Portland St. faces Montana State in Big Sky quarters

No. 5 seed Montana State (16-15, 10-10) vs. No. 4 seed Portland State (18-14, 12-8)

Big Sky Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, CenturyLink Arena, Boise, Idaho; Thursday, 3:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Montana State is set to take on Portland State in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tourney. Portland State won both of the regular season matchups earlier this season. The teams last played on Feb. 20, when the Vikings shot 51.8 percent from the field while limiting Montana State to just 48.3 percent en route to a 10-point victory.

FEARLESS FRESHMEN: Montana State’s Harald Frey, Jubrile Belo and Borja Fernandez have combined to account for 52 percent of the team’s scoring this season, including 68 percent of all Bobcats points over the last five games.

KEY CONTRIBUTOR: Frey has either made or assisted on 45 percent of all Montana State field goals over the last three games. The senior guard has 15 field goals and 14 assists in those games.

SLIPPING AT 71: Montana State is 0-11 when it allows at least 71 points and 16-4 when it holds opponents to less than 71.

PASSING FOR POINTS: The Bobcats have recently gotten baskets via assists more often than the Vikings. Portland State has an assist on 46 of 87 field goals (52.9 percent) across its previous three matchups while Montana State has assists on 35 of 65 field goals (53.8 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Portland State offense is ranked 19th in the nation by scoring 78.7 points per game this season. Montana State has only averaged 66.6 points per game, which ranks 267th.