Portland State Vikings

Location: Portland, Oregon
Conference: Big Sky
Season Record: 23-9, 11-5 conference
Coach: Ken Bone (Seattle Pacific '83)

The Vikings return to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. Last year they were waxed by eventual champion Kansas Jayhawks in the first round 85-61. The team and it's fanbase is looking to do a little more this time around. They are a capable team as witnessed by their victory over Gonzaga on the Bulldogs home court and a one point loss at Washington. Portland State averages 9.7 treys a game. That willingness to shoot the long ball make them a threat to win any game on a hot shooting night.

STARTING 5:

10 - Jeremiah Dominguez 5-6 150 SR
He is a former Oregon high school player of the year who began his career at the University of Portland. He transferred across town and Ken Bone and staff couldn't be happier with this young man. More of a scoring point than a distributor he put up 199 three point field goal attempts and hit them at a very good rate of .437%. He led his team in scoring with 12.9 PPG.

3 - Andre Murray 6-2 200 SR
Andre arrived at PSU last year after transferring from the College of the Canyons. He is best described as 'dependable'. Murray rebounds fairly well from the '2' spot at 4.0 RPG. Andre is also one of four Vikings who average double figures, he checks in at 11.0 PPG. He hoisted 120 treys and hit a decent .358% of them.

21 - Phil Nelson 6-7 220 SO
This redshirt sophomore actually began his career at the University of Washington and managed to start nine games for them in 2006-2007. Blue Ribbon magazine described him as the best physical talent in the Big Sky. He was recruited as more of a '2' than a '3' and like most of the Vikings will shoot the trey unabashedly. Phil hit 35% of the 163 long ball shots he took this year. He was the third leading scorer at 11.2 PPG and averaged 3.6 RPG.

14 - Kyle Coston 6-8 210 JR
The Vikings' four man only shot .337% from the field for the season. He too will put up the three point shot but only hit .274% of the 106 he took. He is not overly strong on the glass at 3.5 boards per game and he averaged 6.3 PPG for the year.

44 - Jamie Jones 6-7 215 JR
He too began his career at the University of Portland before heading across town for more playing time. He is the exception for the Vikings in regards to three point shooting; he attempted none for the season. He is an undersized post who will scrap on the boards (5.3 RPG) and did not foul out of any contests. He averaged 8.9 PPG for the season.

BENCH:

11 - Dominic Waters 6-1 170 JR
Dominic plays starter minutes and puts up starter stats. He is the second leading scorer on the team at 11.5 PPG. He began his career at the University of Hawai'i and was named the WAC Freshmen of the Year during his time there. He put up 130 three point shots and hit a remarkable .462% of them. He is also a slasher as witnessed by his 83 free throw attempts which he hit at .807%.

1 - Julius Thomas 6-5 220 JR
This Stockton, CA product will come in with lots of confidence. His slam against Montana won the Big Sky conference tournament title for the Vikings as time expired. He will not shoot the three either (0 attempts) but will get to the free throw line. Julius is not overly productive there .527% but did collect a team leading 73 offensive boards and averaged 5.2 RPG overall. He contributes a solid 7.1 PPG for the Vikings.

13 - Tyrell Mara 6-6 235 JR
This career reserve put up 64 three point shots for PSU this season. He hit 36% of them and averages around 16 minutes per game. Overall he averages 3.7 PPG and 2.8 RPG.

23 - Wendell Wright 6-5 185 FR
This frosh from Lakewood, CA averages around nine minutes per game. He doesn't appear to do much when he is out there and score less than one point per game.

4 - Mickey Polis 5-8 165 SR
Mickey was only used in about half of PSU's games this season. He is a deep sub at best but will look to score as witnessed by his 2.0 PPG in limited playing time.


I think the Musketeers need to be ready to weather a energetic start by the Vikings. We will need to be careful not to get in a three point shooting contest with them and use our inside game to our advantage. I would expect either Love, Anderson, Frease and Brown to have big games in the paint. If that is the case we will do what Las Vegas predicts and win this game by 11. IF the Vikings get hot early it could be a long evening for Xavier. I don't see that happening and actually I am quite confident we can beat either Florida State and Wisconsin most nights also. I can't wait to see what develops.

Monday Morning Thoughts

'Dancin, dancin, dancin, dancing machine!' How about those Muskies? A four seed off a 5-5 finish tells me respect has been earned. Not overly excited about going to Boise to play a good west coast underdog team in Portland State, but nevertheless a better than expected seeding draw. This is Xavier's 20th NCAA tournament appearance overall, 18th since 1984. Also this is our fourth appearance in a row under Sean Miller. I truly thought we were looking at a five seed and I would much rather be playing the Vikings in the first round than say a Wisconsin Badger team. The Vikings however are dangerous (see their win at Gonzaga) and a team that loves to shoot the three. I will have a in depth look at them up tomorrow. Here are some other things on my mind:

- Dayton against West Virginia has me torn. Huggins keeps creeping back into my life and I am not sure who I am pulling for in this one. Friday is shaping up to be a big day for tri state viewers as UD tips around 3 PM. Part of me wants to see the A10 score one over the Big East but a big part of me hates everything UD, hence the 'torn' scenario for me.

- X finished 22nd in this week's ESPN poll. The Musketeers were seeded as a top 16 team. What does it mean? To me finishing in the top 25 is better than I expected preseason. However late January I had hoped for a top 10 finish.

- Who does the Ohio State University know on the selection committee? The Buckeyes in Dayton with the possibility of facing Louisville on Sunday doesn't seem fair. I think Siena is going to upset that dream. Fran McCaffery along with Brad Stevens are on my short list for potential future coaches of Xavier if necessary. As part of the tristate triple header on Friday they tip around 9:40 PM. Fans on UDPride are already scheming to let a bidding war begin for tickets for the UL/OSU potential matchup. I would take the Buckeyes in that one if they can get past the Saints.

- Kentucky fans miss Tubby? His Golden Gophers at Minnesota are in the 'Big Dance'. Billy Gillespie has been regulated to Memorial Hall to play UNLV in the Not Important Tournament. Rupp Arena has more important things to do with hosting the high school boys basketball state tournament Tuesday night.

- Poor, poor Bearcats didn't even get a call for the Not Important Tournament. Sippin' Mick has too much pride to take another invite to the Crappy Basketball Invitational. As usual his excuses are poor; 'It's a television event' in regards to the NIT tournament passing over his Bearcats for other Big East 'giants' Notre Dame and Georgetown. Really? You mean people would rather watch lowly A10 teams Duquesne and Rhode Island over the 9th best team in the Big East? Man oh man that will be Sports Illustrated's sure sign the apocolaypse is coming in this week's edition.

- Continuing with the Bearcats I didn't know Deonta Vaughn had an injury issue. It was reported today that his big toe will need X rays. That could explain his play down the stretch. The guy had to do too much. I was also disappointed to read about Kenny Belton's playing days being over forever. That will give Mick an extra schollie to get a point guard. There is no way in hell the NCAA gives Mike Williams an extra year of eligibility. They care about kids too much. Insert sarcasm here. My latest edition of Prepstars Recruiters Handbook lists the Bearcats being involved with their #81 prospect overall in Eric Bledsoe. He is a 6-0 point guard out of Birmingham, AL. Ole Miss, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Duke and Memphis are also listed highlighting the paucity of point guards in this class. Bearcat fans should take a look at Juco Junction site by Rivals and see what point guards are available as well. Most would agree the 'Cats need more options at point guard for 2009-2010 season. Also I am curious as to see what develops with the rest of their roster. The Enquirer reported today that Mick was meeting with sophomore Alvin Mitchell to discuss his status.

- I normally wouldn't speak so much on UC but my boy Dave (like the Bearcats) has tanked. He has plenty of excuses (another familiar Bearcat refrain) as to why and they are all very valid. You see Dave (like many Bearcat fans) suffers from what I refer to as 'fairweatherism'. It is very common in the Greater Cincinnati area. Most around here tend to pump their chests in the offseason of their teams whether it be the Bengals, Reds, or Bearcats moreso than during the season. I suffer and rejoice with my teams year round. Although the Bengals are getting harder and harder to get excited for anymore.

- I am on vacation this week (thus the long winded post). Other things to do today: clean out closets for a Goodwill donation trip, take my 18 month old son to see the dinosaurs exhibit at the Museum Center (he loves them), and do some more reading on Portland State. It's great to be on vacation. Tomorrow being St. Patrick's Day includes all day at Turfway Park acting Irish and an evening at UD Arena watching Morehead State v Alabama State in the play in game. Donnie Tyndall and Morehead could give Louisville a run. Also who doesn't want to see Chief Kickingstallionsims play for the Hornets of Alabama State? The late evening will include acting more 'irish' on Tuesday. Wednesday is for recovery and yard work. And then we have the tournament. Yes vacation is very, very good.

Temple v Duquesne

The A10 will determine it's automatic bid tonight at 6 PM. Duquesne beat Dayton by 11 last night to advance to their first A10 championship since 1981. Temple squeaked by X 55-53. Should be a great game. I am glad I decided to wait until after the conference tournament to pick all conference teams. Aaron Jackson from Duquesne is the POY over Nivins in my opinion. Everhart is obviously the choice for COY. IF he can win tonight this will be his third rebuilding job. First he took McNeese State to the dance, then Northeastern, and now a chance with Duquesne. The guy adapts to his personnel and is a chameleon as a coach.

Xavier may be looking at a quick stay in the big dance. I am eager and excited to see who we match up with. I will have a long preview of who we must face off against. My official prediction is a five seed for us. BJ Raymond and Derrick Brown did all they could last night to see us get to the A10 championship game. It just wasn't meant to be. CJ Anderson going 0-9 and reverting back to his 1 on 5 mentality certainly didn't help. Just watch number 20 when we play in the big dance. If he is dishing off and playing smart X will play on. IF not we could lose our first game. Anyway for now we will settle for being back to back to back regular season A10 champions.

Many conference tournament championships to be decided today. I plan on watching as many as I can:

America East 11 AM: UMBC v Binghamton

CUSA 1130 AM: Tulsa v Memphis

A10 6 PM: Temple v Duquesne

Big 12 6 PM: Baylor v Missouri

Pac 10 6 PM: USC v Arizona State

MEAC 7 PM: Norfolk State v Morgan State

Mountain West 7 PM: San Diego State v Utah

MAC 8 PM: Akron v Buffalo

Big East 9 PM: Syracuse v Louisville

SWAC 9 PM: Jackson State v Alabama State

WAC 10 PM: Nevada v Utah State

Big West 12 AM: Pacific v Cal State Northridge

Should be a great day for college basketball. The A10 finals certainly upset some bubble teams. Also if Baylor wins there is another spot claimed. Finally bubble teams need to be rooting hard for Memphis this morning. I love March.

Semifinals

Xavier spanked St. Louis 66-47 earlier today. They will meet Temple tomorrow night for a spot in the A10 championship game. CJ Anderson played very good today. I have been critical of him in the past but today he made great decisions with the ball. Fifteen points on 6-8 shooting to go along with five assists and four rebounds for CJ. He apparently has some back pain issues as alluded to on the telecast. This is the time of the year everybody is dealing with some ailment it seems. BJ Raymond led all scorers for X with 18 points.

Seven turnovers for the game is a stat I would like to see for the rest of March. Holloway played with confidence today. The story of the game was rebounding. Xavier won that battle 32-18. Add Majerus to the list of coaches who said 'NIT or nothing'. For the record I don't think they have a chance. I like Rick's reasons however. He proclaimed his team has lost too much class time and is too tired and beat up. Something tells me the CBI and other new post season tournament aren't going to be around long.

Temple beat St. Joes and tomorrow should be a great game. The first matchup at Cintas was very entertaining. Dionte Christmas is a dangerous one. He has led the A10 in scoring for three years in a row. I believe the first ever to do so. I just finished watching Duquesne squelch Rhode Island's chances of an at large bid. The Rams should get an invite to the NIT. It is Duquesne's first trip to the semifinals since 1994. In a few minutes Dayton will take on Richmond to determine the final spot in the semis.

It's the Bills

St. Louis defeated LaSalle today in OT to advance in the A10 tournament. We handled them early on in the conference season on our floor but you never know what could happen. They have great guard play and a decent coach so it should be lots of fun.

Two more conference championships on tap tonight on ESPN2. The NEC and Big Sky submit their automatic bids to the big dance. The NDSU/Oakland game was a great one to watch last night. Oakland had command the whole game only to lose it at the end. The Bison of North Dakota State just became eligible this year to compete for the postseason at the D1 level. Cleveland State defeated Butler which stole a bubble spot from somebody last night.

Also I am a big believer in 'karma'. I will not play add on with Mighty Mouse but I am glad the Bearcat fan base is coming to their senses about the little guy with a big mouth.