Much like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day, the Portland State Men’s Basketball team seems destined to relive the same godforsaken day over and over again. The Viking men will attempt to absolve themselves of a 17-road-game bad-karma losing streak when they travel to Eugene, Oregon tonight to face off against the Ducks.
The Ducks were rated 4th in the Pack 10 pre-season poll, and have on proven themselves worthy of praise after beating Fresno State 80-67. Oregon stands 1-0 on the season and is led by a couple seriously hot shooters. The team completed 14 three-point shots against Fresno State making almost half of its earned points outside Field range.
University of Oregon had two leading men, Luke Jackson and Andre Joseph. Jackson was particularly threatening as he went for 20 points against Fresno including five three-point shots, eight rebounds and six assists. Joseph helped the team with 15 points.
Field goal breakdown
Portland State
TOTAL FG%: 1st Half: 10-23 43.5% 2nd Half: 13-24 54.2% Game: 48.9%
3-Pt. FG%: 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 33.3%
F Throw %: 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 50.0%
UTEP
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-31 48.4% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% Game: 48.2%
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 33.3%
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 7-10 70.0% Game: 70.6%
The Vikings, on the other hand, also had some success this season when they beat Southern Oregon in their last home game. The Viks are currently led by junior transfer players Sheu Oduniyi, Blake Walker and Will Funn. The three Guards put together 56 of the Vikings 83- 71 win over Southern Oregon.
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However, when the Vikings traveled to El Paso to visit the University of Texas, they resorted back to losing on the road. The threatening transfer threesome did not put together the same winning performance that was seen against Southern Oregon. In fact, it was Portland State’s Seamus Boxley who seemed to lead the team against Texas.
Boxley had one of the biggest nights in his college career against Texas; he broke Portland State’s record for blocked shots. Boxley scored 15 points in El Paso, and grabbed 7 rebounds and the two blocked shots that put him up to 61 blocked shots for his career. The last record was held by Jamaal Stafford (1996-1998), who only compiled 60 blocked shots during his time at Portland State.
No matter how impressive Boxley proved to be against the University of Texas, it was still not enough to bring the Vikings a road win this season. Indeed, it was just the opposite. The Vikings’ 70- 57 loss to Texas brought the team’s scoring average down to 74 to 62.4 per game.
The Vikings will be playing at 7 p.m., tonight, at the University of Oregon. With the Vikings on the road again this week, we can only hope to see the threatening transfer threesome team up with Boxley to ensure a Portland State victory away from home.