Xavier vs. Portland State: NCAA Tournament Predictions
Written March 17, 2009 by Jason Lowry
This Friday the Portland State Vikings and the Xavier Musketeers are scheduled to do battle in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, and its hard to imagine that the No.4 seeded Musketeers can lose this game, but the Vikings can pull off the upset, as this is a team that took down Gonzaga on their home court in the regular season. To get you going on the upcoming action, here is a closer look at how each team got the tournament, and who I think will win this game.
No.4 Xavier Musketeers -11 ATS at Bookmaker.com. Its been a tale of two halves for the Musketeers, as they started the season looking like one of the top teams in the country with wins over Missouri, Auburn, Memphis, and LSU, but the Musketeers struggled to finish strong, as they went just 5-5 down the stretch, including a loss to Temple in the Atlantic 10 tourney. There are many fans including myself that are a little surprised that they got as good as seed as they did, but there is no question that if this team can get it going again, they can make a nice run in this tournament. On the court the Musketeers will need a strong performance from Dante Jackson, as its his job to get the ball into the hands of B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson. While they will need someone to step and have a nice game offensively, the real focus for this team needs to be on the defensive side of things, as they have lost some of the fire and intensity on that side of the ball that got them so many big wins early in the season.
No.13 Portland State Vikings +11 ATS at Bookmaker.com. The Vikings will not be an easy out for the Musketeers, as they can light it up with the best of them when they are hitting their shots. The Musketeers finished second in the Big Sky in regular season action, but wound up winning the conference tournament to get into the big dance. The Vikings will likely try to run the Musketeers to death in this one, and will rely heavily on their 3 point shooting, as they come in averaging nearly 10 made 3 pointers a game. The most exciting player on the court will be PG Jeremiah Dominquez, as he leads the Musketeers with 16 points, 4.5 assists, and 2 steals per game. Dominquez has some help in Dominic Waters and Andre Murray, but winning or losing this game, will mainly depend on the play of Dominquez.
My Prediction: Portland State +11. I don’t think the Vikings will have what it takes to win this game, as I have the Musketeers moving on in my bracket, but I have a real sneaky feeling that the Vikings will make this one of the better first round games this week. I look for the Musketeers to pull of a 4-5 point win in this one.
For those of you looking to do some NCAA Basketball Betting on the game this Friday, be sure to check out our expert NCAA Basketball Picks, and get the latest NCAA Basketball odds for the game at Betfirms.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- Xavier 2009 NCAA Tournament Predictions & Odds to Win
- Xavier Musketeers Odds to Win the NCAA Championship
- Xavier vs Wisconsin: March Madness Odds & Predictions
- NCAA Tournament Predictions: Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee
- Florida State vs Wisconsin: NCAA Tournament Predictions
One Response to “Xavier vs. Portland State: NCAA Tournament Predictions”
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“The Musketeers finished second in the Big Sky in regular season action, but wound up winning the conference tournament to get into the big dance.”
Wrong. You meant the Vikings.
“The most exciting player on the court will be PG Jeremiah Dominquez, as he leads the Musketeers with 16 points, 4.5 assists, and 2 steals per game.”
Wrong. You meant the Vikings.
How about some proof-reading? It’s like listening to Bill Walton call the Blazers the Lakers over and over again.
Anyone can make mistakes, but referring to a team by their opponents name over and over is hella stupid.
Go Vikes!
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