Men's Basketball Notes - NCAA Tournament Edition

3/18/2014 1:14:51 PM

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Four Big Sky Conference teams will play in postseason tournaments this week. Big Sky Champion Weber State makes its 15th NCAA Tournament appearance on Friday. The No. 16 seed Wildcats will face No. 1 seed Arizona in San Diego, Calif. The game tips at 11:10 a.m. Pacific, and will be televised live on TNT. Weber State is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007. The Wildcats’ last NCAA victory came in 1999 when Weber State stunned North Carolina in Seattle. Weber State lost first-round games in 2003 and 2007....Northern Colorado, North Dakota and Portland State will all compete in the College Insider Tournament. Weber State finished second in the 2012-13 CIT. Northern Colorado will play host to Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Mountain. Northern Colorado is making its second CIT appearance...On Tuesday night, Portland State travels to the University of San Diego for a 7 p.m. Pacific tip. Portland State is making its first CIT appearance...On Wednesday night, North Dakota plays Nebraska-Omaha in Omaha at 7 p.m. Central. North Dakota is playing in the CIT for the fourth straight season. 
 
NCAA Tournament
 
Friday, March 21
No. 16 Weber State (19-11) vs. No. 1 Arizona (30-4)
Location: San Diego, Calif. Viejas Arena (12,414)
Time: 11:10 a.m. PDT
TV: TNT
Announcers:  Andrew Catalon, Mike Gminski, Otis Livingston.
 
CIT
 
Tuesday, March 18
Portland State (17-14) at San Diego (16-16)
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Time: 7:05 p.m. PDT. Internet: collegeinsider.com
 
Wednesday, March 19
Texas A&M CC (17-15) at Northern Colorado (18-13)
Location: Greeley, Colo.
Time: 7:05 p.m. MDT. Internet: collegeinsider.com
North Dakota (17-16) at Nebraska-Omaha (16-15)
Location: Omaha, Neb.
Time: 7:05 p.m. CDT. Internet: collegeinsider.com
 
   
MAKE IT NINE: Regular-season champion Weber State won its ninth Big Sky Conference Championship last Saturday, beating North Dakota 88-67 in the championship game at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. Weber State won its first postseason title since 2007. Weber State’s nine conference championships ties Montana for the most in league history. Weber State also played in its 16th championship game, tying Montana for the most. Weber State edged Northern Colorado 66-63 in overtime to earn the right to face North Dakota in the championship game. UND, which joined the Big Sky on July 1, 2012, was playing in the championship game for the first time. Weber State became the fourth straight No. 1 seed to win the tournament, joining Northern Colorado (2011), Montana (2012) and Montana (2013).
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Weber State senior Davion Berry was named the Big Sky Tournament MVP after leading the Wildcats to the championship. Berry averaged 17 points and 4.5 assists per game. He scored 15 in the semifinal win over Northern Colorado, including seven in overtime. He netted 19 in the championship, including a 3-pointer right before halftime to give the Wildcats a 10-point lead. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Weber State senior center Kyle Tresnak, Weber State senior guard Jordan Richardson, North Dakota senior guard Aaron Anderson, North Dakota senior guard/forward Troy Huff, and Northern Colorado senior forward Derrick Barden. Berry and Huff were both named to the All-Tournament team in 2013.

All-Tournament Team
Davion Berry, Sr., G/F, Weber State - MVP
Kyle Tresnak, Sr., C, Weber State
Jordan Richardson, Sr., G, Weber State
Aaron Anderson, Sr., G, North Dakota
Troy Huff, Sr., G/F, North Dakota
Derrick Barden, Sr., F, Northern Colorado
 
TRESNAK, RICHARDSON TIE RECORD: Weber State’s Jordan Richardson and Kyle Tresnak tied the all-time conference record for tournament games played at nine. Montana’s Will Cherry was the first player to play in nine Big Sky tournament games from 2010-13. Tresnak and Richardson each played in three consecutive championship games.
 
JAMAR CAPS CAREER Montana senior Kareem Jamar capped his sensational career in Montana’s loss to Portland State in the first round with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Jamar led UM to back-to-back Big Sky titles in 2012 and 2013. He was the league MVP in 2012-13, won two tournament MVP awards, and was named First Team All-Conference three straight seasons. Jamar finished his career with 1,673 points, which ranks 13th in league history. He tallied 407 assists, which ranks 20th in league history. His 162 career 3-pointers rank 35th in league history.
 
UNRUH 10th IN THREES: Northern Colorado senior Tate Unruh moved into sole possession of 10th place on the Big Sky’s all-time 3-pointers made list with 238. Unruh made three 3-pointers in a first-round win over Northern Arizona. Unruh will play at least one more game in the CIT. Sacramento State’s Loren Leath (2005-09) is ninth on the list with 240. Weber State’s John Hamilton (2000-04 is eighth with 241.
 
SIX NAMED TO NABC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: Weber State’s Davion Berry, North Dakota’s Tory Huff, and Kareem Jamar were named to the District 6 First Tam. Players from the Big Sky and WAC were eligible. Sacramento State’s Mikh McKinney, Northern Colorado’s Derrick Barden, and Eastern Washington’s Tyler Harvey were named to the Second Team.
 
PROTECTING HOME COURT: Home teams ended up winning 76 of the 110 conference games this season, a winning percentage of .691. Last year, home teams won .646 percent of the conference games. In 2011-12, home teams won just .492 percent of the conference games.
 
RPI UPDATE: Weber State enters the NCAA Tournament with an RPI of 149. Montana, which isn’t playing in a postseason tournament, is at 183. North Dakota is at 197. Northern Colorado is at 205, and Portland State is at 252. The Big Sky ranks 25th among Division I conferences. Florida is the No. 1 RPI heading into the NCAA tournament, followed by Arizona and Kansas.
 
Tip-ins: Weber State sophomore Joel Bolomboy finished the regular season with 10 double-doubles, most in the league...EWU’s Venky Jois recorded nine...EWU’s Tyler Harvey ranks eighth in the nation in scoring, and is sixth in 3-point field goals per game, and ninth in free-throw percentage...Northern Colorado is eighth in the nation in field-goal percentage...Sac State’s Dylan Garrity is fifth in the nation in 3-point FG percentage...Bolomboy is fifth in rebounds...UND’s Troy Huff needs seven points to reach 2,000 for his career. He’s scored 1,121 in his two seasons in the Big Sky...Former Weber State star and current NBA All-Star Damian Lillard attended the Big Sky Championship last Saturday night.
 
   Weber State is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 15th time in school history. The Wildcats are 6-15 all-time in the tournament. Their most recent wins came in 1995 and 1999. In 1995, Weber State upset Michigan State. In 1999, Weber State upset North Carolina. Both times, Weber State was a 14 seed.
 
This will be the first time a Big Sky team has played Arizona in the NCAA Tournament. Weber State was the last Sky team to play a team from the Pac-12 in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats lost to No. 2 seed UCLA in 2007.
 
The Big Sky Conference is 16-48 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
 
No. 16 seeds are 0-116 against No. 1 seeds. Weber State is attempting to become the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed.
 
Randy Rahe is the fifth Weber State coach to take the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament at least twice. Neil McCarthy led WSU to four tournament appearances. Phil Johnson guided the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament three times. Gene Visscher and Ron Abegglen also took the Wildcats to two NCAA tourneys.
 
The Big Sky Conference is seeking its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2006 when No. 12 seed Montana upset No. 5 seed Nevada in Salt Lake City.
 
This is the first time a Big Sky team has been sent to San Diego for an NCAA Tournament game. Since 1990, it marks the sixth time a Big Sky team has been sent to California for its first game. In Montana played at San Jose in 2010 and 2013. In 1994, Boise State played in Sacramento. Montana played in Sacramento in 2002, and Weber State played in Sacramento in 2007.
 
Weber State is playing in a national postseason tournament for the seventh time in eight seasons under Randy Rahe. The Wildcats made the NCAA Tournament in 2007, the NIT in 2008 and 2009. Weber State played in the CBI in 2011, and the CIT in 2012 and 2013.
 
A Big Sky team is playing in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament for the fifth straight season. In 2010, Northern Colorado went 1-1, beating Portland at home, and falling to Pacific in Greeley. In 2011, Northern Arizona lost on the road to Santa Clara in the first round. In 2012, Weber State beat Utah Valley in a first-round game at home, and lost to Loyola Marymount on the road.  In 2013, Weber State lost to East Carolina in the championship game. Weber State beat Cal Poly, Air Force, Oral Roberts and Northern Iowa en route to the championship game. North Dakota lost to Northern Iowa in the 2013 first round.
 
North Dakota is playing in the CIT for the fourth straight season. In 2011 and 2012, UND earned an automatic bid to the CIT by winning the Great West Conference Tournament. UND lost to Air Force in the 2011 first round, and fell to Drake in the 2012 first round.
 
This is the second time in league history that four teams are playing in national postseason tournaments. In 2011, Northern Colorado played in the NCAA Tournament. Montana and Weber State competed in the CBI, and Northern Arizona played in the CIT.