Weber State basketball: Portland State stars lift Vikings to OT win over WSU
MBB final: Portland State 95, Weber State 90 (OT)
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris, center, battles for a rebound against Portland State players Jaylin Henderson, left, and Sebastian Tidor, right, on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr. (3) rises to scoop a layup past Portland State’s Alex Dupre (15) on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Jace Whiting (24) rises to shoot as Portland State’s Terri Miller Jr. (23) defends on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris (5) dunks past Portland State’s Tre-Vaughn Minott (4) on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Trevor Hennig (6) drives the lane against Portland State players Terri Miller Jr. (23) and Kelcy Phipps (1) on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — Weber State men’s basketball opened Big Sky Conference play hosting Portland State for a New Year’s Day matinee and all expectations pointed to a battle. Betting odds gave PSU an edge of 1 1/2 points while Ken Pomeroy’s numbers gave WSU a one-point nod at 55% probability.
Four ties and 16 lead changes in the second half alone led to overtime, fulfilling those expectations.
But the sixth-year stars shone brightly for Portland State. Point guard Jaylin Henderson scored a career-high 34 points, forward Terri Miller Jr. netted 29 (career-high against DI opponents), including a career-high five 3-pointers, and the Vikings outlasted the Wildcats 95-90 at the Dee Events Center.
Weber State got 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds from Tijan Saine Jr., 19 points and 12 rebounds from Edwin Suarez Jr., and 16 points and eight rebounds from senior Nigel Burris. But WSU (6-8, 0-1 Big Sky) was undone at the 3-point line (7 of 26, 26.9%) and at the charity stripe, getting a whopping 42 free-throw attempts but making just 29.
“We’ve got to step up there and make it in crucial times. We shoot a lot of free throws in practice, so it’s not that,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said. “Guys just have to step up there with confidence and make them with their opportunities.”
In regulation, Weber State outscored Portland State 29-0 in bench points and, despite PSU’s defensive strengths, 22-5 in fastbreak scoring. But it wasn’t enough.
“I think their experience showed a little bit tonight,” Duft said about Portland State. “We had them down there in the second half and they never really panicked. There was a stretch when they made a run and we got out of whack.
“We’ve got to build on it and make a few more plays on each end.”
Neither team led by more than five in the first half until Weber State finished the frame on a 16-4 run, capped with a Burris 3 and a multi-player fast break ending with a Suarez layup at the buzzer, giving the Wildcats a 37-30 lead.
Portland State (7-5, 1-0) answered out of the locker room with the big man Miller. He scored twice in the post and drained a 3 to bring it to a one-possession game in the first 3 minutes.
Miller hit again from deep and scored in the post to put Portland State up 49-48 with 10:53 left, which started a string of seven straight possessions where the lead changed hands. That ended with another Miller 3, putting PSU ahead 58-54 with 8:11 remaining.
Viljami Vartiainen helped Weber answer. The junior guard returned to the court after missing seven games due to a knee injury and missed his first four 3-point attempts, but lifted the lid with consecutive 3s to get WSU back in the lead. Saine followed with a pair of free throws for a 65-61 advantage and 4:26 left.
Miller had carried the Vikings that far but PSU turned to Henderson there. He delivered, throwing a lob to another sixth-year senior, Tre-Vaughn Minott, for a dunk and scoring on a drive to cut it to one.
Weber had the lead and the ball with 1 minute left but Kelcy Phipps picked a steal and threw to Henderson for a transition dunk. Even a wild Burris pinball tip-in basket couldn’t get WSU to the finish line. Burris, the team’s best free-throw shooter, made just 1 of 2 freebies with 8.6 seconds left and Henderson converted a tough, twisting drive to tie it with 2 seconds left, sending it to overtime.
Henderson scored 26 after halftime and played all 45 minutes. Portland State shot 19 of 36 (52.8%) in the second half.
Weber faltered in a big way to start overtime and couldn’t make up the ground. Minott, who sat for large stretches in foul trouble, blocked an ill-advised Suarez leaning drive and a Burris rebound putback attempt in the space of 1 minute. Minott finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
A 9-0 PSU run had the Vikings up 85-78. Saine hit a high-arcing 3 to break the rally and make it a four-point game, but Trevor Hennig and Jace Whiting both missed wide-open corner 3s in the next 2 minutes that hurt WSU’s ability to make a comeback.
PSU missed 10 free throws but shot 13 of 16 at the stripe in overtime to seal the victory.
“In conference play, it’s going to come down to timely shooting, a lot of times,” Duft said. “You’ve got to make shots at the end of the game, make shots at crucial times. They had some guys step up and do that, and we were a little off tonight in that area.”
Whiting added 12 points and six assists for WSU. Vartiainen finished with 10 in his comeback.
For PSU, Keyon Kensie pitched in 12 points and 13 rebounds to complement Miller and Henderson.
WSU took its third home loss of the season: a one-point defeat to UT Arlington, a two-point loss to Utah Tech, and an overtime loss to PSU.
Weber State next hosts Sacramento State at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“We addressed the team; there’s 18 of these and they’re going to be all just like that: tough, emotional battles,” Duft said. “Win or lose, you’ve got to put it behind you. … You’ve got to get it behind you quick and get onto the next thing.”
