Big Sky men's basketball tournament

BIG SKY MEN’S TOURNEY DAY 2 – Bobcats set to play Wildcats, Bears advance to play Vikings in semis

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The quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament commenced on Thursday March 10, 2022.

The slate featured top-seeded Montana State dispatching of No. 9 Sacramento State 83-61 and No. 4 Weber State blasting No. 5 Montana 68-56.

In the evening quarterfinals, No. 7 Portland State upset No. 2 Southern Utah 77-65 and No. 3 Northern Colorado outlasted No. 6 Eastern Washington, the defending tournament champions, 68-67.

No. 1 Montana State 83, No. 9 Sacramento State 61

When Sac State senior Bryce Fowler hit a long jump shot without much defense in his face, he flipped a quick look to Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle, saying “You have to respect me more than that” while flashing a smile.

Everyone has Fowler’s respect after the ambidextrous senior led his team to a strong close to a tough season. Sac started 2-12 in league play. But Fowler scored 20 or more points 10 times in the last month to help the Hornets enter the tournament as one of the league’s hottest teams.

Fowler’s jumper midway through the first half gave him 12 points and kept Sac State ahead of Sprinkle’s league champion Bobcats. The upset bid seemed real.

Then Montana State senior point guard Xavier Bishop settled in, MSU started running and gunning and the two-headed monster on the block of junior Jubrile Belo and freshman Great Osobor sparked the Bobcats to bury the Hornets.

Fowler scored 14 points in the first 11 minutes and just six the rest of the way as Abdul Mohamed led a defensive effort to slow down Sac’s All-Big Sky star. The ‘Cats ended the first half on an 18-6 run and kept rolling from there.

Bishop weaved his way to 14 points and three assists while Belo, the league’s MVP, had 11 point and five rebounds while not looking to be at full strength. Osobor, who like Belo hails from the United Kingdom, had 13 points, earning Sprinkle’s praise in the post-game press conference.

Mohamed finished with 11 points and RaeQuan Battle, the Big Sky’s Top Reserve who played through an illness, also had 11 points.

Montana State now has 25 wins and is into the Big Sky Tournament semifinals for the second year in a row. The Hornets finish their season 11-18.

BOX SCORE

No. 4 Weber State 68, No. 5 Montana 56

The two perennial Big Sky powers have won more than half of the league’s titles over the nearly 60-year history of the conference. During Montana head coach Travis DeCuire’s eight years at the helm, the Griz knocked Weber State out of the league tournament six times. UM eliminated Weber seven of the last eight years overall, the last WSU victory coming in the league’s first neutral site championship in 2016 in Reno over Montana.

It appeared the trend would continue when Montana blitzed the Wildcats, building a 12-2 lead early. Weber responded with authority, causing the lead to swell to as large as 53-31 early in the second half.

Weber State clearly and abundantly reveled in pounding the Grizzlies, ensuring the end of the season slide continued for the Griz. UM lost eight of last last 11 games, meaning the Griz finish short of a 20-win season for the third year in a row. Counting tournament games, UM is 20-20 in Big Sky games over the last two years.

Weber State’s Dillon Jones, last season’s league Freshman of the Year, looked like the first-team All-Big Sky selection he should’ve been, pouring in 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while helping bully Montana power forward Josh Bannan. The Griz southpaw from Australia has been a revelation this season but finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and made just 1-of-8 from the floor. Brandon Whitney and Robby Beasley each scored 12 points for Montana.

Koby McEwen, who was an all-league player at Utah State as a sophomore and a standout at Marquette before transferring to Weber, added 17 points as WSU advanced to the semifinals to face Montana State. The Wildcats and Bobcats split during the regular season.

Montana’s season finishes with an 18-14 record.

BOX SCORE

No. 7 Portland State 77, No. 2 Southern Utah 65

Portland State used its hyper aggressive defense to build an early 19-6 lead and never looked back on the way to its second win in this tournament. Khalid Thomas had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead PSU.

Thomas gave an impassioned pre-game speech before Portland State’s first round win over IDaho State, then has showed that he believes he is better than the honorable mention All-Big Sky recognition he received during his senior year. He set the tone with blocks and dunks to punch the usually aggressive Thunderbirds right in the mouth.

BOX SCORE

No. 3 Northern Colorado 68, No. 6 Eastern Washington 67

Northern Colorado has a quartet of players that have played together since high school in Bodie Human, Matt Johnson II, Daylen Kountz and Kur Jongkuch. Their cumulative quest for Big Sky Conference supremacy continued Thursday, although Eastern Washington pushed them hard.

UNC hit 9-of-18 tries from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half on the way to forging a 42-32 lead. The Bears’ advantage swelled to as much as 51-34 five minutes into the second half. Midway through the second half, EWU rallied with a 13-2 run to cut the UNC advantage to 58-56 with 4:39 left.

The rest of the stretch went back and forth but the Bears emerged to earn a shot at the Vikings in the semifinals.

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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.

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