Montana State defeated Portland State 84-69 in a men’s basketball game at Worthington Arena in Bozeman, Montana. The Bobcats’ victory was fueled by a strong performance from beyond the arc, as they made 15 three-pointers out of 30 attempts. This result keeps Montana State’s hopes alive for tying Portland State at the top of the Big Sky Conference standings.
With this loss, Portland State drops to a conference record of 12-4 and an overall record of 18-9. The Vikings have now lost two consecutive games and three of their last four. Montana State improves to 10-6 in conference play and stands at 16-13 overall with two games remaining in the regular season.
Eastern Washington also remains in contention for the top seed after defeating Northern Colorado 82-72 on Thursday, improving its conference record to 10-6.
Despite shooting well from long range themselves—making nine out of eighteen three-point attempts—the Vikings were outpaced by Montana State’s efficiency and volume from deep. The Bobcats’ total of fifteen made threes is the most allowed by Portland State against any opponent this season. Additionally, Montana State’s point total marks the highest scored against Portland State by a Big Sky team in regulation this year.
Terri Miller Jr led Portland State with a standout performance, scoring 28 points on ten-for-fifteen shooting, including five-for-seven from beyond the arc and perfect accuracy at the free throw line. Jaylin Henderson contributed nineteen points and five assists while Tre-Vaughn Minott added eight points along with eleven rebounds and three blocked shots.
For Montana State, guard Jed Miller led all scorers with twenty-five points alongside nine rebounds and six assists. Seth Amunrud provided significant support off the bench with a career-high twenty-two points, making six-of-eight from three-point range.
The game started poorly for Portland State as early turnovers helped Montana State build an eleven-point lead within the first three minutes. Although Portland State reduced its deficit to nine points by halftime (43-34), they struggled to close the gap further during the second half. After narrowing it to five points early on, back-to-back threes from Montana State quickly restored their double-digit advantage—a margin that held for the remainder of the contest.
Overall, Montana State shot just over fifty-one percent from the field (29-of-56) compared to forty-four percent for Portland State (26-of-58). The Vikings committed fifteen turnovers which resulted in twenty-three points for their opponents.
This defeat marks only the second time this season that Portland State has lost despite out-rebounding its opponent (29 rebounds to Montana State’s 24). The Vikings are now eight-and-six on road games this season and have suffered consecutive losses only twice so far.
Earlier this year on January thirty-first, Portland State defeated Montana State sixty-three to fifty-four in Portland. The Vikings will next play at Montana on Saturday before closing out their regular season Monday night at home against Weber State; both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
