Idaho Central Arena in Boise, ID will host the first round of the Big Sky championship Thursday night as the Portland State Vikings take on the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Portland State finished the season three games below .500 after an 8 point loss in the final game of the year ended a lengthy winning streak. Defensively Portland State struggled as Eastern Washington shot 49.1% from the floor 41.4% from beyond the arc to score 83 points leading to the win.
Khalid Thomas led the way for Portland State with 24 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes on the floor. Mikal Starks added 13 points in 32 minutes and Marlon Ruffin chipped in 15 points to lead the way off the bench.
Southern Utah Thunderbirds comes into the conference tournament riding a two game win streak after finishing the season in second place in the conference . Southern Utah pulled off a 10 point win over Weber State to close the year after shooting 49.1% from the floor to score 80 points including 48 in the second half to erase a one point halftime deficit.
Tevian Jones leads the Southern Utah offense as one of four players averaging double figures scoring 14.6 points per game. John Knight III adds a second best 14.5 points and a team high 4.2 assists and Maizen Fausett scores 12.1 points and leads the way with 8.2 rebounds.
