The Portland State men?s basketball team has a lousy sense of timing.
The last time the Vikings played Weber State, the Wildcats were coming off their first Big Sky Conference loss of the season at Idaho State. League MVP Damian Lillard lit up Portland State to the tune of 40 points in a 92-79 win.
Tuesday in the league tournament semifinals, the Vikings get a Weber State team coming off possibly its worst performance of the season in a 66-51 loss to Montana in a game that secured the host?s role for the league-champion Griz.
The Wildcats are no doubt itching to get back on the court.
?We watched the film and it was pretty easy to see what happened to our team,? Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. ?We got really out of character. We?re a team that moves the ball ? and a lot of credit goes to Montana, because they did a really nice job ? but we just got out of character. We didn?t play the way we normally play; we didn?t play together. I thought we lost our toughness along the way. Again, Montana had a lot to do with that. Guys saw it on film and they came out of that film room like, ?Holy cow, that was not our team.? ?
Portland State is up against the history books as well. Weber State owns a 29-11 record against the Vikings, has won 11 of the last 14 meetings and is 4-0 against PSU in the league tournament.
On the other hand, Portland State has won seven of its last eight games and dispatched Montana State 75-53 in the tourney quarterfinals. The Bobcats, like Weber State, had beaten the Vikings twice in the regular season.
?Our guys were excited the other night because Montana State had beaten us twice,? PSU coach Tyler Geving said. ?They were fired up. Obviously, Weber State has beaten us twice and that?s a little motivation for our guys. They want to show they can beat them, and if you?re going to beat them now would be as good a time as any. Our guys are playing with some confidence right now.?
If the Vikings are going to pull off the upset, they?ll need to do a better job of defending Lillard, who scored 38 against the Vikings the first time the teams met. Weber State?s potential first-round NBA pick ? there will be 18 NBA representatives at the tournament ? was 25 for 41 from the field, 14 for 22 from 3-point range, and 14 for 16 from the line in two games against the Vikings.
?We can?t allow him to get 40 or 38, like he did the last two times,? Geving said of Lillard, who ranks second in the nation in scoring at 25.4 ppg. ?I don?t know if you can really stop him but you obviously have to try to slow him down, try to keep him somewhere in the 20s; 40 and 38 is way, way too much. Then you have to do a good job of guarding all their other guys and not allow some of their other players to have career nights against you. Lillard?s Lillard; he?s obviously really good.?
The Vikings have a couple of star-quality players of their own in All-Big Sky first teamers Charles Odum, a guard, and forward Chehales Tapscott. Odum finished second in the scoring race at 19.0 ppg, and Tapscott adds 14.1 ppg and led the league in rebounding (9.3).
?I think they?re the most explosive offensive team in the league, them and Montana,? Rahe said. ?If you look at the stats, they lead the league in scoring, they lead the league in field goal percentage, they?re as good a transition offense team in our league as there is; everything offensively they do very, very well. They?re potent.
?We had a hard time with them both times we played them. They have a lot of weapons. They play a fast-paced game and they play free and easy. They have a lot of talent, hell, they have two first-team all-leaguers. We don?t.?
The last time the Vikings played Weber State, the Wildcats were coming off their first Big Sky Conference loss of the season at Idaho State. League MVP Damian Lillard lit up Portland State to the tune of 40 points in a 92-79 win.
Tuesday in the league tournament semifinals, the Vikings get a Weber State team coming off possibly its worst performance of the season in a 66-51 loss to Montana in a game that secured the host?s role for the league-champion Griz.
The Wildcats are no doubt itching to get back on the court.
?We watched the film and it was pretty easy to see what happened to our team,? Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. ?We got really out of character. We?re a team that moves the ball ? and a lot of credit goes to Montana, because they did a really nice job ? but we just got out of character. We didn?t play the way we normally play; we didn?t play together. I thought we lost our toughness along the way. Again, Montana had a lot to do with that. Guys saw it on film and they came out of that film room like, ?Holy cow, that was not our team.? ?
Portland State is up against the history books as well. Weber State owns a 29-11 record against the Vikings, has won 11 of the last 14 meetings and is 4-0 against PSU in the league tournament.
On the other hand, Portland State has won seven of its last eight games and dispatched Montana State 75-53 in the tourney quarterfinals. The Bobcats, like Weber State, had beaten the Vikings twice in the regular season.
?Our guys were excited the other night because Montana State had beaten us twice,? PSU coach Tyler Geving said. ?They were fired up. Obviously, Weber State has beaten us twice and that?s a little motivation for our guys. They want to show they can beat them, and if you?re going to beat them now would be as good a time as any. Our guys are playing with some confidence right now.?
If the Vikings are going to pull off the upset, they?ll need to do a better job of defending Lillard, who scored 38 against the Vikings the first time the teams met. Weber State?s potential first-round NBA pick ? there will be 18 NBA representatives at the tournament ? was 25 for 41 from the field, 14 for 22 from 3-point range, and 14 for 16 from the line in two games against the Vikings.
?We can?t allow him to get 40 or 38, like he did the last two times,? Geving said of Lillard, who ranks second in the nation in scoring at 25.4 ppg. ?I don?t know if you can really stop him but you obviously have to try to slow him down, try to keep him somewhere in the 20s; 40 and 38 is way, way too much. Then you have to do a good job of guarding all their other guys and not allow some of their other players to have career nights against you. Lillard?s Lillard; he?s obviously really good.?
The Vikings have a couple of star-quality players of their own in All-Big Sky first teamers Charles Odum, a guard, and forward Chehales Tapscott. Odum finished second in the scoring race at 19.0 ppg, and Tapscott adds 14.1 ppg and led the league in rebounding (9.3).
?I think they?re the most explosive offensive team in the league, them and Montana,? Rahe said. ?If you look at the stats, they lead the league in scoring, they lead the league in field goal percentage, they?re as good a transition offense team in our league as there is; everything offensively they do very, very well. They?re potent.
?We had a hard time with them both times we played them. They have a lot of weapons. They play a fast-paced game and they play free and easy. They have a lot of talent, hell, they have two first-team all-leaguers. We don?t.?
