SUPER SUNDAY: Before the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints face off in Super Bowl XLIV, Seattle University takes on Portland State in a collegiate men's basketball contest. SeattleU is in the middle of a stretch in which it plays three straight Big Sky schools, having defeated Eastern Washington last Monday at KeyArena and hosting Sacramento State next Saturday afternoon. It has been a month since the Redhawks last won a road game, but that victory took place in the state of Oregon, and the team is looking to take another victory from a Beaver State school.
THE EASTERN WASHINGTON GAME: Garrett Lever hit three baskets from behind the three-point line in tying his career high with 13 points, and Seattle University avenged an early-season loss to Eastern Washington with a 68-62 victory Monday night at KeyArena at Seattle Center. In the first half, Lever hit back-to-back three-pointers to cap an 11-0 SeattleU run to give the Redhawks an early 16-6 lead. After Eastern Washington had come back in the first half and took the lead in the second half, Lever grabbed a defensive rebound and hit another three-pointer with 5:08 remaining to put SeattleU back on top, 53-51. Eastern Washington made one final push, as Kevin Winford hit a three-pointer with 3:08 left in the second half to give the Eagles a 58-55 advantage. Aaron Broussard raced down the court and converted a layup, followed by a steal by Taylor Olson, who sent a pass ahead to Cervante Burrell for a layup that put the Redhawks ahead for good. Charles Garcia finished with 11 points, four rebounds, and two blocked shots, while Broussard earned 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Gavin Gilmore contributed nine points, as did Alex Jones, while Chris Gweth hit two key three-pointers in the second half on his way to totaling eight points, four rebounds, and three steals. Burrell scored seven points and dished out five assists during the game, and Olson, making his first career start in place of an injured Mike Boxley, pulled down four rebounds along with the crucial steal in crunch time. For the game, SeattleU shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the field, including 5-of-17 from the three-point line, and 75.0 percent (21-of-28) from the free throw line, including 9-of-10 in the final two minutes to hold off the Eagles.
SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE: The Vikings come into Sunday's game with a 10-12 record, including a 5-5 record in Big Sky Conference games. Portland State has been a streaky team, losing four of its first five, winning the next four, then losing eight of 11 contests before winning the last two games at Eastern Washington (85-77) and at Sacramento State (76-62). The Vikings are scoring 78.9 points per game and giving up 80.8 points per contest. As a team, Portland State is shooting 48.0 percent from the field, including 39.2 percent from the three-point line, and 74.8 percent from the free throw line. Dominic Waters leads the team with 18.2 points and 4.7 assists per game. He is shooting 48.5 percent from the field, including 44.7 percent from the three-point line, and 92.4 percent from the free throw line. Jamie Jones is averaging 13.5 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game, shooting 56.4 percent from the field and 78.9 percent from the charity stripe. He also has 45 blocked shots. Phil Nelson (12.9 ppg) and Melvin Jones (12.8 ppg) have combined for 108 made three-pointers.
SERIES HISTORY: Seattle University and Portland State are meeting for the 11th time in history. Seattle University won the first four meetings, starting with a 76-64 victory in Seattle during the 1956-57 season. The next two wins for SeattleU were lopsided, 104-54 in the 1957-58 season opener and 85-36 during the 1958-59 campaign. In the first meeting between the two schools in Portland on Feb. 16, 1971, Portland State broke through with a 109-93 victory. SeattleU's last victory in the series came on Jan. 16, 1979, a 75-69 win at the Seattle Arena. Portland State has won the last three meetings, beginning with a 76-75 decision on Jan. 14, 1980, in Portland.
LAST SEASON: After SeattleU dropped out of Division I in 1980 and Portland State dropped basketball altogether in 1981, these regional rivals did not face each other for almost 29 years. An unexpected meeting took place in the third-place game of the 2009 Great Alaska Shootout, with Portland State coming out on top in Anchorage, 81-67. Dominic Waters led all players with 22 points, while Phil Nelson scored 16 points and Jamie Jones notched a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Chris Gweth led SeattleU with 14 points. Just one week later, the two teams met again, this time at the Stott Center in Portland. The Redhawks were behind by only one point with 6:34 remaining in the second half, but the Vikings pulled away thanks to a couple of three-pointers and hitting 13-of-15 free throw attempts in the second half. Leigh Swanson led SeattleU with 15 points, Austen Powers earned 14 points and seven rebounds, and Gweth collected 14 points, four assists, and three steals.
REACHING THE MILESTONE: Let the record show that it came on a basket with 1:25 remaining in the second half against Utah Valley on Jan. 16, 2010. Chris Gweth became the 34th player in Seattle University history to score at least 1,000 career points. He currently has 1,041 career points, ahead of SeattleU Athletic Hall of Famer John Tresvant on the school's all-time scoring list. Rod Derline is next on the list, just eight points ahead of Gweth. The senior has reached double figures in scoring in 13 of the last 15 games, averaging 14.0 points per game. Gweth scored 14 points in each of the two games against Portland State last season.
JEFF SAGARIN SAYS: The Sagarin ratings is one of the most popular tools for comparing two teams and attempting to predict the result. As of Feb. 6, Seattle University is 217th with a rating of 68.81 and Portland State is 197th with a rating of 70.06. Taking into account a 4.00 home advantage, the Sagarin ratings would say that Portland State is favored to win today's game by about five points.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: As part of the reclassification process, Seattle University is not eligible to officially win any statistical awards. However, if SeattleU was eligible, Charles Garcia would be 25th in scoring at 20.3 points per game. As a team, Seattle University would be 24th in scoring offense and 22nd in rebounding, averaging 79.3 points and 39.7 rebounds per game.
RECEIVING CHARITY: Charles Garcia has been prolific in getting to the free throw line so far this season, averaging 11.3 free throw attempts per game. Garcia has attempted a Division I-high 260 free throws in the first 23 games of the season, 58 more than Aubrey Coleman of Houston. Garcia has been a major reason why Seattle University has attempted more free throws as a team than any other Division I squad with the exception of Kansas State. Garcia has attempted 18 more free throws than the entire Princeton team and just 16 fewer free throws than Darmouth's entire squad.