Portland State basketball coach Ken Bone holds up the net after Portland State won the Big Sky tournament.

Portland State basketball coach Ken Bone holds up the net after Portland State won the Big Sky tournament.

Portland State’s men’s basketball players huddled around a TV in their locker room following a 67-51 Big Sky championship victory over Northern Arizona last Wednesday at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.

The Vikings, the Portland Oregonian reports, were silent while watching ESPN SportsCenter highlights of the game that gave the University its first NCAA Tournament berth in history.

Silence turned to cheers when ESPN’s cameras focused in on Big Sky Player of the Year Jeremiah Dominguez celebrating after the final horn.

“Hollywood, Hollywood,” the players chanted in the direction of the 5-foot-6, 150-pound junior guard, who exudes star power on the court.

A week earlier, he proved especially gracious in accepting the league’s player of the year award.

“That’s big time,” Dominguez told the Oregonian, referring to his being named league MVP in his first full season at Portland State. He practiced in games, but could not play the previous season after transferring from the University of Portland.

“All the hard work … it’s good to see it pay off.”

Dominguez averages a team-best 14.3 points and 4.1 assists while playing 31 minutes a game for the 23-9 Big Sky champions.

“It’s well deserved,” Portland State coach Ken Bone said of the accolades. “Jeremiah has done an outstanding job initiating what we do on both ends of the court. He has definitely been our leader.”

The Salem, Ore., native realizes it’s his job to lead the team.

“I think I’ve set the tone,” Dominguez told the Oregonian. “Everybody knows what we need to do and I kind of lead the way, leading by example. When I’m hitting my shots, it seems as if everybody starts hitting their shots, too.”

Dominguez is looking forward to the challenge of playing top-seeded KU in a first-round Midwest Regional NCAA Tournament game at 11:25 a.m., Thursday, in Omaha, Neb.

“I’m not disappointed,” Dominguez said of having to play a top-seed. “It gives us a chance to prove something, or at least the opportunity to do something. Any team we were going to play was going to be good, and it just happened to be Kansas.

“I’ve been watching them all year. They’ve got good point guards, and they’re long and athletic. We might have to slow it down a little bit and be careful with the ball a little bit.”

No No. 16 seed has ever beaten a No. 1.

“I think we’re going to have to catch on fire,” Dominguez said. “We’re going to have to shoot the ball extremely well, and if we do … we have a lot of shooters that can get it done.”