The 1987 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the twelfth edition, held March 5–7 at the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.[1]
| 1987 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 1986–87 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, Arizona |
| Champions | Idaho State (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Jim Boutin (1st title) |
| MVP | Jim Rhode (Idaho State) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | 21 | – | 8 | .724 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 22 | – | 8 | .733 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 18 | – | 11 | .621 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 15 | – | 15 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Arizona | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 11 | – | 17 | .393 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 16 | – | 14 | .533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho State † | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 15 | – | 16 | .484 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weber State | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 7 | – | 22 | .241 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † Conference tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seventh-seeded Idaho State upset fourth-seeded Nevada in the championship game, 92–81, to clinch their second Big Sky tournament title (first was a decade earlier).[2]
The top three seeds (Montana State, Boise State, Montana) lost in the first round,[3] which led to a revised format the following year.[4][5] ISU had entered the tournament with a 5–9 conference record, 12–15 overall.[6]
Format
editFor the fourth year, all eligible teams participated in the tournament field and were placed in the quarterfinals. Seedings and pairings were determined by regular season conference records.
Bracket
edit| Quarterfinals Thursday, March 5 | Semifinals Friday, March 6 | Championship Saturday, March 7 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Montana State | 101 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Weber State | 106 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Weber State | 90 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Nevada | 98 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Northern Arizona | 80 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Nevada | 82 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Nevada | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Idaho State | 92 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Montana | 62 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Idaho | 63 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Idaho | 63 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Idaho State | 82 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Idaho State | 78 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Boise State | 77 | ||||||||||||
NCAA tournament
editThe Bengals received the automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament, but were seeded sixteenth in the West regional and were routed in the first round by UNLV in Salt Lake City.[8] No other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament, but Montana State and Boise State played in the 32-team NIT and hosted first-round games.[9] BSU defeated Utah by a point and MSU lost by eight to Washington,[10] who defeated the Broncos by five points in the second round in Seattle.[11]
References
edit- ^ "1986-87 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
- ^ Boling, Dave (March 8, 1987). "Idaho State takes a surprising Rhode to NCAA". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D5.
- ^ a b Boling, Dave (March 6, 1987). "Idaho cures free-throw blues, upsets Griz". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 25.
- ^ Jacobson, Bryan (March 8, 1988). "Will Big Sky send another loser to NCAA tourney?". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 8A.
- ^ "New format may favor top seeds". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 9, 1988. p. 1D.
- ^ "Big Sky Conference final standings". Spokane Chronicle. March 2, 1987. p. C4.
- ^ Boling, Dave (March 7, 1987). "First food, the ISU stop Vandals, 82-63". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B1.
- ^ Robinson, Doug (March 13, 1987). "UNLF runs, guns, plays defense in routing Idaho St". Deseret News. p. D1.
- ^ "Basketball: NIT". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 11, 1987. p. D4.
- ^ "Huskies survive 3-point barrage". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 12, 1987. p. C2.
- ^ Wilson, Bernie (March 17, 1987). "UW awaits foe". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. p. B1.