Colorado head coach Tad Boyle faced Portland State seven times when he was leading the Northern Colorado program.
Tuesday night he will coach against the Vikings for the first time since taking over Colorado in 2010 when the Buffaloes host Portland State.
Colorado (9-1) is playing its final three nonconference games before starting the Big 12 schedule Jan. 3. The Buffaloes’ lone loss was to in-state rival Colorado State but they bounced back to beat UTSA 88-64 Saturday after a week off.
Colorado is led in scoring by true freshman Isaiah Johnson at 14.7 points a game. He’s one of five players on the team averaging double figures in scoring, followed by Sebastian Rancik (13.2), Barrington Hargress (12.5), Bangot Dak (11.5) and Alon Michaeli (11).
Johnson was held to nine points Saturday, just the second time in 10 games he has failed to reach double figures, but he had six assists.
“That’s the beauty of his game,” Boyle said. “If you take the scoring away from him, he can have six assists and one turnover.”
The Vikings (6-3) have won five of their last six since an 80-70 loss at San Francisco — whom the Buffaloes beat Nov. 27. Portland State is coming off a 94-50 win over Division III George Fox on Saturday, which followed a 60-55 loss to Omaha on Dec. 6.
The experienced Vikings are led by 6-foot-8 senior Terri Miller Jr., who is averaging 17.5 points a game. Miller had a career-high 31 points Saturday after finishing with nine points against Omaha.
Jaylin Henderson, also a senior, is averaging 17 points a game and leads the team with 6.4 assists, and senior Tre-Vaughn Minott tops Portland State with 8.3 rebounds a game while contributing 11.1 points a night.
Junior Keyon Kensie Jr. is the only other player scoring in double figures at 10.3 per game.
Portland State will have one more nonconference game after Tuesday night before diving into the Big Sky Conference schedule on Jan. 1.
–Field Level Media
