Sacramento State men’s basketball coach Brian Katz has never won at Portland State University. 

The last win at Stott Center was eight years ago under head coach Jerome Jenkins. 

But Katz and the Hornets seized their 11th win of the season as they held on to a 72-65 win over the Vikings Saturday evening. The Hornets also moved to a four-way tie for fourth place in the Big Sky Conference. 

“We have seven (Big Sky Conference) wins and I think 10 is the magic number to get into the postseason tournament,” Katz said. “All the guys came around when it mattered.”

Katz said there was a lot of pressure because of the loss they endured Thursday at Eastern Washington.

“We forgot how to play on the road [during the last game,]” Katz said. “I really knew our guys were going to play hard tonight because we were disappointed.”

The Hornets started the game jumping out to a 18-6 lead in the first six and a half minutes as sophomore Cody Demps hit a free throw to complete a three-point play and score his 10th point of the game. He finished with 16 points, tying his career high.

Sac State extended its lead to as much as 17 points when it went on a 14-4 run over roughly six minutes. They ended the half ahead, 43-29.

In the second half, Portland State cut the Hornets’ lead down to as little as four points. 

The Vikings were without their second-leading scorer, DaShaun Wiggins, because of a sprained ankle he suffered against Northern Arizona on Thursday, but junior guard Andre Winston Jr. scored eight out of his 12 points to go on a 13-0 Portland State run. 

“We knew they are going to make some kind of run and we did more than hang on,” Katz said. “Guys like Nick Hornsby came in and was really solid.”

Hornsby came off the bench and although he only scored three points, he led the team with six rebounds.  

Although the Hornets have had a history all season of relinquishing first-half leads, they never let their lead slip away as they answered with a pair of baskets by senior forward Jordan Salley and junior forward Alex Tiffin to bring the lead back up to 10 points.

Katz said he did not think the same team earlier this season could have kept its composure as well, but now they are the most confident group he has ever coached while at Sac State.

You always have to take a team’s big punch,” Katz said. “Earlier in the year we were not sure of ourselves and now we are fearless.”

Hornets’ shooting guard Mikh McKinney finished with a game-high 18 points and 11 assists while Dylan Garrity had 15 points and freshman center Eric Stuteville contributed with 12 points off the bench.

Sac State returns home to the friendly confines of The Nest to take on the University of North Dakota. The Hornets won last season at home, 67-58.

Tipoff is at 7:05 p.m.

Ryan can be reached on twitter at @rskuhn