1997 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament


The 1997 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the 22nd edition, held March 6–8 at the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.[1]

1997 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1996–97
Teams6
SiteWalkup Skydome
Flagstaff, Arizona
ChampionsMontana (3rd title)
Winning coachBlaine Taylor (2nd title)
MVPTrenton Cross (Cal State Northridge)
← 1996
1998 →
1996–97 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Northern Arizona 14 2   .875 21 7   .750
Montana 11 5   .688 21 11   .656
Montana State 10 6   .625 16 14   .533
Weber State 9 7   .563 15 13   .536
Idaho State 9 7   .563 14 13   .519
Cal State Northridge 8 8   .500 14 15   .483
Portland State 6 10   .375 9 17   .346
Eastern Washington 3 13   .188 7 19   .269
Sacramento State 2 14   .125 3 23   .115
Conference tournament winner

Second-seeded Montana defeated sixth-seeded Cal State Northridge in the championship game, 82–79, to clinch their third Big Sky tournament title. Northridge had upset host and top-seed Northern Arizona in the semifinals.

Format

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In the summer of 1996, longtime Big Sky members Idaho (1963) and Boise State (1970) departed for the Big West, and three new teams were added: Cal State Northridge, Portland State, and Sacramento State. Northridge and Sac State came from the recently-defunct American West Conference, and total conference membership was nine.

Similar to the previous year, the top six teams in the regular season conference standings participated in the tournament. The top two earned byes into the semifinals while the remaining four played in the quarterfinals. The lowest remaining seed met the top seed in the semifinals.

Bracket

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Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 6
Semifinals
Friday, March 7
Championship
Saturday, March 8
         
1 Northern Arizona 84
6 Cal State Northridge 93
3 Montana State 56
6 Cal State Northridge 74
6 Cal State Northridge 79
2 Montana 82
4 Weber State 68
5 Idaho State 58
2 Montana 81
4 Weber State 56

NCAA tournament

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Montana received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and no other Big Sky members were invited. Seeded sixteenth in the West regional, the Grizzlies lost to defending champion Kentucky in the first round at Salt Lake City.[2]

Northern Arizona was invited to the NIT, but lost in the first round at Arkansas.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1996-97 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  2. ^ "Defending champs tame the Grizzlies". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 14, 1997. p. 4B.