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• NCAA-M

(14) Montana St. (27-7) 62-97 vs. (3) Texas Tech (25-9)

• CBI

(12) Northern Colorado (20-15) 74-71 vs. (5) Florida Atlantic (19-14)

(13) UNC-Asheville (17-14) 84-87 vs. (12) Northern Colorado (21-15)

(12) Northern Colorado (22-15) 64-80 vs. (9) UNC-Wilmington (25-9)

• TBC

Kent St. (23-10) 79-83 @ Southern Utah (20-11)
Eastern Washington (18-15) 74-83 @ Fresno St. (19-13)

Southern Utah (21-11) 82-69 @ UTEP (20-13)

Portland (19-14) 66-77 @ Southern Utah (22-11)

Southern Utah (23-11) 48-67 @ Fresno St. (21-13)

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• NCAA-W

(16) Montana St. (22-12) 37-78 @ (1) Stanford (28-3)

• WNIT

Idaho St. (19-11) 73-76 (OT) @ Wyoming (15-12)

Southern Utah edged out Kent State in the first round of The Basketball Classic, 83-79. The T-Birds used an 11-0 run straddling halftime to take the lead, and the Flashes never led again (though they never trailed by more than 6). Suutah outshot Kent 54%-44%, and Dre Marin had 27 points (7/10 from outside), 3 steals, 5 assists, and 0 turnovers.

Boo Hiss!

Idaho State, the two-time Big Sky regular-season champs, saw their season come to an end in overtime in the WNIT in Laramie, 76-73. The Bengals came back from a 9-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie it, but the Cowgirls started OT on a 7-0 run and held on. Wyoming won the foul count 22-11, the only meaningful stat difference in the contest. Dora Goles, who started in place of an ill Diaba Konate, had a season-high 24 points in her final career game.

Eastern Washington lost to Fresno in the first round of The Basketball Classic, 83-74. The 9-point final margin doesn't seem that bad on the surface, but that was the closest the game got in the last 12 minutes. Eastern hit 12 threes, but they lost the turnovers battle 17-9. Linton Acliese had a game-high 25 points in his final career outing.

I can't stand Fresneck, and was therefore rooting for EWU. NOT happy with that result....

Montana State did get their first NCAA berth in 26 years, but they didn't bother to show up at Viejas Arena. Texas Tech beat the Bobcats 97-62, and it was never close—the Red Raiders led 52-25 at halftime and by 30+ for all but one minute of the second half. Tech shot 67%, the highest number MSU allowed all season by a full 8 points. The Red Raiders also had six players in double figures to MSU's one (Bishop).

We're through one quarter in Palo Alto, and the Bobcats still have yet to score.

Montana State's women suffered an even worse fate than their men, losing badly to Stanford 78-37. The 41-point defeat was the worst ever for a Big Sky WBB team in the NCAA Tournament, breaking the previous defeat-margin record of 38 points set twice (PSU, 2019; ISU, 2007). The Bobcats trailed 20-0 after the first quarter, and went a pathetic 0/20 from the field in that quarter. MSU shot 23.1% for the game, their worst mark since a 2019 road loss to Idaho State, and the 37 points scored was their lowest since a 70-35 loss to Oregon State in November, 2005 (Tricia Binford's first game at MSU ). The lone bright spot for the 'Cats was Taylor Janssen, who scored a team-high 12 points and went 5/10 from the field (the rest of the team went 10/55).

Northern Colorado "upset" FAU, 74-71, in the first round of the CBI in Daytona Beach. The Bears lost the turnover battle 18-8, but they still pulled it out thanks to 53% shooting (62% in the second half). Daylen Kountz had 23 points on 69% shooting while Kur Jongkuch & Bodie Hume both had double-doubles. NoCo will play UNC-Asheville in the quarterfinals Monday.

Also, Southern Utah now knows who their second TBC opponent will be; they will play UTEP in El Paso Tuesday.

Northern Colorado pulled it out late again, beating UNC-Asheville 87-84 in the CBI Quarterfinals. The Bears trailed for the vast majority of the contest thanks to a 20-7 start by the Bulldogs. UNC still trailed 82-79 with 3:48 to go, but Asheville went 1/9 from the field after that point. NoCo again lost turnovers badly (12-4), but they again torched the nets in the second half (67%). Daylen Kountz had 29 points on 65% shooting.

Making the semifinals also means the Bears get to be on TV! The final four of the CBI will be on ESPN2 tomorrow night.

Northern Colorado's CBI run came to a hard end in the Semis as they lost to UNC-Wilmington 80-64. NoCo's shooting was feast in the first two rounds, but it turned to famine as they only shot 39.7% against the Seahawks. With their shooting compromised, UNC's consistent inability to force turnovers did them in—they only forced 16 turnovers total over the course of this tournament. UNCW also won points-off-turnovers 17-2. Matt Johnson led NoCo with 16 points in his final game as a Bear, while Kur Jongkuch had a game-high 13 rebounds in his last game.


The entire Big Sky basketball season did not come to an end tonight, however (although it did for teams that will still be in the Big Sky next year). Southern Utah beat UTEP in El Paso 82-69 in what was either the second round or the quarterfinals of the oddly formatted TBC. A 14-0 run in the first half proved to be decisive as the T-Birds led by double digits for all but ≈5:00 the rest of the way. Suutah won the game in Northern Colorado fashion: they outshot UTEP 58%-38% to offset a 14-5 turnover disadvantage. SUU only played 7 players, but 6 of them had at least 9 points.

Because of the odd format and awkward number of teams in the TBC (18), U-Portland (coached by former EWU coach Shantay Legans) got a second-round bye and would await one of the second-round winners while the other second-round winners would go on to the semis. Southern Utah is apparently the unlucky team who has to win 3 games just to get to the semis as they will play Portland. On the plus side, the game will be in Cedar City.

I forget to post about this a couple days ago, but SUU beat U Portland in the TBC Whatever-Round-It-Was 77-66. The Thunderbirds shot 69% in the first half and outrebounded the Pilots 35-25 for the game. The margin was never closer than 8 in the second half. John Knight had 20 points on 73% shooting, and Jason Spurgin had 16 rebounds. SUU will play at Fresno in the semis tonight.

Southern Utah apparently lost their shooting touch at baggage claim as they fell to Fresno St. 67-48. The T-Birds shot a dreadful 31% in Fresno after shooting at least 54% in each of their first three TBC games. To add insult, Suutah had no players in double figures.