Big Sky foes will lock horns when the Idaho Vandals (12-9) face off against the Portland State Vikings (7-11) at Cowan Spectrum at the Kibbie Dome. The game gets underway at 10:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 30.
The Vandals lost a winnable game to Sacramento State 65-63 on Thursday. Chad Sherwood finished with 22 points to lead the game. The Vikings, meanwhile, are coming off a deflating 112-83 loss against Eastern Washington on Thursday. Cameron Forte played well, posting his sixth double-double of the season with 37 points and 13 rebounds.
Forte has been on a tear over the last five games for the Vikings, averaging 23.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.6 steals.
Idaho, a three-point favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Portland State. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is set at 139 points. The Vandals are looking to build on their records of 12-9 Straight Up (SU) and 9-8 Against The Spread (ATS). Idaho is excellent from the perimeter, shooting a stellar .382 from three-point range.
Over on the other bench, the Vikings have records of 5-8 ATS and 7-11 SU. The Vikings are one of the top teams in the country at finding the open man with an average of 17.6 assists per game. Switching gears to the Portland State defense, teams with weak ball handling have not fared well against the Vikings, who rank 34th in the nation with 8.1 steals per game.
The conference rivals meet for what will be their first head-to-head battle of the season. Idaho won the last game in the matchup, evening up the two teams’ head-to-head record (3-3). However, Portland State leads the matchup ATS with a record of 3-2.
Predictions: SU Winner – PorSt, ATS Winner – PorSt, O/U – Over
Notes
Idaho is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games.
Idaho is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games.
Idaho is an even 4-4 SU against the conference, while Portland State sits at 3-4 SU.
The Idaho Vandals have a defensive rating of 97.9 (ranked 81st), while the Portland State Vikings have an offensive rating of 105.3 (ranked 187th).
Idaho has an average field goal percentage of 43.8%. Portland State is an underachieving 2-9 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Idaho Vandals rank lower for their field goal percentage (195th) than they do for their effective field goal percentage (156th), but the Portland State Vikings have a better FG% ranking (88th) than eFG% ranking (168th).
Ranked 14th in the nation, Portland State has an average of 17.6 assists per game. Idaho ranks lower at 272nd with 12.1.
The Portland State Vikings rank 93rd in offensive rebounds. The Idaho Vandals rank 124th in the nation in defensive rebounds.
Idaho has forced an average turnover percentage of 19.9% this season. Portland State has an abysmal 1-5 record when its TO% is 19.9% or higher.
