Brad Huse's Montana State Bobcats open conference play at home against Eastern Washington on Wednesday.
MBB Notes - Dec. 26
PDF of Release
This Week’s Sky Highlights
The 48th season of Big Sky Conference men’s basketball games begins this week, the final four days of the year 2011…On Wednesday, Eastern Washington treks to Montana State. Brad Huse’s Bobcats are looking to snap a three-game losing streak. It will be the first conference game for Eagles’ first-year coach Jim Hayford…Also on Wednesday, Portland State takes on Montana in Missoula. The Vikings are seeking their first road victory of the season. Montana is 5-2 at Dahlberg Arena this season…Preseason favorite Weber State opens conference play Thursday at the Dee Events Center against rival Idaho State. Weber State is 36-4 in regular-season conference home games under Randy Rahe…Northern Arizona opens conference play Thursday at home against Sacramento State…On Friday, Montana takes on Eastern Washington in Missoula in a matinee starting at 1 p.m. Montana State is at home against Portland State…On Saturday, Weber State welcomes Sacramento State to the Dee Events Center…Defending Big Sky champion Northern Colorado opens conference play at home on Saturday against Northern Arizona. Northern Colorado, which went undefeated at home last season, is just 1-4 at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion this season…All eight games can be viewed for free on Big Sky TV.
Next Week’s Sky Schedule
Wednesday, Dec. 28 Time
*Eastern Washington at Montana State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
*Portland State at Montana (Big Sky TV) 7:05
Thursday, Dec. 29 Time
*Sacramento State at Northern Arizona (Big Sky TV) 6:35
*Idaho State at Weber State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
Friday, Dec. 30 Time
*Eastern Washington at Montana (Big Sky TV) 1:05
*Portland State at Montana State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
Saturday, Dec. 31 Time
*Sacramento State at Weber State (Big Sky TV) 2:05
*Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado (Big Sky TV) 7:35
Game Times Local to Site/Subject to Change
Around the Big Sky
MID-SEASON COACHING CHANGES RARE: In the course of 11 days two Big Sky Conference men’s basketball coaches resigned from their posts. Mike Adras stepped down at Northern Arizona on Dec. 9 after a 2-7 start. Idaho State’s Joe O’Brien resigned on Dec. 19 following a 2-8 start. In the previous 48-year-history of Big Sky men’s basketball only two times had a coach resigned or been fired during the season. In 1972-73, Bus Connor replaced Murray Satterfield at Boise State. Satterfield went 11-15. Connor went 6-7 and ended up coaching the Broncs through the 1979-80 season. In 1988-89, Northern Arizona’s Pat Rafferty went 8-16 before Harold Merrit took over, losing the final four games of the season. Merritt coached the Lumberjacks for four more seasons. Adras was the “Dean of Big Sky Coaches” as he was in his 13th season as a head man. Adras’ departure leaves three coaches as the longest-tenured in the league. Montana’s Wayne Tinkle, Montana State’s Brad Huse and Weber State’s Randy Rahe are all in their sixth seasons as their respective schools. O’Brien was in his sixth season at Idaho State.
RPI REPORT: The Big Sky Conference dropped four spots to 25th among Division I conferences in this week’s RPI Report from Collegiate Basketball News. The Big Sky is just behind the Southern Conference, and just ahead of the Big South. The Big Ten is first, followed by the ACC, Big 12, Big East and SEC. The Mountain West is sixth. Weber State leads Big Sky teams with an RPI of 104, a five-spot improvement from last week. Eastern Washington improved 34 spots and is now at 123. Northern Colorado dropped 14 spots and is now 132. Portland State is at 149, and Montana is at 169. Syracuse is first, followed by Duke, Southern Mississippi, UConn, Northern Iowa, Louisville, Seaton Hall, UNLV, Marquette and North Carolina. The Big Sky’s schedule strength is rated 19th among the Division I Conferences. Northern Colorado’s schedule is rated as the 11th toughest, just behind Duke and just ahead of Gonzaga. Portland State’s schedule strength is rated 90th, and Eastern Washington’s is rated 93rd. Long Beach State, which lost at Montana earlier this season, has played the toughest schedule.
LILLARD TIED FOR FIRST: The official NCAA statistics won’t be released this week, but Weber State guard Damian Lillard is now tied for first in the nation in scoring. Lillard was alone as the nation’s top scorer for the last three weeks. Lillard and Creighton’s Doug McDermott are both averaging 25.4 points per game. Lillard scored 50 total points in two wins last week. McDermott, a sophomore forward, scored a career-high 35 points in a win over Tulsa, and followed with 27 in a win over Northwestern. Lillard and McDermott have each played 11 games and scored 279 points this season. If Lillard were to continue on his current pace, his 25.4 point scoring average would tie for fifth in Big Sky single-season history. Idaho’s Orlando Lightfoot averaged 25.4 points per game during the 1993-94 season. The record is 32.5 points set by Idaho State’s Dave Wagnon in 1965-66.
MOVING UP QUICK: Montana junior Will Cherry enters conference play with 166 career steals. Cherry currently ranks 17th all-time in Big Sky history, but should move into the top 10 during conference play. Cherry needs 31 steals to move into 10th place on the career list. Just nine players have amassed 200 career steals in Big Sky history. DeShawn Freeman, who played at Sacramento State from 2002-06, is the all-time leader with 283. Weber State junior Damian Lillard enters conference play with 191 career made 3-pointers. He is tied for 16th all-time in Big Sky history. He is just 21 away from moving into the top 10. The all-time leader is NAU’s Ross Land, who made 308 from 1996-00. Lillard has scored 1,429 career points. If he stays healthy, he will soon become the 31st player in conference history to score 1,500 career points. If Lillard maintains his current scoring pace and Weber State plays a minimum of 18 more games, he will finish the season with 1,886 career points, which would put him seventh all-time in Big Sky history. The league career record is 2,102 set by Idaho’s Orlando Lightfoot. Lillard is on pace to shatter the record, assuming he stays healthy and stays for his senior season.
Tip-ins: Montana coach Wayne Tinkle needs two victories to reach 100 for his career. Tinkle enters the week with a career record of 98-69. He is 51-29 in conference play. Sacramento State’s John Dickson scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half as Sacramento State tried to rally from 44-33 first-half deficit against Southeast Missouri State. Sacramento State lost 77-76. Joe Eberhard had 15 points and eight rebounds in the loss. True freshman Dylan Garrity had 11 points and 12 assists to record his first career double-double…Senior Derek Selvig had a strong all-around game in Montana’s 65-52 win over Utah Valley State. Selvig had 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots. Selvig was 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He attempted just six shots. Mathias Ward and Kareem Jamar each scored 15 points in the win…Sophomore Tate Unruh scored 14 points with six rebounds in Northern Colorado’s 92-78 loss to Colorado State. Unruh has reached double figures in five consecutive games…Kenny McGowen scored 23 points in Idaho State’s 80-56 home loss to Wyoming…Portland State dropped to 0-6 on the road with a 92-86 loss at Cal State Fullerton. The Vikings led 42-36 at the half, but the Titans shot 60 percent from the floor and scored 56 second-half points. Charles Odum led PSU with 19 points. Lateef McMullan scored 14 points. McMullan is averaging 14 points and three assists over his last six games. In his first six games, he averaged 5.7 points and two assists…Durrell Norman scored 18 points with 13 rebounds in Northern Arizona’s 73-49 loss to Sam Houston State…Tre Johnson scored 16 points in Montana State’s 91-46 loss at New Mexico…EWU’s Collin Chiverton scored 18 points in a 77-61 loss at Saint Mary’s. Laron Griffin grabbed 12 rebounds. Jordan Richardson of Weber State made 7-of-8 3-pointers and finished with 23 points in the Wildcats’ 106-57 win over Mayville State...Big Sky teams are 32-14 at home, 9-40 on the road, and 5-3 in neutral site games.