Gameday preview: Portland State at Eastern Washington
http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2009/02/gameday_preview_portland_state_1.html
Portland State at Eastern Washington
When: 7 tonight
Where: Reese Court (6,000), Cheney, Wash.
Records: PSU (20-9, 10-5 Big Sky Conference), EWU (12-16, 6-9)
On the air: Radio on KPDQ (800)
The lowdown: A PSU victory in tonight's regular-season finale would lift the Vikings into a second-place tie with Montana. The Vikings would then need Northern Colorado to defeat visiting Montana State on Sunday to earn the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed in the Big Sky tournament and a berth in the conference semifinals on March 10 in Ogden, Utah. If Montana ends up with the tiebreaker, the Vikings would earn the No. 3 seed and play host to the No. 6 seed in a quarterfinal game at the Stott Center on March 7. ... The Vikings are hoping for a better effort against the Eagles than they had in Wednesday's 64-58 victory over Montana State in the final regular-season home game. "We have to be consistent on every possession and every play," senior guard Jeremiah Dominguez said. "I think some guys just take plays off, and we can't do that. Against some teams, we get away with it, because we're a little better at different positions. But when teams are solid, we can't take possessions off at all. So, hopefully, we can play a whole 40-minute game." ... Eastern Washington must win tonight to have a shot at sixth place and the conference's final playoff berth. The Eagles, coming off a 63-59 nonconference loss Tuesday to Seattle, have lost three of the past four games and dropped an 83-61 decision to PSU on Jan. 24 in Portland. "PSU took it to us in the second half at their place," Eagles coach Kirk Earlywine said. "We were never able to recover, and Portland State has a tendency to do that to opponents. They force a lot of turnovers and they make a lot of three pointers -- they can score in bunches. How well we take care of the ball and keep them from going on scoring runs will be a big factor Saturday night."
Vikings playing tougher but is it tough enough?
http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2009/02/vikings_playing_tougher_but_is.html