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Organization: College of the Canyons
Date: March 16, 2009
Former COC Basketball Player Makes Second Appearance in NCAA Tournament
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — Former College of the Canyons men's basketball player and now starting guard for Portland State University, Andre Murray, will make his second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.
The Vikings earned a No. 13 seed after winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament and improved on their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, a No. 16 seeding last year. Portland State (23-9) will face No. 4 Xavier University (25-7), the regular-season Atlantic 10 Conference champion, in Boise, Idaho, in the East Regional on Friday, March 20 at 4:25 p.m. PST.
Murray, a senior, had five points and four rebounds last season in a first-round loss to eventual champions, the University of Kansas. This season he is averaging 11.0 ppg and is one of only two players who started every game for the Vikings. Murray was also named Second-Team All-Big Sky and Big Sky All-Tournament for his efforts during the regular season and conference tourney.
Murray is the third Cougar to make it to the big dance and the second to make it in two consecutive years. In 2000, guard Bryan Finley went with Central Connecticut State University for its first-ever berth, but lost in the first round to Iowa State, 88-78. Nick Sanderson went with Brigham Young University twice, in 1991-92 and 1992-93. Brigham Young lost in 1992 in the first round, 94-83, to a Louisiana State University team that boasted Shaquille O'Neal. In 1993, BYU got past Southern Methodist University, 80-71, but eventually fell to Kansas, 90-76, in the second round.
