MBB Notes - Dec 27
PDF of Notes
THIS WEEK’S SKY SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Dec. 29 Time
*Northern Arizona at Montana (Big Sky TV) 1:05
*Northern Colorado at Portland State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
*Weber State at Montana State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
*Sacramento State at Eastern Washington (Big Sky TV) 7:05
Friday, Dec. 31
*Weber State at Montana (Big Sky TV) 1:05
*Sacramento State at Idaho State (Big Sky TV) 2:05
*Northern Colorado at Eastern Washington (Big Sky TV) (SWX) 3:05
*Northern Arizona at Montana State (Big Sky TV) 4:05
Big Sky Game of the Week
Sunday, Jan. 2
*Portland State at Idaho State (Big Sky TV) 2:05
Will air live on Altitude and Comcast Sports Net Northwest
THIS WEEK’S SKY HIGHLIGHTS
Conference play opens Wednesday with four games, including a marquee showdown between the two teams tied at the top of the standings – Montana and Northern Arizona. Both Montana and NAU bring 8-4 overall records into the game…Northern Arizona’s 2009-10 season came to an end in Missoula with a Big Sky quarterfinal loss to the Grizzlies, who went on to win the championship…Also on Wednesday, Weber State is at Montana State, Northern Colorado is at Portland State and Sacramento State is at Eastern Washington…Eight teams are back in action on New Year’s Eve. Two-time defending regular-season champion Weber State is at Montana…Sacramento State plays at Idaho State. Northern Colorado is at Eastern Washington. Northern Arizona battles Montana State. All of the games on Friday will be played in the afternoon…On Sunday, Portland State and Idaho State meet in Pocatello on the Altitude Sports & Entertainment Game of the Week. All nine games can be seen for free on Big Sky TV.
AROUND THE BIG SKY
ALTITUDE GAME OF THE WEEK: The first of eight regular-season Big Sky Conference games on Altitude Sports & Entertainment is Sunday from Pocatello, Idaho, as Idaho State plays host to Portland State. Rich Winters will handle the play-by-play duties with Jay McMillan on color commentary. It will be the conference opener for Portland State. Idaho State opens conference play on Friday at home against Sacramento State. Tip on Sunday is at 2 p.m. Mountain. This is the fourth straight year that Altitude has televised a Big Sky Game of the Week. Sunday’s game will also air live on Comcast Sports Net Northwest. Five of the eight games will air on Saturday. Altitude will also air the Big Sky semifinals on Tuesday, March 8.
ROAD STRUGGLES: One reason for the Big Sky’s plummet in the RPI this season is a lack of non-conference road victories. Big Sky teams are a combined 8-45 in non-conference road games so far this season. Montana and Northern Arizona each have three road wins, while Weber State has two. Those three teams are a respectable 8-10 in true non-conference road games. The other six teams in the league are a combined 0-35 on the road. Big Sky teams are 8-8 in neutral-site games. At home, Big Sky teams are 33-7.
RPI REPORT: The Big Sky enters the conference season 26th among the conferences in the RPI ratings. The Big Sky has been 26th in all of the weekly reports so far this season. At this point last season, the Big Sky was 17th among the Division I conferences. Northern Arizona jumped 47 spots this week from 128 to 81 to lead the Big Sky teams. Montana improved 34 spots to 1`41, while Weber State jumped 10 spots from 173 to 163. Kansas has the top overall RPI this week, followed by Georgetown, BYU, Duke and West Virginia. The Big East remained the top conference, followed by the Big 12, Big Ten, ACC and Mountain West. Idaho State’s strength of schedule is rated 57th overall. Weber State’s schedule strength is 94 and Eastern Washington is 96th.
FAMOUS FREE THROW: A made free throw by Idaho State’s Kamil Gawrzydek has become one of the most watched plays in college basketball this season. The junior center from Teresin, Poland, nearly defied physics with a free throw on Dec. 21 in a 71-48 loss at Utah State. Trailing 63-43 in the second half, Gawrzydek’s free throw hit the back iron and bounced to the front of the rim. The ball sat on the front of the rim for roughly two seconds before falling in. The clip has been viewed more than 7.5 million times on YouTube.
ADRAS FOURTH IN CONFERENCE WINS: Northern Arizona coach Mike Adras, now in his 12th season, begins the 2010-11 conference season with 90 Big Sky Conference victories. Adras ranks fourth all-time, but should move into third place fairly quickly. Former Weber State coach Neil McCarthy is currently third on the list with 90. Former Montana State coach Mick Durham is first with 123, followed by Boise State’s Bobby Dye (102). Adras’ 180 career victories while coaching in the Big Sky also rank fourth all-time. He is 20 wins behind McCarthy. Durham is first with 246, followed by Dye with 214.
NCAA STATS: Because of the Christmas Holiday, NCAA stats were not updated this week.
Tip-ins: Montana’s Brian Qvale enters conference play with 192 career blocks. He needs four more to move into a tie first third-place on the Big Sky’s all-time list, and is just 20 blocks away from tying the all-time record of 212...Portland State’s Chehales Tapscott recorded his league-leading fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Utah Valley...Northern Colorado’s Devon Beitzel scored 29 points in a loss to Colorado State and 28 in a loss to Louisana-Monroe. Beitzel made all 13 of his free throws in the two games and has now made 23 in a row, and 64 of 66 for the season...Montana’s Art Steward came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points in a 71-57 win over Cal State Fullerton. Steward scored a total of 65 points in UM’s first 11 games. Sophomore guard Will Cherry scored 18 points with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in the win. Cherry was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.Northern Arizona’s Shane Johannsen scored 14 points with 10 rebounds in a win over Air Force...Idaho State went 1-2 at the Utah State tournament, beating Troy and falling to Utah State and Western Michigan. Deividas Busma scored 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in a 63-60 loss to Western Michigan. He scored 16 with nine rebounds in a 77-73 win over Troy...Portland State senior forward Phil Nelson is expected to miss two more weeks with a foot injury. Nelson has not played this season...Montana and Northern Arizona are both 8-2 in their last 10 games...A crowd of 10,453 watched Weber State fall to nationally-ranked BYU at the Dee Events Center. Kyle Bullinger had 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Scott Bamforth hit five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 17 points in the loss...Weber State is 1-1 since losing league MVP Damian Lillard for the season with a broken foot...Portland State’s Chris Harriel has scored in double figures in 10 straight games.