in rebounding overall (8.6) and in league (9.5).
\n\tDEFENSIVE PRESENCE: In addition to leading the Big Sky Conference in six defensive categories, the Vikings held Montana State to .339 shooting in Saturday’s win. That was the lowest mark by a Division I opponent this season… in the last five games, PSU has held opponents to 23-93 from three-point range (.247, 4.6 pg).
\n\tMORE GOOD STUFF THAT DOESN’T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE: SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott<\/a> ranks sixth all-time in blocked shots (87), second all-time in field goal percentage (.640) and first in dunks (96) at Portland State… FR F Bryden Barron has joined PSU’s march toward another team dunking record (see below). Barron had his first career dunk on a drive to the rim against Idaho State… JR F Charles Chukwu<\/a> is 14-17 from the field this season (.824). Throw in his 30-game career at Tulsa a couple of seasons ago and Chukwu is a remarkable 30-40 from the field (.750) as a Division I player.
\n\tSTRANGE BUT TRUE: Although they are 15-6, the Vikings have only led at halftime in 11 games (11-0) while trailing 10 times (4-6).
\n\tWE ARE TRIVIA: Portland State played its 400th home game since reinstating the basketball program and joining the Big Sky Conference 30 years ago (1996-97). PSU is 283-117 in those 400 games. 118 of the games have been played in Viking Pavilion. PSU has used other home venues during that time: old Stott gym, Moda Center, Memorial Coliseum and Lewis and Clark College… earlier this season, PSU won its 900th game in program history (65 seasons). PSU is 909-875 all-time…\u00a0 also this season, PSU played its 100th game in Viking Pavilion (opened for the 2018-19 season)…. Saturday’s attendance of 1,795 fans at Viking Pavilion was the most in the Jase Coburn<\/a> era (five seasons) and the most since 2019… Coach Jase Coburn<\/a> tied Ken Bone for sixth in career wins as a head coach at PSU. Coburn is currently 77-70. Bone was 77-49 in four seasons (2005-09) and won two Big Sky Conference Championships… the 88 points scored against Idaho State marks the first time the Vikings have scored in the 80s this season. They have scored 90 or more seven times.
\n\tDUNK-O-METER: The Vikings have 100 dunks through 21 games this season. That is on pace for 143 on the season, which would break the school record of 123 dunks, set last season… SR C Tre-Vaughn Minott<\/a> has 49 dunks already (2.4 per game) to break his school record of 44 last season. <\/p>\n

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