Portland State made a tough trip more than worth the trouble by coming up with the biggest win in its history.
The Vikings fought their way through the weather-plagued Northwest, arriving just hours before they beat No. 7 Gonzaga 77-70 on Tuesday night, their first win over a ranked team since reinstating its basketball program in 1996-97.
“This is a big statement for us,” said 5-foot-6 senior Jeremiah Dominguez, who led Portland State (9-3) with 25 points. “This program is building.”
The Vikings had lost their last 10 meetings with Gonzaga (8-3) and came in 0-11 against ranked opponents.
The game almost wasn’t played because of the snowstorm that has snarled travel throughout the Northwest. Because of flight cancellations and highway closures, Portland State took a roundabout route to Spokane.
They bused to Seattle and stayed overnight in the suburbs. Then they bused across the state and arrived in Spokane about 3 1/2 hours before game time. Even though they didn’t have time for a shootaround, the Vikings still ended up shooting 45.9 percent.
State coach Ken Bone joked. “This game was very close to not being played.”
In other games involving ranked teams on Tuesday, it was: No. 9 Texas 74, Wisconsin 69; No. 12 Georgetown 76, Florida International 38; No. 13 UCLA 113, Wyoming 62; Butler 74, No. 14 Xavier 65; No. 20 Arizona State 90, Idaho State 55; No. 23 Minnesota 80, Southeastern Louisiana 71; and Illinois 75, No. 25 Missouri 59.
Dominguez was 7-of-10 from 3-point range and the Vikings were 12-of-31 as a team. Phil Nelson hit the last of the 3s with 44 seconds left to give Portland State a 72-69 lead. Jeremy Pargo missed for Gonzaga and Dominic Waters made two free throws for the Vikings.
Portland State, the defending Big Sky Conference champions, outrebounded the taller Zags 39-30, held them to 42 percent shooting and forced them into 11 turnovers.
“We were not in awe of Gonzaga,” Bone said.
The Bulldogs were coming off an 88-83 overtime loss to No. 2 Connecticut in Seattle on Saturday.
“We got what we deserve,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “They outhustled us, outrebounded us and outplayed us.
“We got manhandled by guys smaller than us,” Few said.
Matt Bouldin had 18 points and Josh Heytvelt added 13 for the Zags, who have lost three of four and fell to 55-3 at the McCarthey Athletic Center, which opened in 2004.
No. 9 Texas 74, Wisconsin 69
s and Damion James had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Longhorns (10-2), who were coming off a home loss to Michigan State.
Gary Johnson banked in a jumper with the shot clock running down to give Texas a 72-69 lead with 23.5 seconds to play.
Trevon Hughes had 18 points in a rare loss at the Kohl Center for the Badgers (9-3), who are 113-8 at home in seven-plus seasons under coach Bo Ryan.
No. 12 Georgetown 76, Florida International 38
At Washington, Austin Freeman scored 17 points to lead the Hoyas (9-1) to their sixth straight win. Freeman was 5-of-6 from beyond the arc as Georgetown had a season-high 12 3-pointers.
Michael Dominguez had 20 points for the visiting Golden Panthers (4-9), who lost their fifth straight and scored the fewest points in their history.
No. 13 UCLA 113, Wyoming 62
At Los Angeles, Michael Roll scored a career-high 25 points and the Bruins (9-2) won their fifth straight. Roll, a 6-foot-5 junior making his second start in place of the injured Josh Shipp, surpassed his previous career high of 17 points by making the fourth of his five 3-pointers with 3 seconds left in the half, giving UCLA a 59-34 lead.
Sean Ogirri had all 14 of his points in the first half for the Cowboys (9-2).
Butler 74, No. 14 Xavier 65
a sophomore and beat a ranked team for the first since a 62-59 victory over No. 18 Maryland in the 2007 NCAA tournament.
Derrick Brown had 17 points for the Musketeers (9-2), who were coming off an 82-64 loss to Duke on Saturday that ended the second-best start in school history. It was Xavier’s second loss in its last 31 games at the Cintas Center.
No. 20 Arizona St. 90, Idaho St. 55
At Tempe, Ariz., Rihards Kuksiks scored all of his 15 points on five of Arizona State’s school-record 17 3-pointers. James Harden had 18 points in 26 minutes for the Sun Devils (10-1), who matched their best start in 34 seasons.
Kal Bay had 12 points for the visiting Bengals (2-9).
No. 23 Minnesota 80, SE Louisiana 71
At Minneapolis, Blake Hoffarber and Lawrence Westbrook both scored 15 points for the Gophers (11-0), who matched the program’s best start since they opened with 11 straight wins in 1976-77. This was Minnesota’s first game as a ranked team since December 2002.
Kevyn Green scored 22 points for the Lions (6-5).
Illinois 75, No. 25 Missouri 59
At St. Louis, Demetri McCamey scored all but two of his 20 points in the first half for the Illini (11-1), who won for the ninth straight time in the annual Braggin’ Rights game. Illinois led by 20 points in the first half and cruised to its fifth straight victory overall.
st one day after cracking the Top 25 for the first time in nearly five seasons on the strength of a seven-game winning streak. The Tigers shot a season-worst 37 percent and were held well below their previous season low of 71 points.
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