Four games remain in the Big Sky Conference regular-season, but only two have meaning for seeding in the Big Sky Championship. The biggest game is Tuesday night as Montana plays host to Weber State. Both teams enter 14-1 in conference. The winner will earn the regular-season title and host the Big Sky Conference semifinals/championship on March 6-7. The game will be televised live on Altitude...Also on Tuesday night, Eastern Washington plays host to Idaho State in a game that will determine the No. 4 and No. 5 seed. Tuesday’s winner will be the No. 4 seed, while the loser will be the No. 5 seed. The teams will play again on Saturday in a quarterfinal game...On Monday night, Northern Arizona closes out its season at Montana State. The Lumberjacks are looking to end a 15-game losing streak. Montana State is looking to end an eight-game slide. Montana State has secured the No. 6 seed and will play at No. 3 seed Portland State on Saturday in a quarterfinal game. Portland State takes on Northern Colorado in Portland on Tuesday. All four games can be viewed for free on Big Sky TV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHOWDOWN IN MISSOULA: Weber State and Montana will square off in Dahlberg Arena on Tuesday night. The winner will claim the regular-season title and earn the right to host the semifinals/championship on March 6-7. Tuesday’s game will air live on Altitude with Rich Winter and Jay McMillin providing the call. This will mark the first time in conference history that two teams with one conference loss have met on the final night of the regular season to determine the conference champion. Both teams are 14-1 in conference. Montana lost to Weber State 80-64 earlier this season. Weber State lost at Idaho State 64-62 on a last-second 3-pointer. Montana enters on an 11-game winning streak, which is tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. Weber State has won seven in a row. Both teams have won 17 of their last 18 games. Montana is 13-2 at home this season, while Weber State is 7-4. Montana has won the previous two meetings against Weber State in Missoula. Randy Rahe is 8-5 vs. Wayne Tinkle. Tinkle is 3-2 vs. Rahe in Missoula. Montana has beaten Weber State the past two years in the conference tournament. Montana is seeking its first regular-season title since 2000, and its first outright championship since 1991-92. Weber State is seeking its third regular-season title in four years, and its fourth in six seasons under Randy Rahe. Weber State is 63-16 the last five seasons in conference play. Montana is 55-24 the past five years in league play. This marks the first time since 2000 that the regular-season champion will be determined on the final night of the regular season. Montana edged Eastern Washington 77-75 on the road in the 2000 finale to forge a 12-4 tie for first place with the Eagles. Montana won the tiebreaker and hosted the tournament. In 1999, Weber State beat second-place Northern Arizona on the final night of the regular season to win the outright title with a 13-3 record. NAU finished 12-4.

PSU, EWU, MSU CLINCH FINAL THREE SPOTS: Portland State, Eastern Washington and Montana State clinched the final three spots in the Big Sky Championship last week. Portland State, which was ineligible for the championship last season due to APR penalties, has secured the No. 3 seed. The Vikings will play host to No. 6 seed Montana State in a quarterfinal on Saturday. Eastern Washington will be in the tournament for the second straight season, after missing out the previous four seasons. Montana State secured a tournament bid for the eighth consecutive season.

LILLARD ON VERGE OF TOP 10: Weber State junior guard Damian Lillard enters Tuesday’s game against Montana ranked 11th on the Big Sky’s all-time scoring list with 1,816 career points. He needs just three points to tie and four to move into 10th place. Idaho State’s Donn Holston is 10th with 1,919 career points. Former Montana great Micheal Ray Richardson is ninth with 1,827. Montana State’s Tom Domako is eighth with 1,841. Lillard also enters the game seventh on the Big Sky’s all-time 3-point field-goals made. Lillard has made 238. He needs two to tie Sacramento State’s Loren Leath, and three to tie Weber State’s John Hamilton for fifth at 241. Lillard enters Tuesday’s games with 666 points this season, the 14th-most points scored in a season by a Big Sky player. Lillard needs 34 points to become the 11th player in league history to score 700 points in a season. Lillard’s current average of 24.7 points per game ranks sixth in Big Sky history. Idaho State’s Dave Wagnon averaged 32.5 points per game during the 1965-66 season. Lillard has made 86 3-pointers this season, which is 11th in Big Sky single-season history.

 

CHERRY MOVES UP STEALS LIST: Montana junior Will Cherry enters Tuesday’s game against Weber State with 214 career steals, and is currently seventh on the Big Sky’s all-time list. With one steal on Tuesday, Cherry will move into a tie for fifth place with former Boise State and NBA star Chris Childs and former Montana guard J.R. Camel. Camel, who played from 1995-98, owns the Montana school record with 215. Cherry will move into fifth by himself with two steals on Tuesday. Eastern Washington’s Ronn McMahon is fourth on the all-time list with 225. Cherry is on pace to become the Big Sky’s all-time leader. He needs 69 steals to tie the all-time mark of 283 set by Sacramento State’s DaShawn Freeman from 2002-06.

 

YEAR OF THE ROAD TEAM: With four conference games to be played, it’s assured that home teams will have the lowest winning percentage in conference games in at least 33 seasons. Home teams have won 50 percent of the games. If the home teams win the final four games, the winning percentage will increase to .528. In the previous 32 seasons, the lowest winning percentage by home teams in conference play was .569 in 1987-88. That year, home teams won 41 of the 72 games. In just five of the previous 32 seasons has the winning percentage of home teams fell below 60 percent. Montana (7-0) and Weber State (8-0) are the only two teams who’ve yet to lose at home in conference. Montana went 7-1 in conference road games, while Weber State is 6-1 in conference road games. Portland State finished 5-3 in conference road games, while Eastern Washington is 4-4. Idaho State can finish 5-3 in conference road games with a win Tuesday at Eastern Washington. Last season, home teams won 69.4 percent of the conference home games (50-22).

 

RPI REPORT: Weber State moved up two spots in the RPI to 75. Montana is second in the Big Sky at 102. The Big Sky remained 26th among Division I conferences. Weber State’s non-conference RPI is 47. Montana’s non-conference RPI is 117. Syracuse is No. 1, followed by Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State and North Carolina.

 

NCAA LEADERS: Northern Colorado continues to lead the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage, hitting 40.5 percent. Weber State leads the nation in free-throw percentage, hitting 81.2 percent. Weber State is third in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (9.4), and is followed by Eastern Washington at 9.1. WSU is ninth in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage (40.8). Weber State’s Damian Lillard ranks second in scoring with an average of 24.7 points per game. He trails Oakland’s Reggie Hamilton (25.5). Lillard is sixth in 3-point field goals per game (3.2), is 10th in free-throw percentage (89 percent), and 11th in 3-point field-goal percentage (45.0). Montana’s Will Cherry is fifth in steals per game (2.6), while Sacramento State’s Dylan Garrity is sixth in assists per game (6.9).

 

Tip-ins: Portland State’s Chehales Tapscott recorded his league-leading 11th double-double of the season with 20 points and 14 rebounds in a win against EWU. He also had four blocks and three steals...Kareem Jamar had 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in UM’s 54-47 win over Montana State. A crowd of 7,003 watched that game...Sacramento State’s Joe Eberhard hit a 3-pointer with one second remaining to lift the Hornets to a 70-67 win at Idaho State...Damian Lillard scored 30 points with eight assists in Weber State’s 88-71 win over Northern Colorado. He was 13-of-14 from the free-throw line...For the second straight week, Weber State received votes in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches’ poll...Freshman Dylan Garrity scored 18 points with 13 assists in Sacramento State’s loss to Portland State. It was his fourth points/assists double-double this season...Portland State junior forward Renado Parker has scored in double figures in six consecutive games. He scored in double figures in just five of his first 16 games...Montana senior forward Derek Selvig scored 19 points with eight rebounds, six assists, four blocks and three steals in a 78-60 win over Northern Arizona...Kenny McGowen scored 30 points for Idaho State in its 70-67 loss to Sacramento State....Northern Colorado senior Mike Proctor had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in his final home game, a loss to Weber State...Sacramento State finished with 10 wins, its most since going 10-19 in 2006-07...Cliff Colimon scored 21 points off the bench in EWU’s 85-78 win over Idaho State...The 2012 Big Sky All-Conference Team and individual award winners will be announced on Thursday.