Portland State Falls to Pac-12 Team

It was a rare case of a Pac-12 team visiting the home gym of a Big Sky team, and for a while it looked like Portland State might pull off the upset. They jumped out to an early lead over Oregon State, leading 22-13 after 11 minutes, as they were forcing turnovers and taking care of the ball.

However, it was then that the Beavers put on a 1-3-1 trap and did some other things to put pressure on the Vikings, which allowed them back in the game. Eventually, it was Oregon State winning 79-74.

"Everything went the way we wanted it to go the first 10 or 12 minutes," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving but acknowledged his team's downfall. "You can't simulate their length and quickness (in the 1-3-1 zone). We got in trouble against it even though we worked on it (in preparation). When (Moreland) is at the top of that thing it is hard to go from one side to the other and attack gaps. All of a sudden they are trapping you with two big, athletic guys."

Portland State did some things really well. They shot 56% from the floor, with guys like Renado Parker (16), Lateef McMullan (16), and Aaron Moore (14) providing efficient scoring threats. They rebounded well, staying even with the Beavers in that category. They forced 18 turnovers.

However, they also turned it over 19 times, including 4 from PG McMullan.They made just 2/11 from downtown, and struggled to get to the free throw line (just 4/7 on the night). When you aren't hitting from outside or getting easy points at the line, that puts a lot of pressure on the offense to keep hitting their shots. Even though they did, they couldn't overcome the -14 advantage that OSU had at the line.

The Vikings fall to 1-5 on the season with the loss.

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