1978 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
| 1978 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 1977–78 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Site | Adams Field House Missoula, Montana |
| Champions | Weber State (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Neil McCarthy (1st title) |
| MVP | Bruce Collins (Weber State) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | 20 | – | 8 | .714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho State | 11 | – | 3 | .786 | 16 | – | 10 | .615 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weber State † | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 19 | – | 10 | .655 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 13 | – | 14 | .481 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gonzaga | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 14 | – | 15 | .483 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Arizona | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 11 | – | 14 | .440 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 9 | – | 17 | .346 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 1 | – | 13 | .071 | 4 | – | 22 | .154 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † Big Sky Conference tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1978 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 3–4 at Adams Field House at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.[1][2]
Weber State upset top-seeded Montana in the championship game, 62–55 (in overtime), to clinch their first Big Sky men's basketball tournament.[3]
The Wildcats received an automatic bid to the 32-team NCAA Tournament, but lost in the first round to Arkansas in Eugene, Oregon;[4] Arkansas ultimately advanced to the Final Four.
Format
Even though the Big Sky's membership was fixed at eight, only the top four teams from the standings took part in the tournament field. Teams were seeded based on regular-season records, and was again held at the home court of the conference's regular season champion.
Montana made its inaugural appearance in the Big Sky tournament, not having qualified as a top-four team in either of the previous two years.
Bracket
| Semifinals Friday, March 3 | Championship Saturday, March 4 | ||||||||
| 1 | Montana | 70 | |||||||
| 4 | Boise State | 61 | |||||||
| 1 | Montana | 55 | |||||||
| 3 | Weber State | 62* | |||||||
| 3 | Weber State | 84 | |||||||
| 2 | Idaho State | 79 | |||||||
Source:[5]
References
- ^ "Big Sky playoff starts at Montana". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 3, 1978. p. 5B.
- ^ "1977-78 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- ^ "Weber State stops Montana for Big Sky title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 5, 1978. p. 2B.
- ^ Withers, Bud (March 12, 1978). "Arkansas' quick paralyzes Weber". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 4B.
- ^ "Montana, Weber in Big Sky finals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 4, 1978. p. 1B.