Experienced Xavier ends Vikings season: Xavier uses its size advantage in 77-59 victory over Portland State

The Portland State Vikings dance in the NCAA tournament ended in the first round for the second consecutive season in a 77-59 defeat to a physical, oversized and experienced Xavier team Friday in Boise.

Four Musketeer players scored in double digits, led by senior forward C.J. Anderson who scored ten of his 14 points in the second half.

“Xavier set the tone immediately,” said Portland State head coach Ken Bone. “They were very difficult to stop on one end and hard to get good shots off against on the other.”

PSU found themselves battling from behind early in the first half when Xavier used a 10-0 run to build a 17-7 lead.

However, the Vikings would rally behind inside baskets made by junior forward Jamie Jones and senior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez. The captain would score all of his 13 points in the first half.

Portland State rallied to take a narrow one point lead, 25-24, when senior guard Andre Murray hit a three-pointer with 8:35 remaining. The one point edge was the Vikings only lead in the game.

“The momentum was definitely turning our way when we got the lead,” Murray said. “But after that we kind of beat ourselves.”

Xavier responded with a 16-4 run that resulted in a commanding 40-29 lead. Portland State’s struggled with turnovers all game long and two consecutive giveaways by the Vikings helped Xavier regain the lead and capture the momentum on transition baskets.

The Vikings would get another taste of momentum when Murray drained another three with three seconds remaining in the first half to cut the Xavier lead to just seven points at the break, 42-35.

“Xavier played off their experience playing in the tournament,” Bone said. “They reacted right away whenever we tried to get something going and never panicked.”

In the second half the Atlantic-10 regular season conference champion Xavier used their commanding size advantage to take over the game and put away the underdog Vikings.

Xavier senior guard B.J. Raymond nailed a three-pointer, which was followed by a Derrick Brown alley-oop dunk moments later to give Xavier a 49-37 lead with less than five minutes into the second half.

Portland State never seemed to match the energy that Xavier brought to the game in the second half as the Musketeer lead reached as large as 23.

Xavier’s tenacious defense led to shutouts from two of the Portland State players that the squad had leaned heavily on during the six-game winning streak that preceded the first round game. Junior starting small forward Phil Nelson and junior reserve forward Julius Thomas were each held scoreless.

“I think that we just didn’t have the motivation at the end,” said junior forward Jamie Jones who finished with a team high 16 points. “It was just tough. A tough team, a good team.”

Even though the Vikings were outplayed by a team that on this night, looked far superior, Bone was satisfied with his team’s effort.

“I’m proud of the guys,” he said. “They left everything on the court and we just happened to run into a very good Xavier team. We did the best job we could.”

Xavier advanced to face the winner of the Florida State/Wisconsin first round game on Sunday.

posted by Tom Sedun, Vanguard staff

Can the confident Vikings pull an upset? Thoughts from Thursday’s shootaround from Taco Bell Arena

The Portland State players have never lacked a confident attitude in what so far has been a roller coaster of a season. On Thursday the No. 13 seeded team from the South Park Blocks came into Boise determined to compete.

But one underlying question regarding this team is, can they play their best basketball game of the season for 40 minutes and defeat no. 4 seeded Xavier, who is playing in their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament.

“Last year we were just happy to get the 16 seed,” said senior guard Andre Murray in a press conference before practice. “But now we’re coming here hungry. We’re looking to get a win or two.”

In order for the Vikings to reach their goal of the second round, they will have to take down a tough and much bigger Xavier squad.

The Musketeers are led by Senior guard B.J. Raymond who averages 14 points per game and played a significant role in the team’s run to the Elite Eight last season.

“When you look at his statistics, the senior season that he’s had arguably is one of the best that we have had in recent times at Xavier,” said Musketeers head coach Sean Miller, who is in his fifth season coaching the team from Cincinatti.

The Vikings took the court at Boise State’s Taco Bell Arena for a brief practice at 5:55 Mountain Standard Time Thursday evening.

Players rotated taking shots and ran various full court drills.Throughout the practice, the players were quiet and seemed to be playing very hesitantly as they adjusted to the new scene.

Unlike their opponent who ran practice about 90 minutes prior to Portland State, the Xavier players were very loose and acted off their prior NCAA tournament experiences.

One advantage the Vikings do have over Xavier is their ability to run the floor. If the Vikings want to compete in tomorrow’s game they must out-run Xavier and get transition buckets.

“I would like us to initiate the tempo of the game, try to get out, try to push it, see if we can’t get a good look at the basket in transition,” said Portland State head coach Ken Bone.

A few thoughts about the game:

I expect senior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez to have a solid game. The Big Sky tournament MVP has willed this team back to the NCAA tournament.

The defensive matchup against BJ Raymond will be interesting. It is unclear which Portland State defender will start off on Raymond although it will most likely be junior wing Phil Nelson. Junior forward Kyle Coston has played solid defense of late, in particular a nice effort in the conference championship game against Montana State

The Vikings Big men vs. Xavier Big men: If Jamie Jones and Julius Thomas can out run Xavier’s Jared Love, the Vikings can have easy scoring opportunities in transition.

Waters-Thomas combination: The Vikings bench will have to outplay Xavier’s lack of depth. In the conference tournament Dominic Waters and Julius Thomas connected frequently, with Waters dishing out brilliant assists that typically resulted in highlight dunks from Thomas.

Posted by Tom Sedun, Vanguard staff
All photos taken by Rodrigo Melgarejo, Vanguard photographer

Men's Basketball Preview

What: NCAA Tournament East Regional First Round Game

Who: No. 13 seed Portland State (23-9) vs. No. 4 seed Xavier (25-7)

When: Friday, March 16, 4:25 p.m.

Where: Taco Bell Arena, Boise, ID

On the air: TV: CBS/ KOIN 6, radio: 800 AM (KPDQ)

2008 Tournament History:

No. 3 seed Xavier lost to No. 1 seed UCLA 76-57 in West Regional Final. Defeated Georgia, Purdue, and West Virginia.

No 16. Portland State lost to No.1 seed Kansas 85-61 in the South Regional first round.

Just a taste: The Musketeers of Xavier enter the big dance as regular season conference champion of the Atlantic 10 conference and are ranked 22^nd in the coaches polls.

Their last game was a two-point loss to Temple in the A10 conference tournament semifinal. Temple went on to win the tournament securing an NCAA tournament berth.

Xavier has an impressive tournament resume with victories over last year’s National Champion runner-up, Memphis, and SEC conference champion Louisiana State. Notable losses for the Musketeers from teams competing in the NCAA tournament include an 18-point loss at Duke and a nine-point loss to Butler.

Two-time Big Sky tournament champion Portland State will come to Boise riding a season high six-game winning streak.

The Vikings were surprised by a No. 13 seed from the tournament committee after last year’s drawing of a 16 seed and a date with eventual tournament champion Kansas.

Portland State’s victory at Gonzaga stands out as the biggest win for the season while a one-point loss to PAC-10 regular season champion Washington shows that the Vikings can compete with teams that were given high seeds in the tournament. Washington, like Xavier, is a No. four seed in the West Regional.

Stars: Xavier has three starters that average double digits in scoring. Senior B.J. Raymond leads the team in scoring averaging 14 points per game, while forwards Derrick Brown and C.J. Anderson score 13.8 and 10 points each contest respectively. The Musketeers rely heavily on their rebounding. They are eighth in the country in total rebounds while holding opponents to an average of 62.3 points a game.

BJ Raymond

The Vikings will be led by senior captain and Big Sky tournament MVP Jeremiah Dominguez. Dominguez has scored in double digits in the last five games averaging 16.8 points in those games.

PSU will also rely heavily from fellow starting guard and senior Andrew Murray, who played a significant role in getting the Vikings back to the big dance for the second year in a row. Starting forward Phil Nelson and Jamie Jones will also need productive games for the Vikings to get the upset over Xavier. Both players struggled with scoring in the conference tournament.

X-Factor Matchup: Xavier’s Bench vs. Portland State’s Bench

The Vikings look to have a much deeper bench than the Musketeers. Junior guard Dominic Waters and forward Julius Thomas have developed a nice two-man game that has been difficult for defenders to stop. Waters is a threat from the outside while Thomas is a force underneath the basket. No player from the Xavier bench averages more than five points a game.

Written by Tom Sedun, Vanguard staff

Vikings matched up with Xavier in first round: Portland State earns a No. 13 seed and will face the Musketeers in Boise on Friday

The Vikings learned what a difference one year makes on Sunday afternoon when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee slotted the repeat Big Sky Champions as a surprising 13 seed and rewarded head coach Ken Bone’s squad with a first round game in Boise, Idaho.

Last season, the Vikings rolled through the Big Sky Conference and tournament but lacked a signature non-conference win and were seeded No. 16 leading to a difficult first round matchup with eventual national champion Kansas.

But this year, a December victory against Gonzaga coupled with a Portland State victory for the second consecutive year at the Big Sky Tournament earned the Vikings a much-improved and more winnable game against Xavier of the Atlantic-10 Conference.

The Musketeers seemed like a lock for a better seed until they were upset by Temple in the A-10 Semifinals on Friday. They boast a 25-7 record and were 12-4 in conference play.

Included in those seven defeats were losses at Duke, Duquesne, Dayton, Charlotte, Temple and Richmond. The Musketeers lost only one home game all season, on Dec. 23 (the same day the Vikings defeated Gonzaga) to Butler. Three of their seven losses came to NCAA Tournament teams but Xavier has posted impressive wins over Missouri, Virginia Tech, Memphis, Auburn, Cincinnati and Virginia.

Xavier is led in scoring by 6-6 senior forward B.J. Raymond who averages 14.1 points per game and shoots 42 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Junior forward Derrick Brown provides the interior presence for the Musketeers averaging 13.8 points and 6 rebounds per game.

The matchup will be the first in the history of the two schools and the Vikings have never faced an opponent from the Atlantic 10. Game time for the first round contest has yet to be announced.

Portland State and Xavier will join Florida State, Wisconsin, Marquette, Utah State, Missouri and Cornell in first round games at Taco Bell Arena on the campus of Boise State University.