The Portland State Vikings and the Montana Grizzlies meet Thursday in college basketball action from Dahlberg Arena. Portland State enters this one at 12-16 overall. The Vikings lost to Weber State in their last game. As for Montana, they’re sitting at 14-13 after a loss to Montana State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Portland State Vikings
Portland State didn’t quite hit a .500 pace out of the gate this year, going 9-11 over 20 games. The Vikings are a sketchy 3-5 since then, losing to Montana State, Montana, Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado and Weber State in that time.
On Saturday versus Weber State, the Vikings had it all tied up 27-27 going into the second half. Portland State was outscored 38-30 from there and lost 65-57. Cameron Parker was the top team scorer on 25 points and six assists.
Montana Grizzlies
Over on the Montana side, they also held a 9-11 record after 20 games. The Grizzlies are 5-2 in their last seven however, beating Portland State, Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona, Idaho State and Weber State along the way.
Last weekend versus Montana State, the Grizzlies were down 32-24 going into the second half. Montana scored another 44 points to make it interesting but still lost 72-68. Josh Bannan led the team on 25 points and eight rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll stay with Montana in this one. The Grizzlies had a five-game winning streak snapped by Montana State over the weekend. That said, Montana has been scoring well with 67 or more points in all six of those outings. The last time these teams met up back on January 28, Montana managed to pull off a 73-67 road win at Stott Center. Portland State has been all over the place since then, however the Vikings have been able to post some pretty solid points totals in comparable matchups. I like another fairly high total here in a Grizzlies cover.