WSU takes on Vikes insemi tonight

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OGDEN -- After having the goal of just making the Big Sky Conference championship tournament at the start of the season, top-seeded Weber State begins tournament play tonight in a game the Wildcats have been looking forward to since clinching a spot in the semifinals on Valentine's Day.

"You don't get this opportunity every day so you've got to enjoy it," WSU coach Randy Rahe said on Monday afternoon. "Enjoy the game, enjoy the moment, enjoy the tournament because it's going to be an exciting tournament and everybody's going to play well."

WSU (18-11), which finished the conference season with an 11-5 mark good enough for a tie for first place, takes on fourth-seeded Portland State tonight at 8 p.m. at the Dee Events Center (KLO-AM 1430).

During what has been a season that turned out to be more exciting than perhaps originally anticipated, the Wildcats have often said they play better when they are having fun. In order for the team to have fun, Rahe said everyone needs to be working hard and have the right mindset.

"There's no pregame talk that is going to make us go out and have fun," said WSU's David Patten. "I definitely think we will be having fun, especially playing at home."

Both teams should be ready to play in what is the most important game of their seasons.

The Vikings (19-12) are coming into tonight's game following their 96-71 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Montana State Saturday night in Portland, Ore. PSU dominated the second half of that game, outscoring the Bobcats 60-34 while shooting 72 percent from the field.

"We're hoping that gives us momentum, but who knows," said PSU coach Ken Bone. "We've had games this season that we were hoping would give us momentum but didn't so we'll have to find out."

The win over the Bobcats was PSU's fourth straight against Big Sky opponents. Dupree Lucas, Paul Hafford and Denote Huff each scored 18 points while Juma Kamara added 17.

"We played with a lot of composure," Bone said. "I'm hoping we continue to play the way we have been."

The Wildcats will find out if the will be able to overcome any rust from playing just one game in the last 19 days. That game was not very fun for them to play since the 'Cats lost by 22 points at Sacramento State.

The absence of games in the last three weeks has not been ideal.

"I think they're tired of practicing, I know that much, and we all are," Rahe said of his players. "This time of year, practices are tough because people want to play games."

Rahe said one way to get rid of the nervous feeling the 'Cats may have is to play hard from the start, which has been something they have tried to do all season.

WSU, which swept both games against the Vikings, handed PSU its last loss in a 64-62 decision in Portland. However the Wildcats know those results do not matter any more and they are going to have to play even better if they want a third win over the Vikings.

"I think we're just going to have to come out with the same intensity we have all year, and even more so since it's a tournament game," said WSU guard Brody Van Brocklin. "We're going to have to be aggressive on the offensive and defensive end, and Coach (Rahe) has always told us, I know it's a clich?, that it comes down to defense and rebounding."

 

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Tourney crown, NCAA berthup for grabs

OGDEN -- In a season like this one, the seedings for the Big Sky Conference championship tournament have pretty much been thrown out the window.

While regular-season co-champions Weber State and Northern Arizona earned byes straight to Tuesday's semifinals, many around the league believed all six teams that qualified for the postseason had a chance to win the tournament and get the automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

"It's anybody's tournament, I really believe that," said WSU coach Randy Rahe. "It's been proved throughout the whole conference season that anybody can beat anybody on anybody's court."

That showed when the tournament started Saturday night with a pair of exciting quarterfinals. Sixth-seeded Idaho State battled No. 3 seed Montana into overtime before the Grizzlies pulled away, while No. 4 Portland State turned a close game into a rout in the second half against No. 5 Montana State.

The action continues Tuesday at the Dee Events Center. WSU, which earned the No. 1 seed due to its two wins over NAU, takes the court at 8 p.m. against Portland State and second-seeded NAU faces Montana in the early game at 5 p.m.

Having already faced each other twice -- WSU swept PSU while NAU and Montana each won on the other's home court -- the teams are quite familiar with their respective opponent.

"There are very few surprises when you see a team the third time," said NAU coach Mike Adras. "It comes down to who minimizes their mistakes."

Adras also mentioned that besides cutting down on the mistakes, having a healthy team is very important. Missing a key player, he said, could make a huge difference in how the team performs during such an important time of the season.

Besides physical health, being mentally healthy is important for a team to advance. With a trip to the NCAA tournament on the line, the teams want to make sure they play in the right state of mind.

That is something the Wildcat leaders have been preaching to the rest of the team.

"We need to get our minds right, knowing this could be the end of our season," said WSU forward Dan Henry. "We've got the tournament here so we need to realize we need to come out and play our best so we can keep playing."

But the Lumberjacks, Grizzlies and Vikings have no doubt had similar conversations and are coming in focused to play well.

"Everybody's going to be playing their best," Rahe said. "You're going to get everybody's best effort. Everybody's going to be intense and passionate. That's what's fun about it."

It is not just the players who are feeling the pressure to perform, as coaching staffs have put in extra hours or preparation. That last week has been especially difficult for both WSU and NAU as they tried to prepare for Tuesday's semifinals since neither team knew who its opponent would be until Saturday night.

Four of the six coaches in this year's tournament are first-year Big Sky coaches.

Only Adras, who is making his seventh tournament appearance, and PSU's Ken Boone have coached in the tournament before. Boone guided the Vikings to the tournament last year in his first season.

Despite their experience in the tournament, all four coaches have at least one thing in common.

"If you ask any coach, each one feels his team has a chance to win it," Adras said.

But despite all the pressure felt by both the players and coaches, they say the key is to not approach the important games any differently than they have all season.

"There's not a whole lot you change," Rahe said. "Your speeches aren't different. Everybody knows what's at stake."

 

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Parity abounds at Big Sky tourney



I'll skip an opening remark and open up this press conference to questions.

What's the first thing that strikes you about this Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament?
How truly wide open it is.

There was no dominant team in the league this season.

Look at the final standings. There were four teams - Weber State, Northern Arizona, Montana and Portland State - bunched within two games of each other. Those also happen to be the four teams that made it to Tuesday night's semifinals.

You have to go back to 2000 to find the last time the league crowned co-champions, like Weber State and Northern Arizona this year. In 2000, the Griz and Eastern Washington were co-champs, the Griz hosted the tournament, but lost in the semifinals to Cal State Northridge. Northern Arizona, the third seed, went on to win the title. In the six seasons between then and now, the first place team always won the league by at least two games.

That may be true, but the regular-season champ failed to win the postseason tournament in three of those six years. How can you say those tournaments weren't as wide open as this one? I'll admit, it's a subjective call, but those host teams were clear favorites. Northern Arizona lost just two league games last season and welcomed the semifinalists to the 7,000-foot air of Flagstaff. Portland State had one of the most talented teams in recent years in 2005 and was perfect at home before the tournament. In 2002, the host Montana State Bobcats lost just two league games, only one at home, before the tournament.

What did those three tournaments have in common?

Tinks, is that you?

Yes, that's right, all three were won by Montana, and Griz coach Wayne Tinkle was an assistant in each of those years.

Is there anything we can learn from the failures of the last two tournament hosts?

Yes, both of them lost their final regular-season game, coincidentally or not, to Montana, the eventual tournament champion. If you believe in omens, that doesn't bode well for Weber State, which was blown out by Sacramento State in its final regular-season game. At least the Hornets didn't qualify for the tournament.





OK, enough with the history lessons. How would you handicap this year's final four?

Northern Arizona has the hot hand. The Jacks have won five straight, including a rare sweep of the Montana road trip in the final week of the regular season. They have the most potent roster in the league. The Jacks have one of the finest 3-point shooters in the country in Stephen ?Don't call me Steve? Sir, an excellent penetrator in Tyrone Bazy, under appreciated power forward Ruben Boykin Jr., a steady and heady point guard in Josh Wilson, and a quality big man in Kyle Landry. When they decide to play defense, they're a formidable foe.

Montana has won three straight coming into the tournament, including two in overtime. Even the Grizzlies' final regular-season win over Idaho State had the intensity of a tournament game, which should help the Griz come Tuesday night. Whether or not Jordan Hasquet is able to recover from an illness that limited him to 24 minutes on Saturday night could go a long way toward determining whether the Griz can hang with the Jacks in the semis. Don't discount the fact that the Griz have seven players who saw action in their tournament championship win over NAU last season.

Portland State seems to be rekindling the fire that made the Vikings the best team in the league before conference play began. The Vikings have scored 87 or more points in four of their last five games. Shooting forward Paul Hafford has been hot from downtown and Deonte Huff has been a beast off the bench.

I don't know what to make of Weber State. Eighth place Sacramento State hung 105 points on the Wildcats in their regular-season finale after Weber had 11 days off. Tuesday's semi against Portland State will be the Wildcats' second game since Feb. 14. They swept both Portland State and Northern Arizona in the regular season, but that's often more a curse than blessing.

So the fact that the tournament is being held in the Dee Events Center, Weber State's Purple Palace, doesn't count for anything?

Yeah, Prince will probably be the halftime entertainment.

 

[STOP & POP]

This game has me questioning a few things. Don't like to bet on a team after they have beat a conference opponent twice already that season and are trying to make it a third. However, like the fact that Weber St is at home. The fact that the layoff hurt them last time may be affecting the line this time. Would actually like the game more if the line was a little higher. Affraid of the "Furman" factor here. :shrug:

Thanks as always for gathering the info for us.

I'm on Weber St.