No. 6. E. Washington
at No. 3 Weber State
Saturday, March 5, 7:35 p.m.
Ogden, Utah
Dee Events Center (12,000)
Internet: Big Sky TV
Coaches: Eastern Washington’s Kirk Earlywine is 42-77 in his fourth season with the Eagles. He has never coached in the Big Sky Championship as a head coach. Earlywine was an assistant at Weber State for seven seasons. Randy Rahe is 94-58 Rahe has guided the Wildcats to the tournament all five seasons, winning the championship in 2007 and finishing second in 2010. Rahe is 4-3 in tourney games.
What’s next: The winner advances to the semifinal game on Tuesday at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion in Greeley, Colo., against either No. 1 seed Northern Colorado or No. 2 seed Montana.
Season Series: The teams split the regular-season meetings, with each winning on the other’s home floor. Weber State won the first meeting in Cheney, 80-68 on Feb. 12. Kyle Bullinger and Scott Bamforth each scored 17 points in the win. WSU was 9-of-14 from 3-point range. Glen Dean scored 26 points with six assists in the loss. EWU upset WSU 75-59 in Ogden this past Wednesday. EWU led 40-22 at the half. The Eagles forced 23 turnovers. Cliff Colimon and Jeffrey Forbes each scored 16 points in the win. Lindsey Hughey scored 21 in the loss.
Previous Championship Meetings: This will be the fifth meeting between the schools in the championship. EWU holds a 3-1 edge. EWU beat WSU 72-53 in a semifinal game en route to the 2004 championship in Cheney. In 2003, WSU beat EWU 60-57 in the championship game in Ogden. In 2002, EWU beat WSU 62-57 in a semifinal game in Bozeman. In 1990, EWU beat WSU 83-67 in a semifinal game in Boise, Idaho.
Big Sky Championship History: EWU is in the tournament field for the 11th time, but the first time since 2006. EWU is 7-9 in tournament games, winning the championship in 2004 and finishing second four times. WSU is in the field for the fifth straight year and the 34th time in the 36-year history of the event. WSU is 35-25 all-time in tournament games with a record eight championships and four second-place finishes.
Notes: Weber State is trying to avoid losing in the tournament on its home court for the third straight season. WSU lost in the 2009 semifinals and the 2010 championship at the Dee Events Center…WSU had won 21 straight regular-season home conference games before EWU ended the streak on Wednesday. EWU opted to stay in Ogden after Wednesday’s game, instead of flying home Thursday morning and flying back on Friday.