ManOfVision
Active member
What is Hammond's status for the ISU game?
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2008 Big Sky Champs!!!
- Thread starter PSUVikings2
- Start date
GustaViking
Active member
I think only Bone or Justynn could answer that question. Or maybe someone like Ian if he's been attending practices. Ian?
Nice to hear that they are getting practice in at the Rose Garden.
I can't wait for tomorrow.
I can't wait for tomorrow.
PortlandStater
Active member
It's nice to see that PSU made it on the sports first page today.
There is also a nice profile of Delaney Conway on the title page. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1205114121130160.xml&coll=7
There is also a nice profile of Delaney Conway on the title page. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1205114121130160.xml&coll=7
WiViking
Active member
Idaho State comes into the Big Sky semi-finals on the heels of a two point victory over Montana. They are the real unknown of the four remaining teams. They are young, and should be in the upper-echelon of the Big Sky for the next few years.
For the Vikings, there is a different story. After a 23 point win at home against the Bengals, and a 10 point win on the road, there is little reason to doubt Portland State’s chances to advance to advance to the Big Sky Championship game. If there is one unknown, it is how the Viking players will react to the Rose Garden. The only other game there this year, the Vikings only beat Division III Lewis & Clark by 1 point. Needless to say the current Viking team has come a long way. They give up the friendly confines of the Stott Center for the added seating capacity and big game atmosphere of the Rose Garden. One would hope the great season Ken Bone’s squad has had would bring more than a thousand fans to championship games.
Match-Ups
Center
ISU: Lucas Steijn PSU: Scott Morrison
This match-up is not fair. Out of the 3 options the Bengals have here, none can guard Scott Morrison, none can rebound with Morrison and none can score against Morrison. In the first game, Morrison had a very solid all-around game while holding Steijn to just 3 points and 3 rebounds. The second match-up saw Morrison have a little less success offensively, while giving the Bengal centers 2 points and 4 rebounds. Even JR Moore had success. I don’t see much changing. As I said before their last game, ISU doesn’t really have any post presence, so PSU may be able to put a little more pressure on the wing players.
Advantage: Vikings
Forward
ISU: Logan Kinghorn PSU: Kyle Coston
Kinghorn was outplayed by his backup, Chron Tatum in the second game against the Vikings. If Kinghorn starts slowly this time, look for the Bengals to go to Tatum early. They can’t hold anything back, as this is likely the last game of their season. Kyle Coston had a so-so game the last time he played against the Bengals, with 8 points and 2 rebounds. Considering how ineffective the other options for the Vikings were at the 4, he had a solid game. PSU doesn’t necessarily need a great effort from this position to win the game, but a little extra cushion couldn’t hurt.
Advantage: Push
Guard/Forward
ISU: Amorrow Morgan PSU: Deonte Huff
Morgan has had decent success against Huff, going for 11 points in both contests. However, he hasn’t been able to equal Huff’s success (20 points and 6 rebounds the last game between the two.) As I pointed out the last game between the two, Morgan is only a sophomore, so he could one day become the player Huff is. However, he is not ready to beat out the Big Sky first-teamer at this point in his career.
Advantage: Vikings
Off Guard
ISU: Donnie Carson/Austin Kilpatrick PSU: Andre Murray
Kilpatrick won the last battle between the two with 14 points to Murray’s 6. However, Murray went only 2-10 from the field. Assuming he can hit an average percentage of his shots, Andre should be able to keep pace. He outrebounded Kilpatrick 5-1 in the first match-up, something he probably won’t have to do in this match-up for the Vikings to have success. Can Kilpatrick seize the initiative and provide the much-needeed scoring punch aside Stucki and Morgan? If not, this game won’t be close. Recently, Carson has been receiving a lot of playing time. Against Montana he turned that into 10 points and 5 rebounds. If he can pitch in and contribute the same amount tonight, that will help keep the game close, and perhaps Stucki can pull something out of the bag late, who knows?
Advantage: Push
Point
ISU: Matt Stucki PSU: Jeremiah Dominguez
Stucki may be the one player who gives Dominguez serious problems defensively. Dominguez has been great all year, but the 6’6” Stucki is a full foot taller than Dominguez. Here, I gave the advantage to Stucki in the Stott Center game based on their outputs in the first game. Dominguez was able to hit right on his averages, but Stucki was great, going for 26 points. However, Dominguez had a very solid all-around game in the second match-up that superceded Stucki. As this season progressed, one could tell Jeremiah went out every night to send a message. He was rewarded for his outstanding play with the Big Sky Player of the Year award. He is clearly the factor that made last year’s mediocre squad into this year’s Big Sky champions.
Advantage: Vikings
Bench
The Vikings have the advantage here. The Bengals have three bench players who average 5 or more points per game, but none who is a real threat to go for a bunch of points. At home, the Viking bench players just tend to do better. Alex Tiefenthaler had 16 points the first time around against ISU, but failed to score a single point in the second contest. JR Moore stepped up with 6 points and 9 big rebounds in the second contest. With Julius Thomas healthy, Moore may not even see time. Hard to believe that even JR was dominant in the post against the Bengals.
Advantage: Vikings
Well… now comes the time for a prediction. The Bengals won only two conference games away from home: Northern Colorado and Montana. I predicted 76-60 at the Stott Center, and the game came out 81-58. This time, I’m expecting the Vikings to score a few less points in the unfamiliar atmosphere at the Rose Garden. However, I think they should still have plenty to get by the Bengals for a championship match-up with Northern Arizona or Weber State.
Prediction: PSU 73-60
For the Vikings, there is a different story. After a 23 point win at home against the Bengals, and a 10 point win on the road, there is little reason to doubt Portland State’s chances to advance to advance to the Big Sky Championship game. If there is one unknown, it is how the Viking players will react to the Rose Garden. The only other game there this year, the Vikings only beat Division III Lewis & Clark by 1 point. Needless to say the current Viking team has come a long way. They give up the friendly confines of the Stott Center for the added seating capacity and big game atmosphere of the Rose Garden. One would hope the great season Ken Bone’s squad has had would bring more than a thousand fans to championship games.
Match-Ups
Center
ISU: Lucas Steijn PSU: Scott Morrison
This match-up is not fair. Out of the 3 options the Bengals have here, none can guard Scott Morrison, none can rebound with Morrison and none can score against Morrison. In the first game, Morrison had a very solid all-around game while holding Steijn to just 3 points and 3 rebounds. The second match-up saw Morrison have a little less success offensively, while giving the Bengal centers 2 points and 4 rebounds. Even JR Moore had success. I don’t see much changing. As I said before their last game, ISU doesn’t really have any post presence, so PSU may be able to put a little more pressure on the wing players.
Advantage: Vikings
Forward
ISU: Logan Kinghorn PSU: Kyle Coston
Kinghorn was outplayed by his backup, Chron Tatum in the second game against the Vikings. If Kinghorn starts slowly this time, look for the Bengals to go to Tatum early. They can’t hold anything back, as this is likely the last game of their season. Kyle Coston had a so-so game the last time he played against the Bengals, with 8 points and 2 rebounds. Considering how ineffective the other options for the Vikings were at the 4, he had a solid game. PSU doesn’t necessarily need a great effort from this position to win the game, but a little extra cushion couldn’t hurt.
Advantage: Push
Guard/Forward
ISU: Amorrow Morgan PSU: Deonte Huff
Morgan has had decent success against Huff, going for 11 points in both contests. However, he hasn’t been able to equal Huff’s success (20 points and 6 rebounds the last game between the two.) As I pointed out the last game between the two, Morgan is only a sophomore, so he could one day become the player Huff is. However, he is not ready to beat out the Big Sky first-teamer at this point in his career.
Advantage: Vikings
Off Guard
ISU: Donnie Carson/Austin Kilpatrick PSU: Andre Murray
Kilpatrick won the last battle between the two with 14 points to Murray’s 6. However, Murray went only 2-10 from the field. Assuming he can hit an average percentage of his shots, Andre should be able to keep pace. He outrebounded Kilpatrick 5-1 in the first match-up, something he probably won’t have to do in this match-up for the Vikings to have success. Can Kilpatrick seize the initiative and provide the much-needeed scoring punch aside Stucki and Morgan? If not, this game won’t be close. Recently, Carson has been receiving a lot of playing time. Against Montana he turned that into 10 points and 5 rebounds. If he can pitch in and contribute the same amount tonight, that will help keep the game close, and perhaps Stucki can pull something out of the bag late, who knows?
Advantage: Push
Point
ISU: Matt Stucki PSU: Jeremiah Dominguez
Stucki may be the one player who gives Dominguez serious problems defensively. Dominguez has been great all year, but the 6’6” Stucki is a full foot taller than Dominguez. Here, I gave the advantage to Stucki in the Stott Center game based on their outputs in the first game. Dominguez was able to hit right on his averages, but Stucki was great, going for 26 points. However, Dominguez had a very solid all-around game in the second match-up that superceded Stucki. As this season progressed, one could tell Jeremiah went out every night to send a message. He was rewarded for his outstanding play with the Big Sky Player of the Year award. He is clearly the factor that made last year’s mediocre squad into this year’s Big Sky champions.
Advantage: Vikings
Bench
The Vikings have the advantage here. The Bengals have three bench players who average 5 or more points per game, but none who is a real threat to go for a bunch of points. At home, the Viking bench players just tend to do better. Alex Tiefenthaler had 16 points the first time around against ISU, but failed to score a single point in the second contest. JR Moore stepped up with 6 points and 9 big rebounds in the second contest. With Julius Thomas healthy, Moore may not even see time. Hard to believe that even JR was dominant in the post against the Bengals.
Advantage: Vikings
Well… now comes the time for a prediction. The Bengals won only two conference games away from home: Northern Colorado and Montana. I predicted 76-60 at the Stott Center, and the game came out 81-58. This time, I’m expecting the Vikings to score a few less points in the unfamiliar atmosphere at the Rose Garden. However, I think they should still have plenty to get by the Bengals for a championship match-up with Northern Arizona or Weber State.
Prediction: PSU 73-60
PortlandStater
Active member
...or meth.
Let's go, Vikings!
ManOfVision
Active member
Anybody seen numbers on projected ticket sales or attendance?
ManOfVision said:
The PSU office sold about a 1000 session passes.
What'd we have 4300 for the semi last time? I'll bet be have 4-5k for the semi. If, er, make that when, we win, the final will be a big draw in my opinion. Viking fever. Catch it.
ManOfVision
Active member
I officially invite all Ducks fans to watch PSU vs. ISU - it'll be the only way they'll watch a NCAA team this year.
Video: The Vikings preview the tournament
http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2008/03/video_the_vikings_preview_the.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2008/03/video_the_vikings_preview_the.html
http://blog.oregonlive.com/sportsupdates/2008/03/portland_state_basketball_slid.html
When Portland State's Jeremiah Dominguez and Deonte Huff want to take over a basketball game, they're a hard combination to stop.
At least, Idaho State didn't have an answer for either one Tuesday night.
Dominguez and Huff combined for 36 points to help lift the Vikings to a 72-61 victory over the Bengals in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament at the Rose Garden, putting Portland State one win away from a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Andre Murray added 11 points as the Vikings advanced to tonight's championship game against Northern Arizona, a 75-70 winner over Weber State in Tuesday's opening semifinal game.
"We're one step closer," Dominguez said. "We got a lead, we kept it, and I think we've got some momentum going into tomorrow."
The Vikings led 32-28 at halftime and then used an 11-2 run at the start of the second half to break the game open before a crowd of 3,188.
"I think we played well," Vikings coach Ken Bone said. "It wasn't a very pretty game, but there aren't many pretty games this time of year."
The Vikings got off to a slow start by their standard. Whether it was a case of the jitters, Idaho State's zone defense, or a combination of the two, the Vikings had trouble getting the ball where they wanted and made only one of their first eight shots.
Dominguez gave PSU a spark when he hit a three-pointer over Amorrow Morgan and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass made another three-pointer, putting the Vikings ahead 10-3.
Idaho State's early offensive woes had more to do with turnovers and an inability to finish near the basket. The Bengals made four of their first eight shots, but gave the ball away six times in the opening 10 minutes and fell behind by as many as nine, 19-10, before they hit their stride.
The Bengals twice cut the deficit to three points, the second at 27-24 when Matt Stucki scored on an uncontested lay-in with two minutes remaining in the half.
The Vikings used a three-pointer from Huff and another by Dominguez to outscore the Bengals 6-4 in the final 1:45 of the half for a 33-28 halftime lead.
Scott Morrison helped spark the Vikings run to open the second half when he blocked Donnie Carson's shot near the basket, redirecting the ball to Kyle Coston. Coston then passed ahead to Dominguez, who found Huff streaking toward the basket for a dunk that made it 38-28.
Two possessions later, Dominguez stole the ball and set up Huff for a layin that made it 43-30 and the Vikings were firmly in control from there.
Notes: The Vikings swept the season series with Northern Arizona, winning the first game 80-66 at the Stott Center as Kyle Coston and Andre Murray combined for 29 points and eight rebounds. In the second game, Dominguez scored 14 points and Morrison added 12, leading the Vikings to a 71-68 victory in Flagstaff, Ariz. NAU's Kyle Landry led all scorers in the series with 34 points on 14-for-21 shooting from the field. Coston and Murray had 28 points each in the two games against the Lumberjacks, and Dominguez added 25 points and 13 assists.
The Lumberjacks reached the championship final three of the past four seasons, but lost all three games, falling to Eastern Washington (71-59) in 2004, Montana (73-60) in 2006, and Weber State (88-80) last season. "It says a lot about our program that here we are again, playing for another championship," Lumberjacks coach Mike Adras said. "I could go on and on about how proud I am of what this team has become this season. It's a tough turnaround. You don't get a lot of time to prepare. It's more mental anything, and hopefully we muster up enough energy to play well. I certainly expect that to happen. We're going to give it a great whack, that's for sure."
The last time Northern Arizona won the conference tournament was in 2000 when the Lumberjacks defeated Cal State Northridge 85-81 in overtime. The Lumberjacks went into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed and lost 61-56 to St. John's in the first round in Tucson.
When Portland State's Jeremiah Dominguez and Deonte Huff want to take over a basketball game, they're a hard combination to stop.
At least, Idaho State didn't have an answer for either one Tuesday night.
Dominguez and Huff combined for 36 points to help lift the Vikings to a 72-61 victory over the Bengals in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament at the Rose Garden, putting Portland State one win away from a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Andre Murray added 11 points as the Vikings advanced to tonight's championship game against Northern Arizona, a 75-70 winner over Weber State in Tuesday's opening semifinal game.
"We're one step closer," Dominguez said. "We got a lead, we kept it, and I think we've got some momentum going into tomorrow."
The Vikings led 32-28 at halftime and then used an 11-2 run at the start of the second half to break the game open before a crowd of 3,188.
"I think we played well," Vikings coach Ken Bone said. "It wasn't a very pretty game, but there aren't many pretty games this time of year."
The Vikings got off to a slow start by their standard. Whether it was a case of the jitters, Idaho State's zone defense, or a combination of the two, the Vikings had trouble getting the ball where they wanted and made only one of their first eight shots.
Dominguez gave PSU a spark when he hit a three-pointer over Amorrow Morgan and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass made another three-pointer, putting the Vikings ahead 10-3.
Idaho State's early offensive woes had more to do with turnovers and an inability to finish near the basket. The Bengals made four of their first eight shots, but gave the ball away six times in the opening 10 minutes and fell behind by as many as nine, 19-10, before they hit their stride.
The Bengals twice cut the deficit to three points, the second at 27-24 when Matt Stucki scored on an uncontested lay-in with two minutes remaining in the half.
The Vikings used a three-pointer from Huff and another by Dominguez to outscore the Bengals 6-4 in the final 1:45 of the half for a 33-28 halftime lead.
Scott Morrison helped spark the Vikings run to open the second half when he blocked Donnie Carson's shot near the basket, redirecting the ball to Kyle Coston. Coston then passed ahead to Dominguez, who found Huff streaking toward the basket for a dunk that made it 38-28.
Two possessions later, Dominguez stole the ball and set up Huff for a layin that made it 43-30 and the Vikings were firmly in control from there.
Notes: The Vikings swept the season series with Northern Arizona, winning the first game 80-66 at the Stott Center as Kyle Coston and Andre Murray combined for 29 points and eight rebounds. In the second game, Dominguez scored 14 points and Morrison added 12, leading the Vikings to a 71-68 victory in Flagstaff, Ariz. NAU's Kyle Landry led all scorers in the series with 34 points on 14-for-21 shooting from the field. Coston and Murray had 28 points each in the two games against the Lumberjacks, and Dominguez added 25 points and 13 assists.
The Lumberjacks reached the championship final three of the past four seasons, but lost all three games, falling to Eastern Washington (71-59) in 2004, Montana (73-60) in 2006, and Weber State (88-80) last season. "It says a lot about our program that here we are again, playing for another championship," Lumberjacks coach Mike Adras said. "I could go on and on about how proud I am of what this team has become this season. It's a tough turnaround. You don't get a lot of time to prepare. It's more mental anything, and hopefully we muster up enough energy to play well. I certainly expect that to happen. We're going to give it a great whack, that's for sure."
The last time Northern Arizona won the conference tournament was in 2000 when the Lumberjacks defeated Cal State Northridge 85-81 in overtime. The Lumberjacks went into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed and lost 61-56 to St. John's in the first round in Tucson.
Viks Move Step Closer To Big Dance, Beat ISU, 72-61
http://www.goviks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?temp_site=NO&DB_OEM_ID=19300&ATCLID=1410482
http://www.goviks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?temp_site=NO&DB_OEM_ID=19300&ATCLID=1410482
ManOfVision
Active member
Those two plays by JD where he made a three, then stole the ball to score again were just unbelievable.
ManOfVision said:
No doubt. That really got the crowd into it.
