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2008 Big Sky Champs!!!

From the Portland Tribune:

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=120528920518970700

PORTLAND STATE WINS BIG SKY, ADVANCES TO NCAA TOURNEY

Portland State will play in its first NCAA Tournament after beating Northern Arizona 67-51 Wednesday for the Big Sky Conference men's basketball championship at the Rose Garden.

The Vikings never trailed in the game.

"It's an exciting time for our whole university," coach Ken Bone says. "Everybody's played a big part in helping Portland State basketball get to this point."

The Vikings moved to 23-9, and await Sunday's NCAA Tournament selection show to find out their destination for the Big Dance.

"It's nice to be able to kick back and relax, get conditioned and get shots up," Bone says.

He adds, jokingly: "It's finals week, and these kids have been bugging me about more time in the classroom and library."

Deonte Huff, the tournament MVP, scored 17 points while Kyle Coston added 14 and Jeremiah Dominguez 13. All three made the Big Sky all-tournament team.

The Vikings shot .440 from the floor, including 8 of 17 from 3-point land, a key figure, Bone says. The Viks forced 22 turnovers, leading to 28 points.

Nate Geiser had 13 points and Kyle Landry 10 for Northern Arizona (21-11), which lost in the Big Sky title game for the third consecutive year. The Lumberjacks shot .345 from the field.

"We had to pressure them for 40 minutes, and deny their wings to disrupt their offense, and use help-side defense on Landry," Coston says.

Landry says PSU's "hustle plays," including him being stripped by Dominguez, earned the Viks the victory. "They played a great game and deserved to win," he says.

After a hot start by both teams, PSU took control in the latter stages of the first half, outscoring the Lumberjacks 14-3 in the final 7:46 before halftime. Bone points back to the 15-minute media timeout in the first half, and PSU outscoring the 'Jacks 18-10 from that point on.

The Vikings won despite another off night by post Scott Morrison, who had no points, although he chipped in four rebounds, three blocks and a steal.
 
From the Big Sky Conference:

http://www.bigskyconf.com/article.asp?articleid=90824

Vikings Claim First Title
PSU's Deonte Huff was named the MVP
of the 2008 Big Sky Conference
Men's Basketball Championship

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland State Vikings captured their first ever Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Championship with a 67-51 win over Northern Arizona on Wednesday night.

Senior guard Deonte Huff scored 13 first-half points and finished with 17 to lead the Vikings to a win in their first ever appearance in the league championship game.

Huff was named the tournament MVP.
Portland State beat a Big Sky opponent for the 14th straight time, hiking teir season record to 23-9.

Kyle Coston scored 14 points, hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers. Andre Murray added 13 points. Jeremiah Dominguez scored nine points, dished out six assists and had four steals.


Coston and Dominguez were selected to the All-Tournament Team.

Portland State earns the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. The Vikings will learn their first-round opponent on Sunday when the field of 65 teams is announced on CBS.

Portland State has not advanced to an NCAA postseason tournament since advancing to the NCAA Pacific Coast College Regionals in 1967.

Portland State dropped men's basketball following the 1980-81 season, but reinstated the sports upon joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996-07.

Northern Arizona lost in the championship game for the third straight season. The Lumberjacks' had a six-game winning streak snapped. NAU, which still has hope for a NIT bid, is 21-11.

Nate Geiser scored 13 points, and Kyle Landry added 10 points and 11 rebounds for NAU. The Lumberjacks shot 34.5 percent from the floor, and just 22.2 percent from 3-point range.


All-Tournament Team
MVP - Deonte Huff, G, Portland State
Jeremiah Dominguez, G, Portland State
Kyle Coston, F, Portland State
Kyle Landry, C, Northern Arizona
Josh Wilson, G, Northern Arizona
Matt Stucki, G, Idaho State



Championship Quotes

PORTLAND STATE COACH KEN BONE

I’m just real happy and proud of the kids on the team. I know how much goes into having a championship program. It’s not just the kids in the program, (it’s the) administration, assistant coaches, strength coach. Everybody’s played a big part in helping Portland State basketball get to this point.

So it’s an exciting time for whole university, not just us three or the guys on the team. It’s an outstanding moment for Portland State.



KYLE COSTON

We had to come out and pressure them for 40 minutes. We had to make the wings catch it farther out than they would like to disrupt their offense. Landry, in the post, is a big load to handle.



JEREMIAH DOMINGUEZ

(On Deonte Huff’s fast start) He played a key part at the start of the game. He had five points right off the bat. He got us going, and once he got us going I think everybody picked up and followed along.



KYLE COSTON

(On when the reality of winning the game started to set in). I saw there were five minutes left and I knew we had a pretty good lead, but I know crazier things have happened. So the guys on the team knew it wasn’t over.

That’s every guy’s dream. Even from a little kid. Just to be here and have the

opportunity and do what we’ve done. So, yes, I like it.



BONE

(What are you going to do now?) Fortunately we don’t find out who we play until Sunday evening. So it’s kinda nice to kick back and relax a little. Keep these guys in condition; get some shots up, work on a couple of things.

It’s finals next week and these guys have been bugging me to get more time in the classroom and more time in the library, so we’re going to take advantage of that. (Very tongue in cheek)



(What were you most impressed with, what facet of the game?) The fact that we shot well. Kyle didn’t hesitate a bit. We shot a good percentage tonight -- 8-17 from three. That’s 47 percent; last night was 37.5 percent, and I think that’s where these guys are really good.

There’s a lot of mental toughness, combined with confidence. They just keep shooting the ball regardless of who we’re playing – it doesn’t matter.


Northern Arizona Quotes



Kyle Landry #33

(On playing his last collegiate game)

"It really did not go as I imagined. I give all the credit in the world to them. They played hard. We had a lot of turnovers and everybody is guilty of that. We played sloppy and that's not the kind of game that we normally play."



"In these kinds of games, we've got to make up with effort plays and hustling all over the place. They sort of beat us to those plays. There were a couple times where I got a rebound and Dominguez kind of slipped it underneath me and I didn't even see him. He just kind of popped it off me or got a jump ball or something and all the credit in the world to them. They played a great game and they deserved to win tonight."



Josh Wilson #21

(On three straight losses in the championship game)

"It stings. Every single time we score some points and get so close to accomplishing all our dreams in the world, we come up short. They are a great team. It seems like every time single time we get to this game, we play a great team and they play their best game of the season."



Head Coach Mike Adras

"I truly believed Portland State was the best team in the conference this year and they showed it this evening. I am not sure that we played our best basketball tonight. They came out of the gates and grabbed a hold of this ball game. That was a lot of the things that we talked about before this game, which was trying to make them play catch up to us for one game this year. They were able to take the lead on us early in every game we played. I tip my hat off to their style of play, what they did and how they played the game tonight."
 
Here is a very nice article from the Columbian, which also honors Portland State's academic achievements.

http://www.columbian.com/sports/localNews/2008/03/03132008_Commentary-Portland-State-gets-on-basketball-map.cfm

Commentary: Portland State gets on basketball map


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Thursday, March 13, 2008
By Greg Jayne Columbian Sports Editor

PORTLAND — It was born to humble beginnings as Vanport Extension Center, and it has spent the past 62 years living a mostly humble existence.

But as a group of young men qualified for the NCAA basketball tournament Wednesday, as they made a blip upon college basketball’s national stage, Portland State University took a large step toward maturity.

“To me, it doesn’t seem like we get the recognition we deserve, and I don’t just mean athletically,” coach Ken Bone said of the largest university in Oregon. “I think that motivates a lot of us.”

So as Deonte Huff scored 17 points in a 67-51 victory over Northern Arizona, and as the Vikings won the Big Sky Conference tournament, and as the fans stormed the court to celebrate an NCAA berth, you couldn’t help but think this was bigger than a basketball game.

Consider this: Portland State has never been to the NCAA tournament. It has never been to the land of big dreams and Cinderella stories, a place where universities can conjure up a decade’s worth of positive publicity in a matter of weeks.

Why, just 12 years ago, Portland State was jump-starting its basketball program after a 15-year hiatus. Now it is envisioning itself as the next Valparaiso or the next George Mason or the next Gonzaga.

“That’s every guy’s dream, even as a little kid,” sophomore forward Kyle Coston said. “Just to be here, to have an opportunity.”

And there’s no reason for the opportunities to end next week, when Portland State draws a Georgetown or a Kansas or a Duke in the first round of the NCAAs.

Based in a metropolis, competing against schools from outposts such as Greeley, Colo., and Pocatello, Idaho, PSU has advantages that should make it a perennial power in the Big Sky.

As center Scott Morrison, a senior from Vancouver, British Columbia, said: “Portland State and Idaho State were the only schools that recruited me. I was a big-city guy, so it was Portland State.”

That can make all the difference to a university in the modern age of marketing and brand-name influence. And if you don’t believe the impact that athletics can have, particularly a trip to the NCAA tournament, just look at what basketball success has done for Gonzaga’s name recognition.

“I didn’t know that much about Portland State in high school,” said point guard Jeremiah Dominguez, the regular-season MVP of the Big Sky. “You don’t really hear about them, don’t see them on TV.”

And if somebody who grew up in Salem didn’t know much about Portland State, well, you can bet the rest of the country doesn’t, either.

All of which makes Wednesday’s victory significant.

It doesn’t match the importance of the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science. It doesn’t compare with the impact of the School of Business Administration. But it goes a long way toward placing Portland State into the national consciousness.

Probably the two most famous people who have attended Portland State are professional trainwreck Courtney Love and Playboy playmate Holly Madison. A little more than a week from now, with a little serendipity in the NCAA tournament, they could be joined by Huff or Dominguez or Morrison.

And that kind of publicity is something you simply can’t get for your engineering school.

“It’s an exciting time for our whole university,” said Bone, who lives in Vancouver. “It’s an outstanding moment for Portland State.”
Click to expand...
 
And an alternative one from our friends at the Willamette Week. Very funny, I watched the "Dramatic Chipmunk" (=J.D.) more often than our video on ESPN.
icon_biggrin.png


http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=11071
 
Congrats Portland State, you guys had no trouble in the tourney.

I'll be anxious to see who you guys get on Selection Sunday; the other Weber State fans and I will be rooting for the Vikings.

Represent the Big Sky!
 
The Weber State Wildcats are in debt to you guys for pulling off the win against NAU after we were eph'd by the officiating crew, again. You might call me a whiner but you know as well as me about the officiating crews. We have the blessing of having Big Sky headquarters in Ogden Utah so it is especially SHITTY here. We invite any of you guys down to Ogden for a PSU/WSU basketball game. You can see for yourself.
 
Purple Haze said:
I'm calling a PSU upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Click to expand...

Could happen, especially if you can get a 14 seed and can get a favorable matchup in the backcourt. If you draw a team that Dominguez can run circles around and make things happen, maybe PSU can pull the upset.
 
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