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http://www.standard.net/topics/sports/2010/03/08/wildcats-wary-vikings-tonights-semifinal
Wildcats wary of Vikings in tonight's semifinal
By Jasen Asay (Standard-Examiner staff)
Last Edit: Mar 8 2010 - 11:27pm
OGDEN -- They don't care that they recently won their third regular-season championship during the past four years in Big Sky Conference.
They don't care that one of their players, Damian Lillard, was recently named the league's Most Valuable Player or another, Franklin Session, was honored as the conference's newcomer of the year.
None of that matters to the Weber State Wildcats.
All that they are focused on is the Big Sky Conference championship tournament, which will decide who will represent the Big Sky in the NCAA tournament.
"The thing about this is, in the conference tournament the intensity goes up a notch and the excitement goes up," said WSU coach Randy Rahe. "The situation of being one-and-done makes things more exciting. It's an intense time of the year but at the same time, it's a fun time of the year."
The top-seeded Wildcats, who finished league play with a 13-3 record (19-9 overall) to earn a spot in the National Invitational Tournament should they not win the Big Sky tournament, face No. 6-seeded Portland State in tonight's semifinal matchup.
Nine days ago, Weber State lost 84-79 at Portland State in a game that was meaningless as far as the league standings were concerned, but is still motivation for both teams.
"We owe it to ourselves that we can take care of our home court," Lillard said. "There's more on the line this time. We'll come out like we would against any team, but we've got to show them that it will be different this time."
The Vikings, who finished the season 7-9 in league play and are 13-18 overall, are also likely still using it as momentum. PSU's Dominic Waters told The Oregonian after the game that the game could affect a possible rematch in the conference tournament.
"It was a statement game," Waters told the newspaper. "I know if we win next week (at Montana State), we play (Weber State) when we get to their building. They got beat there in the semifinals last year, so it's feasible for us."
The Vikings topped No. 3 seed Montana State 68-65 on Saturday in Bozeman, Mont., thanks to a last-second 3-pointer by Melvin Jones, which set up tonight's exciting rematch.
PSU won the league's postseason tournament here a year ago, its second-consecutive tournament championship after winning at home the season before, when the Vikings topped Montana State in the championship game. It was Montana State that was the sixth seed a year ago and knocked off WSU in the semifinals on the Wildcats' court, and the Vikings hope to do the same.
WSU, on the other hand, knows it has to play differently than it did last time against the Vikings.
"We're going to have to guard them better, we're going to have to rebound better and we're going to have to execute our offense better," said WSU forward Kyle Bullinger. "Our overall urgency wasn't there offensively. We were slow getting into our offense and were slow with our execution and as a result we didn't get good looks. Against their zone we've got to get the ball moving."
WSU won the first meeting between the two teams, an 86-83 final where PSU had two 3-point attempts in the final seconds to tie the game here at the Dee Events Center, and tonight's game features the top two scoring teams in the Big Sky. PSU averaged 78.6 points per game while WSU scored 77.3 per game. WSU fared better defensively, giving up 71.4 points per game while the Vikings rank last in that category, having allowed 79.6 points per game.
"They're hard to guard and they've got a lot of weapons and they get the ball up and down in transition," Rahe said. "They can score the ball and it will be a good test to see if we can guard them."
The biggest thing WSU has going is obviously the home-court advantage. WSU has averaged 5,304 fans per game, and was the only team to go undefeated at home in the Big Sky Conference.
"You play maybe a little more aggressive at home than you would in somebody else's environment," Rahe said. "Just the familiar surroundings helps."
The Wildcats outrebounded their opponents by 5.3 rebounds per game at home, and shot 48 percent from the field while opponents shot just 44 percent. Individually, WSU has four players scoring in double figures at home with Lillard averaging 19.2 points per game, followed by Steve Panos (14.4), Session (11.8) and Nick Hansen (10.4).
Montana vs. NAU
The first game of the evening features No. 4 seed Montana and No. 2 seed Northern Colorado.
The two teams split their regular-season series, with each team winning on the other's home court.
"It's going to be a terrific game," Rahe said. "They each won on the other's home court so that tells you something about those teams. I think it's going to be a real tough, hard-fought game and an exciting one to watch."
Montana (20-9) advanced to the semifinals with an 80-61 win over Northern Arizona on Saturday in Missoula. The Bears (24-6), finished 12-4 in league play to earn the second seed and the other bye straight to the semifinals.
Wildcats wary of Vikings in tonight's semifinal
By Jasen Asay (Standard-Examiner staff)
Last Edit: Mar 8 2010 - 11:27pm
OGDEN -- They don't care that they recently won their third regular-season championship during the past four years in Big Sky Conference.
They don't care that one of their players, Damian Lillard, was recently named the league's Most Valuable Player or another, Franklin Session, was honored as the conference's newcomer of the year.
None of that matters to the Weber State Wildcats.
All that they are focused on is the Big Sky Conference championship tournament, which will decide who will represent the Big Sky in the NCAA tournament.
"The thing about this is, in the conference tournament the intensity goes up a notch and the excitement goes up," said WSU coach Randy Rahe. "The situation of being one-and-done makes things more exciting. It's an intense time of the year but at the same time, it's a fun time of the year."
The top-seeded Wildcats, who finished league play with a 13-3 record (19-9 overall) to earn a spot in the National Invitational Tournament should they not win the Big Sky tournament, face No. 6-seeded Portland State in tonight's semifinal matchup.
Nine days ago, Weber State lost 84-79 at Portland State in a game that was meaningless as far as the league standings were concerned, but is still motivation for both teams.
"We owe it to ourselves that we can take care of our home court," Lillard said. "There's more on the line this time. We'll come out like we would against any team, but we've got to show them that it will be different this time."
The Vikings, who finished the season 7-9 in league play and are 13-18 overall, are also likely still using it as momentum. PSU's Dominic Waters told The Oregonian after the game that the game could affect a possible rematch in the conference tournament.
"It was a statement game," Waters told the newspaper. "I know if we win next week (at Montana State), we play (Weber State) when we get to their building. They got beat there in the semifinals last year, so it's feasible for us."
The Vikings topped No. 3 seed Montana State 68-65 on Saturday in Bozeman, Mont., thanks to a last-second 3-pointer by Melvin Jones, which set up tonight's exciting rematch.
PSU won the league's postseason tournament here a year ago, its second-consecutive tournament championship after winning at home the season before, when the Vikings topped Montana State in the championship game. It was Montana State that was the sixth seed a year ago and knocked off WSU in the semifinals on the Wildcats' court, and the Vikings hope to do the same.
WSU, on the other hand, knows it has to play differently than it did last time against the Vikings.
"We're going to have to guard them better, we're going to have to rebound better and we're going to have to execute our offense better," said WSU forward Kyle Bullinger. "Our overall urgency wasn't there offensively. We were slow getting into our offense and were slow with our execution and as a result we didn't get good looks. Against their zone we've got to get the ball moving."
WSU won the first meeting between the two teams, an 86-83 final where PSU had two 3-point attempts in the final seconds to tie the game here at the Dee Events Center, and tonight's game features the top two scoring teams in the Big Sky. PSU averaged 78.6 points per game while WSU scored 77.3 per game. WSU fared better defensively, giving up 71.4 points per game while the Vikings rank last in that category, having allowed 79.6 points per game.
"They're hard to guard and they've got a lot of weapons and they get the ball up and down in transition," Rahe said. "They can score the ball and it will be a good test to see if we can guard them."
The biggest thing WSU has going is obviously the home-court advantage. WSU has averaged 5,304 fans per game, and was the only team to go undefeated at home in the Big Sky Conference.
"You play maybe a little more aggressive at home than you would in somebody else's environment," Rahe said. "Just the familiar surroundings helps."
The Wildcats outrebounded their opponents by 5.3 rebounds per game at home, and shot 48 percent from the field while opponents shot just 44 percent. Individually, WSU has four players scoring in double figures at home with Lillard averaging 19.2 points per game, followed by Steve Panos (14.4), Session (11.8) and Nick Hansen (10.4).
Montana vs. NAU
The first game of the evening features No. 4 seed Montana and No. 2 seed Northern Colorado.
The two teams split their regular-season series, with each team winning on the other's home court.
"It's going to be a terrific game," Rahe said. "They each won on the other's home court so that tells you something about those teams. I think it's going to be a real tough, hard-fought game and an exciting one to watch."
Montana (20-9) advanced to the semifinals with an 80-61 win over Northern Arizona on Saturday in Missoula. The Bears (24-6), finished 12-4 in league play to earn the second seed and the other bye straight to the semifinals.