1979 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1979 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the fourth edition of the tournament, held March 2–3 at the Dee Events Center at Weber State College in Ogden, Utah.[1][2]
| 1979 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 1978–79 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Site | Dee Events Center Ogden, Utah |
| Champions | Weber State (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Neil McCarthy (2nd title) |
| MVP | Bruce Collins (Weber State) |
| 1978–79 Big Sky men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weber State † | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 25 | – | 9 | .735 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Arizona | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 14 | – | 14 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho State | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 14 | – | 13 | .519 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 14 | – | 13 | .519 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gonzaga | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 16 | – | 10 | .615 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 6 | – | 8 | .429 | 15 | – | 11 | .577 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 6 | – | 8 | .429 | 11 | – | 15 | .423 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 11 | – | 15 | .423 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † Conference tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top-seeded Weber State defeated Northern Arizona in the championship game, 92–70, to clinch their second of three consecutive titles in the tournament.[3][4] The Wildcats were in the first five finals, dropping the first two and winning the next three.
Format
First played in 1976, the Big Sky tournament had the same format for its first eight editions. The regular season champion hosted and only the top four teams from the standings took part, with seeding based on regular season conference records.
Bracket
| Semifinals Friday, March 2 | Championship Saturday, March 3 | ||||||||
| 1 | Weber State | 98 | |||||||
| 4 | Montana | 71 | |||||||
| 1 | Weber State | 92 | |||||||
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 70 | |||||||
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 90 | |||||||
| 2 | Idaho State | 76 | |||||||
NCAA Tournament
Weber State received an automatic bid to the expanded 40-team NCAA Tournament, where they were seeded seventh in the Midwest region, the first time the Big Sky representative was not in the West region. The Wildcats defeated New Mexico State in overtime in the first round in Lawrence, Kansas,[5][6][7] but were stopped by second-seeded Arkansas.[8][9]
References
- Rock, Brad (March 3, 1979). "Weber vs. NAU for 'Sky crown". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A3.
- "1978-79 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- Rock, Brad (March 5, 1979). "Weber rules Big Sky, eyes NCAA". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B3.
- "Big Sky belongs to Weber". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 4, 1979. p. 4B.
- "Weber clips Aggies in overtime". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 10, 1979. p. 4B.
- Robinson, Doug (March 10, 1979). "Weber stays alive, awaits Arkansas". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A3.
- Woodling, Chuck (March 10, 1979). "Weber wriggles by Ags, gains Razorback rematch". Lawrence Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 11.
- Cottrell, Chris (March 12, 1979). "Hogs still prime porkers". Lawrence Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 13.
- Robinson, Doug (March 12, 1979). "Arkansas knocks off Wildcats". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 1D.