Complete Big Sky Tournament Notes and Statistics

A big upset in the Big Sky Conference quarterfinal games on Saturday has the Portland State men's basketball team in a rematch with last year's Big Sky Tournament semifinal opponent, Idaho State. The Vikings will face the fourth-seeded Bengals on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PT in Ogden, UT.

Third-seeded Montana lost at home in a quarterfinal game to sixth-seeded Montana State, 56-54, on Saturday. As a result, Idaho State, a 67-60 winner over fifth-seeded Northern Colorado is the Viking opponent. Top-seed and host Weber State will battle MSU in the other semifinal. Quarterfinal winners are re-seeded so the number-two seed (Portland State) faces the highest remaining seed from the quarterfinal games.

The Vikings, 21-9, will battle the Bengals, 13-18, in a game televised in Portland on Comcast Sports Net and on satellite on Altitude 2. The game also airs on 800 AM KPDQ and www.kpdq-am.com. PSU was 1-1 vs. Idaho State this year, and defeated the Bengals, 72-61, in a Big Sky semifinal at the Rose Garden last year.

With two wins in the tournament, Portland State can still earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. There is precedent to do so, as 13 times in the previous 33 Big Sky Conference Tournaments, a team other than the regular season champion has won the title.

The Vikings take a four-game winning streak into the post-season.

THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE AND THE POST-SEASON

Big Sky Conference Tournament Quarterfinal games, Saturday, March 7
#6 Montana State 56, #3 Montana 54
#4 Idaho State 67, Northern Colorado 60

Big Sky Conference Tournament Semifinals, Tuesday, March 10 at Dee Events Center, Ogden, UT
#2 Portland State (21-9) vs. #4 Idaho State (13-18), 4 p.m. PT, Altitude/CSN (replayed at 8 p.m. and at 10 a.m. on 3/11)
#1 Weber State (21-8) vs. #5 Northern Colorado (13-16), 6:30 p.m. PT, Altitude/CSN (live)

Big Sky Conference Championship, Wednesday, March 11 at Dee Events Center, Ogden, UT
Winners, 7:35 p.m. PT, ESPN2

PORTLAND STATE VS. IDAHO STATE THIS YEAR

Portland State vs. Idaho State (1-1 - won 85-58 in Portland, 1/10; lost 78-69 in Pocatello, 2/12)
All-time series: PSU 22-13 ? Big Sky series: PSU 18-9 ? Big Sky Tourney: PSU 1-0 ? Ken Bone vs. ISU: 7-2
Phil Nelson led a hot shooting Viking team with 23 points in the win in Portland. PSU shot .571 from the field, .529 from three-point range and commited just nine turnovers. Chron Tatum scored 12 points with seven rebounds for the Bengals. The 27-point win was the largest in history by a Viking team over ISU... Idaho State went on a 21-2 second-half run to turn a seven-point Viking lead into an eventual loss. The Bengals got 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists from Matt Stucki. Andre Murray had a career-high 24 points for the Vikings. The loss ended a seven-game winning streak over ISU.

PORTLAND STATE VS. OTHER SEMIFINALISTS THIS YEAR

Portland State vs. Weber State (0-2 - lost 80-66 in Portland, 1/8; lost 78-68 in Ogden, 2/14)
All-time series: WSU 24-9 ? BSC series: WSU 20-9 ? in Ogden: WSU 13-1 ? BSC Tourney: WSU 3-0 ? Ken Bone vs. WSU: 3-6
The Vikings were swept by Weber State, marking the first time PSU has been swept by a Big Sky team since the 2006-07 season (also Weber State). Weber State has won 12 games in a row entering the tournament... The Wildcats? win in Portland ended a 17-game Big Sky Conference winning streak, 15-game home winning streak and 14-game Big Sky home winning streak for the Vikings. WSU freshmen Kyle Bullinger and Damian Lillard combined to lead the Wildcats to the victory. Bullinger had 22 points and eight rebounds, hitting 5-5 three-point field goals. Lillard scored 14 points with six assists and two steals. Andre Murray and Dominic Waters led the Vikings with 16 points each. PSU shot just .393 from the field in the game... Jeremiah Dominguez scored 24 points for the Vikings in the loss at Ogden, but it wasn't enough to offset 18 PSU turnovers. Kellen McCoy scored 16 points with five assists, while Lillard had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Wildcats.

Portland State vs. Montana State (1-1 - lost 85-82 in Bozeman, 2/1; won 64-58 in Portland, 2/25)
All-time series: MSU 22-15 ? Big Sky series: MSU 15-12 ? Big Sky Tourney: PSU 1-0 ? Ken Bone vs. MSU: 6-3
Montana State shot .561 from the field (32-57) on its way to a home win over the Vikings. Will Bynum had 24 points and seven steals in the victory. PSU was led by 19 points from Dominic Waters and a career-high 17 from Julius Thomas - both off the bench... the second meeting was much different as PSU held the Bobcats to just 18-53 from the field (.340). PSU led the entire way and by as much as 17 in the second half. Jeremiah Dominguez scored 17 points and Waters added 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.

PORTLAND STATE AND THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Portland State has now qualified for the Big Sky Tournament the last five years in a row, and eight of its' 11 seasons eligible. After two firsts and two thirds, this is the first time in 13 years as a league member that PSU has placed second.

Last year, PSU hosted the tournament and defeated Idaho State in a semifinal (72-61) and Northern Arizona in the championship (67-51), advancing to the NCAA Tournament. PSU has won the Big Sky Conference regular season twice (2005, 2008), and the Big Sky Conference tournament once (2008).

ALL-TIME BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT WIN-LOSS BREAKDOWN
The Vikings are 4-6 all-time in Big Sky Tournament games
? 3-1 in games played in Portland (1-0 at Stott, 0-1 at Memorial Coliseum, 2-0 at the Rose Garden)
? 1-5 in games played elsewhere (1-3 at neutral sites, 0-2 at away sites)
PSU's Big Sky Tournament record vs. all opponents:
? vs. Eastern Washington (1-1)
? vs. Idaho State (1-0)
? vs. Montana (0-0)
? vs. Montana State (1-1)
? vs. Northern Arizona (1-2)
? vs. Northern Colorado (0-0)
? vs. Sacramento State (0-0)
? vs. Weber State (0-3)
PSU Coaching records in the Big Sky Tournament
? Ken Bone (3-2) - 1-0 vs. MSU (H), 1-0 vs ISU (H), 1-0 vs NAU (H), 0-1 vs. WSU (R), 0-1 vs. EWU (R)
? Joel Sobotka (1-3) - 1-0 vs. EWU (N), 0-2 vs. NAU (N), 0-1 vs. WSU (N)
? Heath Schroyer (0-1) - 0-1 vs. WSU (H)

ALL-TIME BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SCORES
Mar. 4, 1999 Portland State 80, Eastern Washington 74 (quarterfinal) at Ogden, UT
Mar. 5, 1999 Northern Arizona 73, Portland State 56 (semifinal) at Ogden, UT
Mar. 9, 2000 Northern Arizona 77, Portland State 75 (quarterfinal) at Missoula, MT
Mar. 7, 2002 Weber State 84, Portland State 62 (quarterfinal) at Bozeman, MT
Mar. 5, 2005 Weber State 71, Portland State 61 (semifinal) at Portland, OR
Mar. 4, 2006 Eastern Washington 81, Portland State 75 (quarterfinal) at Cheney, WA
Mar. 3, 2007 Portland State 96, Montana State 71 (quarterfinal) at Portland, OR (Stott Center)
Mar. 6, 2007 Weber State 77, Portland State 74 (semifinal) at Ogden, UT
Mar. 11, 2008 Portland State 72, Idaho State 61 (semifinal) at Portland, OR (Rose Garden)
Mar. 12, 2008 Portland State 67, Northern Arizona 51 (championship) at Portland, OR (Rose Garden)

THE ROAD BACK TO THE POST-SEASON
Defending Big Sky Conference Champion Portland State entered the 2008-09 men's basketball campaign as the league favorite for the first time in history. The Vikings were selected by the coaches and the media to capture the Big Sky Conference men's basketball preseason polls.

Portland State had impressive wins over Gonzaga, Cal State Fullerton and Boise State - all 2007-08 conference champions and NCAA Tournament teams - in non-conference games. In fact, PSU's win over then-seventh ranked Gonzaga was its first ever over a nationally-ranked team. PSU finished 11-5 in the Big Sky to earn a number-two seed, and went 21-9 overall - exactly the same regular season mark as 2007-08.

But, four road losses in the middle of the Big Sky regular season cost the Vikings a chance at a second regular season title. Although the Vikings were unable to win a regular season title again this year, they had the second-best Division I season in school history and are in the running to reach the NCAA Tournament for a second year in a row.

Portland State was coming off the best season in school history (23-10) in 2007-08. PSU won the Big Sky regular-season title and its first-ever postseason championship, downing Northern Arizona 67-51 in the title game. As a result, Portland State earned a first-ever berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament in school history. The Vikings lost to eventual national champion Kansas in the first round.