INJURY UPDATE: Portland State senior guard Dominic Waters sustained a bruised heel nine minutes into last Tuesday’s loss to Seattle. Waters was questionable for the quarterfinal game at Montana State, but ended up playing all 40 minutes. Waters didn’t have a great game, hitting just 3-of-10 shots from the floor, and missing all four of his 3-pointers. He finished with eight points, five assists and four turnovers. He is expected to play in Tuesday’s semifinal against Weber State. Northern Colorado junior guard Devon Beitzel will not play this week. Beitzel has missed the last four games with a foot injury, and has undergone season-ending surgery. Beitzel injured the ankle in the closing seconds of Northern Colorado’s 81-76 loss to Weber State in Ogden on Feb. 13. Northern Colorado has gone 4-0 without Beitzel.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW: The 65-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Sunday on CBS starting at 4 p.m. Mountain. The winner of the Big Sky Championship earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Portland State has represented the Big Sky each of the past two seasons, and is attempting to become the first Sky team since Weber State (1978-80) to make the tournament field three straight seasons. Montana qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2005 and 2006, beating Nevada in a 2006 first-round game. Weber State’s most recent NCAA appearance was in 2007. Northern Colorado, which became a full Division I member prior to the 2006-07 season, has never qualified.
NIT FIELD: The National Invitational Tournament field will be announced on Sunday at 6 p.m. Mountain on ESPNU. If Weber State does not win the Big Sky Championship, the Wildcats will receive an automatic bid to the NIT Tournament. Weber State appeared in the NIT tournament in 2009, losing to San Diego State.
HOT HANSEN: Weber State senior Nick Hansen continued his hot shooting from 3-point range over the weekend, hitting 6-of-9 in a loss to Portland State and 3-of-4 in a win over Eastern Washington. In his last five games, Hansen has converted 24-of-34 3-point shots (70.6 percent), including a 7-of-11 effort against Idaho State and a 6-of-6 performance against Idaho State. In his first 23 games this season, haste was 47-of-118 (31.8 percent) from long distance.
JONES SETS BLOCK RECORD: Portland State’s Jamie Jones became the school’s single-season leader in blocks in Saturday night’s quarterfinal win over Montana State. Jones has 71 blocks this season, surpassing the previous mark of 70 set by Scott Morrison during the 2006-07 campaign. The 71 blocks is tied for fifth in Big Sky single-season history. Idaho State’s Slim Millien set the record of 93 in 2005-06. Idaho State’s Steve Hayes is second with 76 in 1975-76, and third with 783 in 1974-75. Idaho’s Kelvin Smith blocked 72 shots in 1982-83. Montana’s Darin Engellant also had 71 blocks in 1990-91.
JONES 1,000 POINTS: Northern Arizona’s Cameron Jones became the 29th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Jones reached the mark on Saturday night in the Lumberjacks’ 81-60 loss to Montana. Jones entered the game 18 points away from the 1,000 mark, and finished with 21. He’ll enter his senior season with 1,003 career points. He’s the fourth Sky player to reach the milestone this season, joining Northern Colorado’s Will Figures, Idaho State’s Amorrow Morgan and Montana’s Anthony Johnson.
The 20-WIN CLUB: Montana became the second Big Sky team to win 20 games this season with its quarterfinal victory over Northern Arizona. It marked Montana’s first 20-win season under fourth-year head coach Wayne Tinkle. The Grizzlies won 24 games in 2005-06. Montana has enjoyed 15 20-win campaigns in its history. Northern Colorado enters the semifinals with 24 victories, tying a school single-season record. Weber State enters the semifinals with 19 victories. If Weber State gets to 20 wins, it will mark the first time since the 1995-96 season that three Big Sky teams have won 20 games.
Tip-ins: Montana is fifth in the nation in 3-point FG percentage...PSU’s Jamie Jones is third in field-goal percentage...EWU coach Kirk Earlywine was given a one-year contract extension last week.