(Editor’s note: Big Sky Conference media release)
BOISE, Idaho (March 9, 2019) – Montana closed out the regular season with a win at Sacramento State to capture the Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball regular season title for the second-straight season and the No. 1 seed for next week’s conference tournament.
The Griz finished their Big Sky slate at 16-4 while Northern Colorado claimed the No. 2 seed with a 15-5 record. Eastern Washington wrapped up the regular season with three-straight wins to take the No. 3 seed with a 12-8 record. Weber State and Portland State rounded out the top five seeds that earn a first round bye with 11-9 records.
Montana State also finished at 11-9 but lost in the tiebreaker to take the sixth seed. Rounding out the bracket is Southern Utah (No. 7), Northern Arizona (No. 8), Sacramento State (No. 9), Idaho State (No. 10) and Idaho (No. 11).
The Big Sky Men’s Basketball Championship Presented by My Place Hotels gets underway Wednesday with three first round matchups at 9:30 a.m. (MT). The games will air on Pluto TV channel 231 and on WatchBigSky.com.
The quarterfinals take place Thursday followed by Friday’s semifinals on Eleven Sports, Pluto TV and Watch Big Sky. Jon Oglesby and Joe Cravens will be on the call for all first round, quarterfinal and semifinal games.
The championship game is slated for a 6 p.m. tip on ESPNU with Sam Farber and Noah Savage calling the action.
Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament
March 13-16 at Century Link Arena, Boise, Idaho
Wednesday, March 13 (First Round)
Game 1 — #8 Northern Arizona vs. No. 9 Sacramento State – 9:30 a.m. (MT)
Game 2 — #7 Southern Utah vs. #10 Idaho State – 30 minutes after previous game ends
Game 3 — #6 Montana State vs. #11 Idaho – 30 minutes after previous game ends
Thursday, March 14 (Quarterfinals)
Game 4 — #1 Montana vs. Game 1 Winner – 12 p.m. (MT)
Game 5 — #4 Weber State vs. #5 Portland State – 2:30 p.m. (MT)
Game 6 — #2 Northern Colorado vs. Game 2 Winner – 5:30 p.m. (MT)
Game 7 — #3 Eastern Washington vs. Game 3 Winner – 8 p.m. (MT)
Friday, March 15 (Semifinals)
Game 8 — Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 5:30 p.m. (MT)
Game 9 — Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner – 8 p.m. (MT)
Saturday, March 16 (Championship)
Game 10 — Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner – 6 p.m. (MT)
