Must-win state for Eagles
Heading into a stretch of four must-win games the Eastern Washington basketball team knew tonight’s matchup with Portland State was “muster” than most.
To have any hope of controlling their destiny – which means making the Big Sky Conference tournament – the Eagles have to beat the Vikings when they collide at 7:05 p.m. at Reese Court.
“If we can beat Portland State on our home floor we can have the hammer on them, much the same way Montana State and Northern Arizona have the hammer on us,” EWU coach Mike Burns said.
A win would give Eastern (12-13, 6-7 Big Sky) a one-game lead in the standings with two conference games left and a season sweep of PSU (15-11, 6-7) in the battle for the sixth and final berth in the postseason, something the Eagles last missed 10 years ago. Both teams finish the season with a pair of home games after a break for a non-conference road game next weekend.
The Eagles won the first contest in Portland four weeks ago 88-70.
And though there would be hope if they lose, the jumbled mess in front of them indicates how dicey the proposition becomes.
Though Weber State, which lost to the Eagles 89-74 Wednesday night but bounced back to dump Portland State 64-62 on Thursday, is technically in first place with a 10-4 record, the Wildcats are in a four-way tie in the loss column.
Though the other three teams have played three less games, they at least can control their fate because they don’t have to hope for Weber to lose to catch the Wildcats.
Northern Arizona is a game back in the loss column.
That means it’s hard to guess which team might lose to PSU if the Vikings get a game up on EWU. Also, if either MSU or NAU stumble badly down the stretch, just catching them won’t be enough because they swept the Eagles.
All that becomes moot if Eastern plays as well as it did in Portland or against Weber, two of the three league games when the Eagles had their best defensive efforts, and turns that momentum into at least one win the final weekend.
Though Weber scored 74 points, four above its average, it shot just 48 percent, one below usual. That’s a far cry from the first meeting when WSU shot 67.3 percent in a 93-84 win.
“I’m very pleased with our effort,” Burns said after the Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak that started at WSU. “For our team to go through their recent losing streak and respond like they did with this effort speaks volumes of our team.”
Vandals host Aggies
Idaho has experienced numerous scoring droughts this season, but nothing that compares to a February night last season. Idaho was outscored 37-0 – setting an NCAA record in the process – over a near 14-minute stretch while falling to Utah State 80-42 at the Cowan Spectrum.
Utah State (17-7, 6-4 WAC) visits Idaho (3-20, 1-10) tonight at approximately 7:30. The USU-Idaho women meet at 5:30.
The Idaho men have dropped six straight games. Utah State, loser of two straight WAC road games, defeated Idaho 74-56 last month in Logan.