No. 4 Eastern Washington
at No. 1 Montana
Tuesday, March 6
8:05 p.m. MST
Dahlberg Arena, Missoula, Mont.
TV: Altitude
Internet: Big Sky TV
The Coaches: Eastern Washington’s Jim Hayford is 15-16 in his first season. He went 254-84 in 12 previous seasons as a head coach at the NAIA and Division III level. Hayford is 1-0 in Big Sky Tournament games…Montana’s Wayne Tinkle is 114-70 in his sixth season with the Grizzlies. Tinkle is 5-4 in tournament games, leading UM to the 2010 championship and a 2011 second-place finish. Tinkle is 2-0 vs. Hayford.
What’s next: The winner advances to Wednesday night’s championship game against the winner of the early semifinal between Weber State and Portland State.
Season Series: Montana won both of the regular season meetings, downing the Eagles 79-71 in Missoula on Dec. 30, and winning in Cheney 74-60 on Feb. 26. In the first meeting, Will Cherry scored 22 points with six rebounds and six assists. Mathias Ward netted 28. EWU led 41-36 at halftime, but shot just 27.3 percent from the field in the second half. Cliff Colimon scored 26 points, while Tremayne Johnson had 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead EWU. In the second meeting, Art Steward had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Kareem Jamar netted 15 points with seven assists and six rebounds. UM led 40-27 as EWU shot just 20.8 percent from the floor in the first half. Collin Chiverton led EWU with 22 points. Cliff Ederaine netted 10 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.
Meetings in the Championship: This will be the fourth meeting between EWU and UM in the Big Sky Tournament. UM has won the three previous meetings. In 2002, Montana beat Eastern Washington 70-66 in the championship game in Bozeman. In 2005, Montana beat EWU 58-48 in a quarterfinal game in Missoula. In 2006, UM edged EWU 73-71 in overtime in a semifinal game in Flagstaff, Ariz. In all three years UM and played EWU in the tournament, the Griz have won the championship.
Notes: Montana is seeking its third straight trip and 15th overall appearance in the championship game. UM is also seeking its fourth title in eight seasons…EWU hasn’t advanced to the championship since 2004, when it won the tournament for the only time…UM has won 12 straight games and can tie the school record for consecutive wins if it beats the Eagles…Since allowing 80 points in a loss to Weber State, UM has not given up more than 67 points in a conference game…UM leads the Big Sky in scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense, and 3-point field-goal percentage defense...EWU has made a league-high 280 3-pointers...UM guard Will Cherry and EWU guard Cliff Colimon each average 16.1 points per game...Cherry can become UM’s all-time leader in steals with one. He enters with 215, tied for fifth in Big Sky history.