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TOPSY-TURVY THURSDAY: Night of games shakes up Big Sky hoops races

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As a not-very-smart prognosticator said out loud on live radio shortly before Thursday’s night’s slate of Big Sky basketball games tipped off, Thursday was supposed to be an appetizer. Saturday featured the main course, including marquee men’s games between Eastern Washington and Montana and top MVP candidates Saint Thomas’ Northern Colorado and Dillon Jones’ Weber State.

Instead, Thursday stole the show with a wild night of games that featured frontrunners in both the men’s and women’s league taking unexpected losses, double overtime in Greeley and plenty of other drama across the conference. We recapped all the craziness in one place.

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Northern Colorado 91, Idaho State 86 (2 OT)

In Greeley, Northern Colorado’s Jaron Rillie made two free throws with under a minute left in regulation to tie the game at 60 before things went crazy in the first overtime. The teams scored 18 points apiece in the five-minute period. Two free throws by Idaho State’s AJ Burgin put the Bengals up 78-75 with five seconds left, but Burgin then fouled Dejour Reaves on a 3-point attempt with two seconds left. He made all three to send it to a second overtime, where Northern Colorado got a crucial 3 from Zach Bloch in the final minute and held on to win.

The Standout: Saint Thomas continued to burnish his case for league MVP, playing 45 minutes and putting up 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for Northern Colorado. Rillie played 46 minutes, and had 17, seven and six. Brayden Parker had 26 points and nine rebounds for ISU, and Maleek Arrington played all 50 minutes for the Bengals.

What It Means: Northern Colorado continues to win close games after pulling out another overtime contest at Montana and squeaking by Sac State earlier in the season. And with Eastern Washington taking its first conference loss (see below), the Bears held on to second place and are in the best position to take advantage if EWU falters any further.

Weber State 72, Northern Arizona 70

In Flagstaff, Weber State might have righted the ship – after a callout from their coach last weekend – but looked anything but assured in doing so. The Wildcats led by eight at halftime, but Northern Arizona fought back and took the lead with just under five minutes to go. The Lumberjacks led by four with 53 seconds left, but Dillon Jones immediately answered with an and-1, then made two free throws with 30 seconds to go to put Weber ahead for good.

The Standout: Jones, who went for 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Weber State. The NBA Draft prospect made all 10 of his free throws. Trenton McLaughlin went off for 29 for Northern Arizona.

What It Means: A win is a win, but goodness, it continues to be hard to feel good about Weber State, which had to dig deep to fend off mediocre-at-best NAU. On paper, the Wildcats’ supporting cast appeared to play better behind Jones — Blaise Threatt had 19 and Steven Verplancken 13 — but Verplancken and KJ Cunningham also combined to make just 1 of 4 free throws in the final minute.

Montana 73, Idaho 70

In Missoula, Idaho shot the lights out early and led for almost the entire game. Brandon Whitney’s tough and-1 with 59 seconds left gave the Griz a 70-68 lead, and Jaxon Nap made two free throws with 27 seconds left to break a 70-70 tie and give Montana the lead for good.

The Standout: In an offensive struggle for the Griz, Whitney, Dischon Thomas and Te’Jon Sawyer each scored 14 points, with Thomas adding 12 rebounds and four blocks. Quinn Denker led Idaho with 20 points, and former Billings Skyview star Julius Mims had multiple high-flying slams on his way to 15 points for the Vandals.

What It Means: Like Weber State, a win that doesn’t look all that great for the Griz, who have struggled in three straight against mid-to-bottom tier teams. On the other hand, they still won two of those games. And they have the chance to take down Eastern Washington on Saturday in front of a Dahlberg Arena crowd that sounded pretty intense during the last few possessions of Thursday’s game.

Montana State 70, Eastern Washington 60

In Bozeman, Montana State led by seven at the half. Eastern Washington closed to within three a couple times early in the second half but, honestly, the Bobcats closed out the previously undefeated-in-conference Eagles without too much drama.

The Standout: Robert Ford III had 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists, just one turnover and (holy mother of God) six steals for Montana State, almost single-handedly swinging the turnover battle 18-12 in favor of the Bobcats.

What It Means: It’s a crucial weekend for Eastern Washington, which faces a gauntlet of three games in five days, all on the road (Montana State, Montana, Portland State). If the Eagles come out of it still in first place, they’re in great shape. That’s now in doubt, and EWU, previously undefeated, doesn’t have much margin for error left the rest of the weekend. Meanwhile, Montana State kept pace as one of the top four — and Ford will definitely be appearing on my top three for midseason MVP (full midseason all-conference teams coming next week!)

WOMEN’S

Northern Arizona 85, Weber State 65

In Ogden, Northern Arizona went up 18-6 after the first quarter and cruised from there.

The Standout: Emily Rodabaugh hit 5 of 9 3-pointers, scored 18 points and added three blocks for Northern Arizona.

What It Means: Loree Payne is suddenly the third-longest tenured coach in the league — and it’s time to start talking about the former Havre Blue Pony as an equal to Montana State’s Tricia Binford and Idaho State’s Seton Sobolewski, her peers in that group. She’s got the Lumberjacks absolutely rolling again, in sole possession of first place in the league after they shared the regular-season title last year. They’ve won five in a row after a home loss to the Lady Griz.

Montana 79, Idaho 68

In Moscow, Montana went up 20-9 after the first quarter and 45-21 at halftime en route to its fourth win in a row.

The Standout: Carmen Gfeller went 8 of 14 from the field for 24 points and added four rebounds and four assists without a turnover for the Lady Griz.

What It Means: I truly am still not sure the Lady Griz are good – although their road win at NAU is looking better and better – but I do know one thing: If they’re playing a bad team, they’re hitting the over. Idaho doesn’t have all that much in Carrie Eighmey’s first year, but good lord can Montana shred teams when they’re on – 53% from the field, 64% from 3-point range, 93% from the free-throw line on Thursday. That’s beautiful basketball – as precise and deadly as a striking snake.

Montana State 62, Eastern Washington 61

In Bozeman, Eastern Washington led by five at halftime and by as many as six in the fourth quarter. But Montana State hung around, tied it with 1:34 left on two free throws by Natalie Picton and took the lead with 58 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Taylor Janssen. Jamie Loera brought Eastern back within one and the Eagles had a wide-open look for the win at the buzzer, but Jaydia Martin’s 3-pointer bounced off the rim to end it.

The Standout: Marah Dykstra, growing into an increased role with several MSU stalwarts out with injury, had 21 points and five rebounds for the Bobcats, also assisting on Janssen’s game-winning 3-pointer.

What It Means: Two losses in a row and a slip into second place for the Eagles, who are contending with real adversity for the first time after a 6-0 start to conference play. They’ll face Montana on Saturday — a brutal follow-up, with a loss dropping them to third and possibly even lower. Tricia Binford’s Montana State Bobcats were already the team absolutely nobody wanted to face in the Big Sky tournament, but they might be an actual contender as well, at 6-3 now and grinding out wins despite a depleted roster. And, most importantly, KJ Limardo returned to the court for the ‘Cats after her horrible fall just a week-and-a-half ago against Montana, scoring 14 points for MSU.

Idaho State 76, Northern Colorado 56

In Pocatello, Idaho State went up 46-26 at halftime and cruised from there.

The Standout: Laura Bello led six ISU players in double figures with 14 points. Kacey Spink had 11 points and 10 assists for the Bengals, tied for the second-most assists by a Big Sky player this year.

What It Means: If Binford’s Bobcats are now a real contender and no longer the potential spoiler in Boise, Sobolewski’s Bengals have slid right into that role. Although, to be honest, they’re tied with MSU at 6-3, so maybe they’re just a contender too. Two teams with veteran coaches that are pure hell to play against. That’s three losses in a row for Northern Colorado, who own wins against both Montana teams and also have a close loss in Flagstaff but need to dig in quickly and find a solution.

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About Andrew Houghton

Andrew Houghton grew up in Washington, DC. He graduated from the University of Montana journalism school in December 2015 and spent time working on the sports desk at the Daily Tribune News in Cartersville, Georgia, before moving back to Missoula and becoming a part of Skyline Sports in early 2018.

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