There’s no place like home

Heading into last weekend, the Portland State men’s basketball team had every reason to believe they were about to serve Montana State its seventh loss of the season on Friday and deliver a victory over Montana the following day.

But that’s the opposite of what happened—and why they play the game.

On Friday, the Vikings fell to Montana State 77–71 and on the next night suffered a 90–58 loss to Montana to mark Portland State’s largest margin of defeat in the 44-game series with the Grizzlies.

With an inability to win games on the road, Portland State (7¬–9, 2–2 Big Sky) made a resounding statement about their most glaring issue so far this year. In fact, they pinned their entire season on their ability to overcome it now.

The Vikings, despite being more athletically talented team on the court both nights, were unable to establish themselves at either end of the court against Montana or Montana State. Portland State never led in the second half of either game and relied heavily on their ability to shoot the three-pointer—a strategy that didn’t pan out.

Taking on Montana State (9–7, 4–2 Big Sky) in the first game, the Vikings outrebounded and shot a better percentage on the night, but were unable to protect the rock and gave up 20 turnovers. The Bobcats had an 18-to-eight advantage in points off turnovers as well as an eight-to-zero advantage in fast-break points.

Giving the Bobcats 11 more shots due to turnovers, the Vikings literally handed the game to Montana State before effectively calling it quits late in the second half after turning the ball over with 20 seconds left in the game.

Forced to move forward and focus on their next opponent less than 24 hours after Friday’s loss, the Vikings were again the favorite to win against a reeling Montana (12-6, 3-3 Big Sky) team that lost three of its last five games against conference opponents.

This proved too great a task for Portland State as they were dismantled by a Grizzlies team that controlled the game from start to finish and swelled their lead to 32 points before all was said and done.  Shooting a mere .396 from the field, it’s not hard to tell what caused the Vikings so much trouble.

With the majority of turnovers coming from Portland State’s best player, junior guard Dominic Waters, the Vikings are likely depending on him to create too much offensively, which in turn has led to more turnovers.

Heading home for their next two games, Portland State will hopefully be able to rebuild some confidence.

The Vikings are now 2–9 on the road, and have yet to win a road game against Big Sky opponents. Additionally, one of the two wins on the road this year came against University of Portland a mere nine miles away.

Portland State plays host to Northern Colorado on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Stott Center.

Friday
                       1st    2nd    Final
Portland St.       34    37    71
Montana St.      43    34    77

Saturday
                       1st    2nd    Final
Portland St.       28    30    58
Montana            41    49    90