MBB Notes - Jan. 30
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This Week’s Sky Highlights
Nine Big Sky Conference games are on tap this week, as the calendar turns to February…Montana, which has won four straight and is now tied with Weber State at the top of the league standings, travels to third-place Montana State on Saturday. That game will be televised in Montana on Montana’s News Stations…Weber State, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped by Idaho State, returns home to face Portland State on Thursday, and Northern Colorado on Saturday. That game will be televised live on Altitude starting at 5 p.m. Mountain…Northern Colorado is in action Monday night against Northern Arizona, and is at home on Thursday against Sacramento State…Idaho State, winners of three in a row and four of five, is at Montana State on Thursday…Eastern Washington is at Northern Arizona on Thursday, and returns home on Saturday to face Sacramento State…NAU is also at home on Saturday against Portland State…All nine games can be viewed for free on Big Sky TV.
This Week’s Sky Schedule
Monday, Jan. 30 Time
*Northern Colorado at Northern Arizona (Big Sky TV) (NAU-TV) 6:35
Thursday, Feb. 2 Time
*Eastern Washington at Northern Arizona (Big Sky TV) 6:35
*Portland State at Weber State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
*Idaho State at Montana State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
*Sacramento State at Northern Colorado (Big Sky TV) 7:05
Saturday, Feb. 4 Time
*Sacramento State at Eastern Washington (Big Sky TV) 6:05
*Portland State at Northern Arizona (Big Sky TV) (NAU-TV) 6:35
*Montana at Montana St. (Big Sky TV) (Montana’s News Stations) 7:05
Altitude Game of the Week
*Northern Colorado at Weber State (Big Sky TV) (Altitude) 5:05
*Big Sky Conference Game
Game Times Local to Site/Subject to Change
Around the Big Sky
GROWL BENGALS, GROWL: Idaho State was picked to finish last by both the media and the preseason polls. ISU head coach Joe O’Brien resigned after a 2-8 start. It didn’t look good. But, under interim head coach Deane Martin, the Bengals are 5-6, including a 5-4 mark in Big Sky play. ISU is currently in fourth place in the league, and coming off a pair of exciting home wins. Behind 30 points from senior Chase Grabau, the Bengals topped Northern Colorado 99-94 in double overtime. On Saturday, Idaho State upset Weber State 64-62 on a last-second 3-pointer by Kenny McGowen. The win snapped Weber State’s 10-game winning streak. In nine conference games, Grabau is averaging 18.7 points per game. McGowen is netting 14.4 per game in conference play. Idaho State has already surpassed its conference win total in each of the last two seasons. ISU was 4-12 in 2009-10, and 2010-12, missing the postseason tournament.
ALL TIED UP: Just past the midway point in the conference season, Weber State and Montana are now tied for first in the conference standings with 8-1 records.. Montana State is two games back in third place. Montana, which posted road wins over Eastern Washington and Portland State last week, has won four in a row and 10 of 11. The Grizzlies are at Montana State on Saturday. Wayne Tinkle is 7-4 all-time vs. Montana State, including a 3-2 mark in Bozeman. Weber State returns home this week to face Portland State and Northern Colorado. Weber State is 11-0 at home this season. PSU is 1-16 all-time against Weber State in Ogden. Northern Colorado has yet to beat Weber State in Ogden. WSU has four conference home games left on the road, and three at home. Montana plays four at home and three on the road. WSU and UM meet in Missoula on Feb. 28, the final day of the regular season.
CHERRY REACHES 1,000: Montana junior guard Will Cherry became the 27th player in Grizzly history to score 1,000 career points, reaching the mark in a 69-67 win over Portland State on Sunday. Cherry has 1,003 points in 83 career games. Cherry and Weber State’s Damian Lillard are the only two active players in the Big Sky with 1,000 points. Lillard has 1,637 career points, which ranks second all-time in Weber State history and is 15th all-time in Big Sky history. Cherry also had five steals in the win over Portland State, giving him 190 for his career. Cherry is 11th all-time in Big Sky history in steals.
WILDCATS GARNER TV BRACKETBUSTERS GAME: Weber State will play Texas-Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 18 in the Dee Events Center at 6 p.m. as part of the Sears BracketBusters series. Weber State was one of 26 teams in this year’s pool to earn a game on the ESPN Networks. Weber State’s game will appear on ESPN3. The pairings for the non-TV games were also announced on Monday. Montana will play host to Hawai’i of the WAC, while Northern Colorado will play host to Cal Poly of the Big West Conference. Northern Arizona will play host to UC Davis, and Sacramento State welcomes San Jose State to The Nest. Eastern Washington will travel to UC Irvine, Idaho State will play at Pacific, Montana State faces Cal State Fullerton on the road, Portland State will travel to Idaho. As part of the BracketBusters contract, a return game will be played in the series in either 2012-13, or 2013-14.
RPI REPORT: Weber State’s loss to Idaho State hurt the Wildcats’ RPI. Weber State dropped nine spots to 91 from last week’s report. Montana jumped 30 spots to 107. Eastern Washington is third among Big Sky teams at 211. Syracuse is No. 1 overall, followed by Duke, Baylor, Michigan State and Kentucky. The Big Sky dropped one spot in the conference rankings to No. 25. The Big Sky is just behind the Big West and just ahead of the Northeast.
NCAA STATS: Weber State’s Damian Lillard continues to lead the nation in scoring, but his lead is slim. Lillard is averaging 24.4 points per game. Oakland’s Reggie Hamilton is second at 24 points per game, and Creighton’s Doug McDermott is third at 23.5 points per game. Lillard is seventh in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (3.3), ninth in free-throw percentage (90.2 percent), and 18th in 3-point field-goal percentage (44.2 percent). EWU’s Collin Chiverton is fourth in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (3.7). Weber State continues to lead in the nation in free-throw shooting, a 79.9 percent. The Wildcats are 22nd in scoring offense (78.1 ppg), and seventh in 3-point field goals per game (9.1). Northern Colorado is second in the nation in 3-point field-goal shooting (43.8 percent). Eastern Washington is fourth in 3-point field-goals per game (9.3).
WSU-NC ON ALTITUDE: Weber State, which is tied for the conference lead at 8-1, will take on Northern Colorado in Ogden on Saturday in the Altitude Sports & Entertainment Game of the Week. Tip from the Dee Events Center is at 5 p.m. Mountain. Rich Winter and Jay McMillin will handle the call.
BIG NIGHT FOR TEVIN: Freshman Tevin Svihovec scored a career-high 30 points for Northern Colorado, while sophomore Emmanuel Addo netted 28 in Northern Colorado’s 99-94 double overtime loss to loss to Idaho State. Svihovec hit 11-of-16 shots form the floor and was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Svihovec became just the fifth player in the Northern Colorado Division I era to score 30 points in a game. He joined Devon Beitzel, who reached the mark three times, Kirk Archibeque (2), Erik Olson and Will Figures. Sviohec’s 30 points tied the NC Division I single-game scoring record by a freshman. Archibeque scored 30 points as a freshman in 2004. Svihovec has scored in double figures in nine straight games. Addo’s previous career high was 28 points.
Tip-ins: WSU senior Darin Mahoney recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Sacramento State…EWU’s Cliff Ederaine recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds in the Eagles’ loss to Montana…Art Steward scored 19 points with eight rebounds and five assists for the Grizzlies in the win over the Eagles..Sac State’s Konner Veteto scored 24 points with seven rebounds in the Hornets’ win over NAU. The Hornets snapped a nine-game losing streak....Chehales Tapscott scored 14 points with 16 rebounds and five steals in PSU’s loss to UM. It was his eighth double-double of the season...