Parker Kelly and the Eastern Washington Eagles take on Northern Colorado on Wednesday in a key conference game.
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This Week’s Sky Highlights
Just three conference games are on this week’s men’s basketball docket, as teams prepare for Sears BracketBusters Saturday…On Wednesday, Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington meet in a key conference clash in Cheney. EWU is currently in sixth place in with a 5-7 conference record. NC is just behind at 5-8…Weber State, which is tied for the conference lead at 12-1, is at Montana State, which is looking to snap a five-game losing streak. Sacramento State travels to Portland State. The Vikings are 6-6 in conference, while Sacramento State needs a win to stay in the hunt for a postseason bid…All nine teams play non-conference games on Saturday. The marquee matchups pits Weber State facing Texas-Arlington of the Southland Conference in a game that will be available on ESPN3. Texas-Arlington enters with a 15-game winning streak, the second-longest in the nation…Montana will play host to Hawai’i. Sacramento State plays host to San Jose State, while Northern Colorado welcomes Cal Poly to Greeley. Northern Arizona is at home against UC Davis. Idaho State faces Pacific, while Montana State is at Cal State Fullerton. Eastern Washington travels to UC Irvine, and Portland State is at Idaho.
This Week’s Sky Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 15 Time
*Northern Colorado at E. Washington (Big Sky TV) (SWX) 6:05
*Weber State at Montana State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
*Sacramento State at Portland State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
Saturday, Feb. 18 Time
Idaho State at Pacific 6:05
UT-Arlington at Weber State (ESPN3) 6:05
Montana State at Cal State Fullerton 6:05
UC Davis at Northern Arizona (Big Sky TV)(NAUTV, FCS) 7:05
Eastern Washington at UC Irvine 7:05
Hawai’i at Montana (Big Sky TV) 7:05
Cal Poly at Northern Colorado (Big Sky TV) 7:05
Portland State at Idaho 7:05
San Jose State at Sacramento State (Big Sky TV) 7:05
*Big Sky Conference Game
Game Times Local to Site/Subject to Change
Around the Big Sky
20 FOR WEBER, AGAIN: For the 25th time as a Division I basketball program, Weber State reached the 20-win plateau. WSU earned its 20th win with an 84-75 win over Eastern Washington on Saturday. This marks the fourth time in Randy Rahe’s six season the Wildcats have won at least 20 games. Weber State has already secured a top two seed and a bye to the conference semifinals with its 12-1 conference record. The Wildcats are 72-21 in conference play under Rahe. The win Saturday over EWU was Weber State’s 15th straight home win. The streak is tied for the 10th-longest home winning streak in the nation.
GRIZ FINISH 7-1 ON ROAD: For the first time since 1974-75 season, Montana finished with just one road league loss. Montana closed out a 7-1 road campaign with wins at Northern Colorado and Sacramento State. Montana finished 6-1 on the road in 1974-75. Montana’s lone road league loss this season came at Weber State. Montana’s 12-1 conference start is its best since at 13-1 start in 1991-92. The Griz finished 14-2 that season and won the Big Sky Championship on its home floor. With one more win, Montana will reach the 20-win mark for the third straight season. Montana has conference home games against Northern Arizona, Montana State and Weber State remaining. The Grizzlies have already clinched a top two seed and a bye to the semifinals in the Big Sky Championship. In 1974-75, the Grizzlies made their first NCAA tournament appearance. Montana beat Utah State in the first round, before falling by three points to UCLA.
ESPN3 AT THE DEE: Weber State’s Sears BracketBusters game against Texas-Arlington will be available on ESPN3 on Saturday at 6 p.m. Mountain. The announcers will be Greg Heistler and Bill Herenda. UT-Arlington brings a 15-game winning streak to the Dee Events Center. Weber State has won 15 straight home games. UT-Arlington’s winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the nation, behind only Kentucky’s 17. UT-Arlington is 116 in the RPI, while Weber State is 86. The Mavericks are 11-0 in Southland Conference play, and haven’t lost since a 73-69 loss at Utah State on Dec. 20. Weber State beat Utah State at the Dee Events Center 73-63 on Nov. 15. The Mavericks are 19-5 overall, and play at Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday. LaMarcus Reed, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard/forward, leads the Mavericks with an average of 16.5 points per game. The Mavericks are 7-4 on the road this season.
CHERRY SURPASSES 200 STEALS: Montana’s Will Cherry, who is on pace to become in the league’s all-time leader in steals, moved into eighth place on the all-time list last week. Cherry had 13 steals in three games – including eight against Northern Colorado – to improve his total to 203. Cherry is the 10th player in conference history to amass 200 career steals. Cherry is 12 steals away from tying the school record held by J.R. Camel. Cherry needs 81 steals to surpass Sacramento State’s DeShawn Freeman as the all-time leader. Cherry’s eight steals against NC tied for the second-most in a Division I game this season, and tied for the eighth most in conference single-game history. Cherry has a career-high nine steals last season against Great Falls.
GARRITY WITH 16 DIMES: Sacramento State freshman Dylan Garrity dished out a career-high and school-16 assists in the Hornets’ 78-68 win over Montana State on Thursday. The 16 assists tied for fourth-most in Big Sky history, and were the second-most ever by a freshman. Weber State’s Mark Mattos dished out 17 assists against Montana State as a freshman in 1977. EWU’s Ronn McMahon holds the record with 18 in a 1988 game against UC Irvine. Garrity’s 16 assists also tied the single-game high this season in the NCAA. Five other players have dished out 16 assists. Garrity leads the Big Sky and ranks fifth in a nation with an average of 6.8 assists per game.
RPI REPORT: Weber State continues to lead the Big Sky teams in the RPI. WSU is 86th this week, a one-spot jump from last week. Montana has cracked the top 100, checking at 97. Portland State is third at 189. Syracuse is No. 1 overall, followed by Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State and Kansas. The Big Sky moved up one spot to No. 24 in the conference rankings The Big Sky is just behind the Southern, and just ahead of the Northeast. The Big Ten is first, followed by the Big East, Big 12, SEC and Mountain West.
NCAA STATS: Weber State’s Damian Lillard continues to lead the nation in scoring with an average of 25.1 points per game. Oakland’s Reggie Hamilton is second at 24.6. Lillard also ranks fifth in 3-point field goals made per game (3.3) and is ninth in 3-point field-goal percentage (45.3 percent). Sac State’s Dylan Garrity is fifth in assists per game (6.8), while Montana’s Will Cherry is 10th in steals (2.5). Weber State’s Scott Bamforth is fifth in free-throw percentage (90.6). EWU’s Collin Chiverton is eighth in 3-point field goals per game (3.1). Northern Colorado now leads the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage (44.5). Weber State continues to lead in free-throw shooting (81.0 percent). WSU is third in 3-pointers per game (9.3). EWU is fourth (9.2). WSU is seventh in 3-point FG percentage (41.0) The Wildcats are also eighth in turnovers per game (10.5).
Tip-ins: Road teams won five of the nine conference games last week. Home teams are now 29-29 in conference play. Last season road teams won just 22 conference games. In 2009-10, 25 road teams won...ISU’s Kenny McGowen scored a career-high 37 points in a 79-73 win over Northern Arizona...ISU played both of its games last week without leading scorer Chase Grabau, who suffered a concussion on Monday against Montana...Weber State’s Kyle Bullinger needs eight points to reach 1,000 for his career...WSU’s Damian Lillard needs 48 to reach 1,800..NAU junior Stallon Saldviar needs 10 assists to move into a tie for 20th place on the Big Sky’s all-time list. He currently has 362...PSU’s Chehales Tapscott notched his ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Idaho State...Portland State has won four of its last five road games.