PORTLAND – Idaho men's basketball fell in their regular season finale to Portland State, 72-57 on Monday night at Viking Pavilion.
Idaho was unable to take care of the basketball and keep the Vikings off the glass, giving up 18 turnovers and allowing Portland State to grab 17 offensive rebounds. PSU took advantage of the extra opportunities scoring 15 second chance points while tacking on 19 points off turnovers.
The disparity between turnovers and offensive rebounds was what propelled the Vikings toward a 47-25 lead heading into the break.
The Vandals looked to have life midway through the second battling from a 20-point deficit to make it an 11-point game after a 9-0 Vandal run. That's the closest the Vandals would come as the Vikings sealed it down the stretch, led by KJ Allen's 27 points.
Portland State carried a double-digit lead from the 7:51 mark in the first half on to when the final horn sounded.
Key Performers
- D'Angelo Minnis looked like his normal self again after returning from injury three games ago, leading the Vandals with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The senior guard sparked the second half offense scoring 14 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes.
- Tyler Linhardt posted 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting in 24 minutes of action off the bench.
- Trevon Blassingame led the team on the boards and tied a career-high with six rebounds.
Noteworthy
- The ninth-seeded Vandals are slotted to face the 10th-seeded Sacramento State Hornets in the first round of the conference tournament for the second time in the last three seasons.
- Quinn Denker recorded at least five assists for the 10th time this season.
- EJ Neal swatted away two shots to tie a season-high in blocks.
- Idaho's one steal is the fewest this season.
- The Vandals shot 46.1 (19-of-41) percent from the field which marks the 14th time this season an Idaho team has shot 45 percent or better in a single game.
- Idaho posted at least five blocks for the 9th time this season.
Up Next
Idaho faces off against Sacramento State in the opening round of the Big Sky Tournament on Saturday, March 9 at 4:30 p.m. PST inside Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
POSTGAME WITH COACH PRIBBLE
