MVP Pearson sets career high; Texas St. wallops Portland

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nijal Pearson scored a career-high 33 points and Texas State used a second-half offensive eruption to blast Portland 91-68 on Saturday night in the Portland Classic Championship game.

Texas State (5-1) led 36-34 at halftime, and after intermission, proceeded to shoot 20 of 32 (62.5 percent) including 9 of 13 (69) from 3-point range. Portland's shooting went in the opposite direction as the Pilots (5-3) shot 25 percent (7 of 28) from the field.

Pearson finished 12 of 18 shooting and 6 of 9 from 3-point range, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player this weekend and surpassed 1,100 career points. Pearson also finished with three steals to give him 103 to move into 10th-place all time in school history.

Tre'Larenz Nottingham scored 11 and Chandler Davis scored 10 for the Bobcats.

JoJo Walker led the Pilots with 17 points and Marcus Shaver Jr. scored 13.