Big Sky Conference

BRACKET SET: Big Sky Conference men’s tournament field set

on

The Big Sky Conference regular-season came to a close in wild fashion on Saturday.

Montana State’s RaeQuon Battle got the craziness kicked off when he hit a 30+ foot shot at the buzzer to list MSU to an 87-85 win over Northern Colorado. That game put an exclamation point on a championship season season that included 16 league wins and 24 wins overall, each the most by a Bobcat squad since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1963.

With MSU senior point guard Xavier Bishop out during the second half with an injury and All-Big Sky center Jubrile Belo on the shelf with an injury suffered Thursday, UNC pushed the champs all evening. Northern Colorado forced a turnover off an in-bound and kicked to Bodie Hume. The senior drilled a 3-pointer to give the Bears an 85-84 lead with 3.2 seconds left.

But Battle got nothing but net on his last-gasp shot to keep the magic going with an 87-85 win over the previously surging Bears.

SCHOOLCONFPCTOVERALLPCTHOMEAWAYNEUTRALSTREAK
Montana State *^16-4.80024-7.77413-19-62-0W3
Southern Utah *14-6.70020-10.66711-37-72-0W2
Weber State *13-7.65020-11.6459-68-53-0L1
Northern Colorado *13-7.65018-14.5629-48-91-1L1
Montana *11-9.57918-12.60014-24-100-0L1
Eastern Washington11-9.55017-14.5489-38-100-1W2
Portland State10-10.50012-16.4297-75-90-0L1
Idaho6-14.3009-21.3008-71-120-2W1
Sacramento State6-14.2639-17.3465-83-91-0L1
Northern Arizona5-15.2509-22.2905-104-110-1L7
Idaho State5-15.2507-22.2415-82-140-0L2

Montana State takes the top seed into the conference tournament for the first time since 2002. The Bobcats will play the winner of the first game of the tournament between No. 8 Idaho and No. 9 Sacramento State at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

Despite missing senior guards Tevian Jones and Dre Marin, Southern Utah secured its second straight 20-win season by beating Weber State 80-70. That helped SUU finish 14-6 in league play, 20-10 overall. The Thunderbirds will play the winner of No. 7 Portland State (10-10 in league, 12-16 overall) and Northern Arizona (5-15 in league, 9-22 overall). The third quarterfinal will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Sac State posted a 72-71 win over Montana in Missoula behind a career-high 39 points from senior Bryce Fowler, who joined Justin Strings as one of only two Sac State players with more than 1,500 career points. That means Sac State finishes 6-14 in league play and have won four of five entering the tournament.

Montana was locked into the No. 5 seed in the league tournament following Thursday’s 75-66 loss to Northern Colorado in Missoula. Consecutive home losses means UM finished 11-9 in conference play and 14-3 at home. The Griz are 18-18 in league play over the last two seasons after winning 85 Big Sky games in eighth-year head coach Travis DeCuire’s first six seasons at the helm for his alma mater.

The Griz will take on Weber State, a team that lost six out of eight down the stretch after a 10-1 start to league play that included a 74-72 loss at Montana on New Year’s Day and an 80-75 win over the Griz in Ogden before the skid started. Montana and Weber State meet in the conference tournament for the ninth time in the last 12 years. The No. 4 vs. No. 5 game tips at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Boise.

Northern Colorado takes the No. 3 seed with an identical 13-7 Big Sky mark as Weber but held the tie breaker against the Wildcats. The Bears will play the late game on Thursday, meeting the winner of No. 6 Eastern Washington and No. 11 Idaho State.

Wednesday, March 9

Game 1: No. 8 Sacramento State vs. No. 9 Idaho (9:30 a.m.)
Game 2: No. 7 Portland State vs. No. 10 Idaho State (12:00 p.m.)
Game 3: No. 6 Eastern Washington vs. No. 11 Northern Arizona (2:30 p.m.)

Thursday, March 10

Game 4: No. 1 Montana State vs. Game 1 Winner (12:00 p.m.)
Game 5: No. 4 Weber State vs. No. 5 Montana (2:30 p.m.)
Game 6: No. 2 Southern Utah vs. Game 2 Winner (5:30 p.m.)
Game 7: No. 3 Northern Colorado vs. Game 3 Winner (8:00 p.m.)

Friday, March 11

Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (5:30 p.m.)
Game 9: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner (8:00 p.m.)

Saturday, March 12

Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner (6:00 p.m.)

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

Recommended for you