On a night when the UND men’s basketball team could have moved to 10-10 on the season, it came up just short.

Portland State defeated UND 70-68 on Saturday in a battle of two of the hottest teams in the Big Sky Conference.

Portland State had won five of the last six games, while UND had claimed four in a row until Saturday.

“It was definitely a tough loss,” UND coach Brian Jones said. “We played hard, but just not very smart at times.”

UND came out shooting well in the first half in Portland State’s gym, with Troy Huff and Quinton Hooker shooting four of five from the three point line, while Hooker also collected three steals.

North Dakota finished the first-half shooting 46 percent from the field (12-26) and 50 percent from the three point line (5-10) — while forcing Portland State to turn the ball over 10 times en route to a 34-27 half-time lead.

Like last Thursday, though, UND allowed the opponent to go on a 13-2 run to open up its first second-half lead.

North Dakota struggled to find a groove the rest of the second half, committing 11 turnovers — cooling off from just three of nine in the second half — and not getting many defensive stops.

Whether the shots were contested or not, Portland State managed to shoot the ball an efficient 61 percent and never allowed UND to find a shooting rhythm.

Down 68-70, UND had the ball with 10 seconds to go after a Portland State turnover. Josh Schuler was wide open for the long two after a pump fake but passed the ball up to Aaron Anderson.

With time running out, Anderson heaved up the desperation three, which missed the net and hit the front of the rim to end the game.

“The start of the second half was not what we were looking for,” Jones said. “We did not come out with the focus or energy that we needed, but give our guys credit — we had a chance to tie or win on the final possession.”

The loss ends North Dakota’s longest win streak of the season, and puts it at No. 4 in the Big Sky Conference.

Balanced attack

Despite Saturday’s loss, North Dakota was able to defeat Eastern Washington 73-61 last Thursday night.

UND used a balanced scoring attack all through the game as Anderson scored a game-high 17 points and Troy Huff tallied 15 — complimenting two other 11-point contributions.

“This was another complete team effort, and that is why we’ve won four straight,” Jones said. “We let them back in it there in the second half, but our guys showed toughness and that will to win.”

While the team’s offense was solid, it was the defense that was the real standout. UND limited the Eagles to 37 percent shooting from the field and caused 16 turnovers.

UND will look to translate that combination as it takes on first place Weber State next Thursday.

With a win at Weber State, UND would get back into the race for the Big Sky Conference and a potential berth into March Madness.

Alex Stadnik is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].