MBB Notes - Quarterfinal Edition
PDF of Release
TV/Radio/Internet Information
Tourney Tidbits
Banner Health Big Sky Championship
Saturday, March 5
Quarterfinals (at No. 3 and No. 4 seeds)
No. 6 Eastern Washington at No. 3 Weber State, 7:35 p.m.
TV: None
No. 5 Montana State at No. 4 Northern Arizona , 6:35 p.m.
TV: (NAU TV, Fox College Sports Pacific)
At Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion
Greeley, Colo.
Tuesday, March 8 (at regular-season champ)
Semifinals (Televised by Altitude)
No. 2 Montana vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 5:30 p.m.
No. 1 Northern Colorado vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 8 p.m. .
Wednesday, March 9
Championship, 7 p.m. MST (ESPN2)
All times Mountain/Subject to Change
THIS WEEK’S SKY HIGHLIGHTS
The 2011 Big Sky Men’s Basketball Championship opens with quarterfinal games on Saturday. No. 3 seed Weber State plays host to the sixth-seeded Eastern Washington Eagles. The two teams met Wednesday in Ogden. EWU pulled off a 75-69 upset. No. 4 Northern Arizona plays host to No. 5 Montana State. The teams split regular-season meetings. That game will be televised on Fox College Sports Pacific and NAU-TV. No. 1 Northern Colorado and No. 2 Montana have byes to the semifinals, which begin Tuesday at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion in Greeley, Colo. Montana will play in the first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Northern Colorado plays at 8 p.m. Those games will be televised live on Altitude...The championship game is slated for Wednesday at 7 p.m Mountain. The game will be televised live on ESPN2 with national radio coverage on Westwood One...All games but the championship will be available for free on Big Sky TV.
AROUND THE BIG SKY
BEARS CLINCH: Northern Colorado clinched the outright regular-season champions on Wednesday with an 84-54 win over Sacramento State. The Bears secured the No. 1 seed and the right to host the Big Sky semifinals and championships. Northern Colorado is in its fifth season as a Big Sky member, and just its fourth season as a full-fledged Division I member. Northern Colorado finished 2-14 in conference play in 2006-07, its first in the league. The Bears have improved their win total in conference each season, finishing 6-10 in 2007-08, eight in 2008-09, and 12 in 2009-10. Northern Colorado is in the Big Sky Championship for the third straight season, but is still seeking its first win. Tuesday’s semifinal game featuring Northern Colorado will be the first Big Sky men’s basketball championship game played in Colorado. Northern Colorado is 12-0 at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion this season, and 25-2 at home over the past two seasons. The Bears are 21-3 over the past three seasons against Big Sky teams at Butler-Hancock. The regular-season championship is the first Big Sky men’s title won by an athletic team at Northern Colorado.
STREAK ENDS: Eastern Washington halted Weber State’s 21-game conference regular-season home court winning streak with a stunning 75-59 win over the Wildcats on Wednesday. Weber State hadn’t lost a regular-season home conference game since falling to Montana State 75-70 on Jan. 15, 2009. It was just the fourth regular-season conference home loss in Randy Rahe’s five seasons at the helm of Weber State. The Wildcats are 36-4 in regular-season home conference games under Rahe and 40-6 overall against Sky teams at the Dee Events Center. Eastern Washington jumped out to a 40-22 halftime lead and withstood a Weber State second-half rally before pulling away down the stretch. Cliff Colimon and Jeffrey Forbes each scored 17 points. Cliff Ederaine had 16 points. EWU closed the regular season with wins over No. 2 UM and No. 3 WSU.
BEITZEL MOVING UP: Northern Colorado senior Devon Beitzel made six 3-pointers in the Bears’ two games this week. He has moved into seventh place on the Big Sky’s all-time list with 222 made 3-pointers. Beitzel past Montana’s Kevin Criswell, who made 218 from 2002-06. Sacramento State’s Loren Leath is sixth on the list with 240.
JONES CRACKS TOP 20: Northern Arizona’s Cameron Jones scored 14 points in Wednesday, giving him 1,574 in his career. NAU’s all-time leading scorer now ranks 19th in Big Sky history in scoring. He needs 26 poitns to become the 18th player in league history to score 1,600 career points. Idaho’s Brian Kellerman ranks 18th on the scoring list with 1,585 points.
WIZARD OF WEBER: Under fifth-year coach Randy Rahe, Weber State has now won at least 10 conference games in a season for the fifth time. It marks just the fourth time in league history a team has won at least 10 conference games in five straight seasons. Weber State and Idaho each won at least 10 in six straight seasons. Weber State did it from 1967-68 through 1972-83. Idaho started it string in 1987-88 and is lasted through 1992-93. Weber State also won 10 in league five straight years from 1991-92 through 1995-96. Weber State won 62 conference games from 1968-69 through 1972-73, the most by any team during a five-year stretch. Weber State finished the last five years with 60 conference regular-season wins.
1,000 FOR QVALE: Montana’s Brian Qvale became the sixth player in the league to score his 1,000th career point this season. Qvale scored 12 points in a loss to Eastern Washington, giving him 1,008 for this career. Qvale finished the regular season with 87 blocks, six shy of tying the single-season Big Sky record of 93. He holds the Big Sky all-time record with 239 career blocks. Qvale is also four rebounds away from 700 for his career.
RPI REPORT: The Big Sky jumped two spots to 24th among Division I conference in this week’s RPI Report. The Big Sky is now just behind the Sun Belt and ahead of the Patriot. Montana is the top team with an RPI of 110, followed by Northern Colorado at 114. Weber State is at 25- and Northern Arizona is at 158.
Tip-ins: Northern Colorado is guaranteed a bid to the NIT if it fails to win the Big Sky Championship. Home teams won 50 of the 72 regular-season conference games…NAU’s Cameron Jones enters the postseason having scored in double figures in 15 straight games. UM’s Brian Qvale has scored in double figures in 14 straight games. NC’s Devon Beitzel’s streak is at 11...Montana has won 20 regular-season games for the first time since 2005-06…Northern Colorado cracked the mid-major top 25 for the first time this season. The Bears are 25th. Montana dropped out of the poll...WSU’s Scott Bamforth leads the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage. NAU is the top 3-point shooting team in the nation. Weber State is second...Beitzel ranks fifth in the nation in free-throw shooting and is 14th in scoring...UM’s Brian Qvale is third in FG percentage..Northern Colorado is seventh in the nation in free-throw shooting...Northern Arizona is sixth in assists per game...UM’s Will Chery is eighth in the nation in steals.