Eagles vow to win out, advance to tournament
When Michael Taylor walked out of the locker room Saturday night after Eastern Washington lost at Montana, he was determined.
“We just said, ‘We’re going to go 4-0,’ and that was it,” the freshman guard said. “Not cocky or anything – that’s what we have to do. If you go in with a mindset of having to do that, you’re going to be able to get it done. You have to play to win, not to lose.”
The Eagles (11-13, 5-7) have four Big Sky Conference games left, beginning tonight against conference-leading Weber State at Reese Court. Only by winning all four can they reasonably ensure they’ll make the conference tournament for the 10th straight season.
“Who would have ever imagined we’d be in this position?” senior forward Paul Butorac said after practice Tuesday. “Now that we’re here, we know what we need to do in order to make the Big Sky tournament. We have to win these games. It’s do or die for us.”
Eastern, third in the Big Sky last season, expected to be a title contender this year after losing just one starter, not scuffling to finish sixth.
“Without a doubt, I think we should be one of the top two teams in this league,” sophomore star Rodney Stuckey said. “We have the best talent in the Big Sky. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t really tell you (why), I have no clue. We just have to come out with good effort for 40 minutes and we’ll be fine.”
To be specific, it has to be defensive effort.
It was Weber State (16-9, 9-3) that started the Eagles on their current three-game skid, when the Wildcats won 93-84 by shooting 67 percent.
“Today we went over how they killed our zone,” Butorac said. “When we were down there they just dissected us inside. If we can stop that, it will give us a chance to win. We’re a little more prepared this time.”
Even if the Eagles can upend Weber State, they’ll have to do it again Saturday against Portland State (15-10, 6-6), the team just ahead of them in the standings. After that, Idaho State and Sacramento State are must wins for a team that has yet to win more than two straight.
“It’s hard for me to say (why it’s been a roller-coaster season),” Butorac said. “I can’t really point fingers. It’s kind of our whole team. Basically, it comes down to us as players. We have to figure things out ourselves. Guys have responsibilities out there.
“It’s really important to me. This is my last time around to suit up in an Eastern jersey and I don’t want it to end.”
The schedule maker hasn’t been kind to the Eagles as they have been on the road four of the last five weeks. Now, locked in a critical battle with Portland State, Weber State has to play in Portland on Thursday.
“It’s turned out there has been some of those schedule snafus that have gone against us, and that is another one,” EWU coach Mike Burns said. “But it’s out of control, there’s nothing we can do about it. But we can control (our effort). We just have to go our and play hard like we did against Montana. If we do that on our home floor, we’ll be fine. The rest of that stuff will take care of itself.”
Burns said senior forward Derek Risper, suspended after Thursday’s loss at Montana State, would be back against PSU. He returned to practice Tuesday.