Anthony Johnson and Montana will play New Mexico in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
2010 NCAA Bracket
2010 NCAA Interactive Bracket
The University of Montana will play New Mexico of the Mountain West Conference in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
Montana, which rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to beat Weber State 66-65 in the Big Sky Championship, earned at No. 14 seed. New Mexico is the No. 3 seed. The teams will meet on Thursday in San Jose, Calif., in a first-round game.
The game will be televised nationally on CBS. Tip time is set for 7:50 p.m. Mountain, 6:50 p.m. Pacific.
Montana (22-9) is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance. The Grizzlies went in 2005 as a No. 16 seed, falling to Washington. In 2006, Montana was the No. 12 seed and upset No. 5 seed Nevada in the first round in Salt Lake City. Montana lost to Boston College in the second round.
Wayne Tinkle’s Grizzlies enter the NCAA Tournament having won 12 of its last 15 games. Montana is led by senior guard Anthony Johnson, who scored a Big Sky Tournament single-game record 42 points in the win over Weber State. Johnson averages 19.6 points per game.
New Mexico, coached by Steve Alford, enter the NCAA tournament with a 29-4 record. The Lobos had a 15-game winning streak snapped by San Diego State in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament. New Mexico was ranked No. 8 in the nation last week.
The Lobos played one Big Sky team this season, downing Northern Arizona 96-57.
Montana went 0-1 against Mountain West teams this season, losing 62-61 at Colorado State without starting center Brian Qvale.
Three Big Sky teams will play in postseason tournaments.
Weber State (20-10) will travel to Cincinnati to face the Bearkats in a NIT game on Wednesday. The game will begin at 5 p .m. Mountain, and will air live on ESPN2. Weber State is a No. 7 seed. Cincinnati is a No. 2 seed.
Weber State is in the NIT for the second straight season. The Wildcats fell to San Diego State in last year's first round.
Northern Colorado (24-7) has accepted an invitational to play in the Collegeinsider.com postseason tournament. The Bears will play a home game on Wednesday night at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion. against the Portland Pilots of the West Coast Conference. Tip is at 7 p.m. Mountain.
For more on the Collegeinsider.com tournament, click here.