PDF of notes
The 2009-10 men's basketball season was memorable for the Big Sky Conference. Check out the last edition of the weekly notes to see how Big Sky teams finished in the RPI, and in NCAA statistics.
Season Highlights
Northern Colorado opens historic season by winning the Rainbow Classic. The Bears beat host Hawai’i in the championship game on ESPN during the network’s 24-hours basketball marathon. The game tipped at 2 a.m. Mountain time.
Sacramento State ends 39-game road losing streak with 65-63 win at Oregon State on Nov. 21.
Portland State upsets nationally ranked Portland 86-82 on Dec. 2
Big Sky’s RPI reaches at high at 14.
Northern Colorado, Weber State and Northern Colorado all win at least 20 games, marking the first time the league had three 20-win teams since 1995-96. Northern Colorado finishes with a school-record 25 victories.
For just the third time in school history, three Sky teams advance to national postseason play. Montana qualified for the NCAA Tournament, while Weber State made the NIT a second straight season. Northern Colorado won a first-round game in the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Northern Arizona shoots 71.7 percent in a 93-86 road win at Portland State on Jan. 17, the top shooting percentage in a Division I game this season.
Weber State claims third regular-season title in four seasons under Randy Rahe.
Montana rallies from 22-point first-half deficit to beat Weber State 66-65 in Big Sky Championship game in Ogden. Montana’s Anthony Johnson scores a Big Sky tournament record 42 points, including the Grizzlies’ final 21.
Weber State’s Damian Lillard is a unanimous selection for Big Sky MVP, becoming just the fourth sophomore in league history to claim the honor.
Around the Big Sky
LILLARD HONORED BY AP: Weber State sophomore guard Damian Lillard has been selected an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. Lillard, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Oakland, Calif., was a unanimous selection as the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball MVP, and was a unanimous selection to the All-Conference First Team. Lillard averaged a league-best 19.9 points per game, and shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range. He made a league-high 2.7 3-pointers per game, and also averaged 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Lillard helped Weber State to the regular-season Big Sky championship. The Wildcats qualified for the NIT, losing at Cincinnati in the first round.
CHERRY NAMED TO ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM: University of Montana freshman guard Will Cherry has been named to the Mid-Major Freshman All-American team by CollegeInsider.com. The organization, based in Boston, made the announcement on Monday. Rather than assembling first, second, third and fourth team squads, the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Freshmen All-America team consists of 20 players. Division I coaches and NBA scouts were part of the selection process, but the final decision rested with the collegeinsider.com staff. A 6-1, 175-pound guard from Oakland, Calif. (McClymonds High School), Cherry played in all 32 games for the Grizzlies, and started in 22 games as a “true” freshman. He was Montana’s fourth-leading scorer, averaging 8.3 points a game, and was a honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference selection this season. Cherry scored 10 points in Montana’s 68-63 Big Sky tournament semifinal win over Northern Colorado and made a crucial shot in that game with 24 seconds left to give the Grizzlies a 66-63 lead. He led the Grizzlies in steals with 61, and his 1.9 steals per game ranked him fourth in the conference. He was ranked 15th in the league in assists with 2.5 a game.
BONNER NAMED TO ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM: Northern Colorado senior guard Yahosh Bonner was named late Tuesday night to this year’s CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Defensive All-America team. Bonner becomes the third member of the Bears basketball program to be tabbed by CollegeInsider.com this season, joining head coach Tad Boyle (Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year) and fellow senior Will Figures (Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player). Bonner was honored in early March as the Big Sky Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, and he’s the only Big Sky player recognized on this year’s Defensive All-America team. He started all 33 of Northern Colorado’s games this season, and he finished with a career-high 5.9 points-per-game average while swiping 41 steals. He exhibited his shut-down capabilities in each of Northern Colorado’s three victories in this year’s Rainbow Classic during the first week of the season and was the rave of the ESPN2 announcers in the Bears’ victory against Hawai’i and was awarded with the Classic MVP, linking him with previous such winners “Pistol” Pete Maravich, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner and Paul Pierce.
JOHNSON A MID-MAJOR ALL-AMERICAN: University of Montana guard Anthony Johnson is one of 30 players named to the CollegeInsider.com Lou Henson (Mid-Major) All-American team, announced the organization today from its headquarters in Boston. A 6-3 senior from Tacoma, Wash., Johnson was the most prolific two-year player in Grizzly history, finishing 14th in career scoring with 1,124 points. He is the first two-year player ever at UM to break the 1,000-point scoring plateau. Johnson was a unanimous first team All-Big Sky Conference selection as a junior and a senior. This past season he was named the MVP of the league tournament when he scored a record 42 points in a 66-65 win in the title game over regular-season champion and host Weber State. This past season Johnson scored 615 points - the fifth most ever in a season at Montana, while his 19.2 points per game average is the sixth highest (tie) in school history. Johnson also set a Montana career free-throw percentage record of 87.3%, making 364-of-417 charity shots.
LILLARD NAMED TO ALL-DISTRIC TEAM: Weber State’s Damian Lillard, the Big Sky MVP, has been selected to the USBWA District VIII All-America Team. The team can include players from Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada. BYU’s Jimmer Fredette was named the District VIII Player of the Year. New Mexico’s Steve Alford was selected as the Coach of the Year. Lillard was joined in the team by Fredette, BYU’s Jackson Emery, Nevada’s Luke Babbitt, Colorado’s Cory Higgins, New Mexico’s Darington Hobson and Roman Martinez, Utah State’s Jared Quayle, UNLV’s Tre’von Willis and New Mexico State’s Jahman Young.
RAHE TABBED COY: For the third time in four seasons, Weber State’s Randy Rahe has been selected by his conference peers as the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. Rahe guided the Wildcats to the regular-season title for a second straight season and a third time in four seasons. Weber State finished season 13-3 in conference and 20-10 overall. Rahe was named Coach of the Year following the 2006-07 season and the 2008-09 seasons. Rahe has led Weber State to the NCAA Tournament once, and to the NIT twice. Rahe is the fifth coach in league history to win the honor three times. He joins Weber State’s Phil Johnson, Neil McCarthy and Rob Abegglen, as well as Boise State’s Bobby Dye and Montana State’s Mick Durham as three-time winner. No coach has won the award four times. Rahe is the first coach to win the honor in back-to-back years since Abegglen in 1997-98 and 1998-99. Rahe is the seventh coach in league history to win the honor in consecutive seasons.
BOYLE HONORED: Northern Colorado’s Tad Boyle was selected as the District 6 Co-Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Boyle shared the honor with Utah State’s Stew Morrill. The Sporting News tabbed Boyle as its Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. Boyle is eligible to win the NABC National Coach of the Year. Boyle has also been named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year, awarded by collegeinsider.com. Boyle, in his fourth season, guided Northern Colorado to 24 regular-season victories, tying the school record. Northern Colorado finished second in the Big Sky at 12-4.
THREE WIN 20: For the first time since the 1995-96 season, three Big Sky teams posted 20-win seasons. Northern Coloradoset a school record with 25 wins. Montana won 22. Weber State finished with 20 wins. In 1995-96, Montana State had 21 victories, while Weber State and Montana each had 20.
JONES SETS BLOCK RECORD: Portland State’s Jamie Jones became the school’s single-season leader in blocks in the Vikings’ quarterfinal win over Montana State. Jones notched his 71st block in the game, surpassing the previous mark of 70 set by Scott Morrison during the 2006-07 campaign. Jones added four blocks in the Vikings’ semifinal loss to Weber State. His 75 blocks are the third-most in league 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.
QVALE TIES BLOCK RECORD: Montana’s Brian Qvale tied the record for blocked shots in the championship game with six in the Grizzlies’ 66-65 win over Weber State. Qvale tied the mark set by Northern Arizona’s Adrian Hayes in 2004 against Eastern Washington. Qvale fell one block short of tying the Big Sky Tournament single-game record of seven set by Idaho’s Kelvin Smith against Nevada in a 1983 semifinal game. Qvale, a junior, had 61 blocked shots this season and 152 for his career. Qvale ranks eighth on the Big Sky’s all-time list, just four behind Boise State’s John Coker with 156.