2017 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

The 2017 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the 42nd edition of the postseason tournament for the Big Sky Conference, held March 7–11 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

2017 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2016–17
Teams11
SiteReno Events Center
Reno, Nevada
ChampionsNorth Dakota Fighting Hawks (1st title)
Winning coachBrian Jones (1st title)
MVPQuinton Hooker (North Dakota)
TelevisionESPNU (final)
2016–17 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
North Dakota †14–4 .778  22–10  .688
Eastern Washington13–5 .722  22–12  .647
Idaho12–6 .667  19–14  .576
Weber State12–6 .667  20–14  .588
Montana11–7 .611  16–16  .500
Montana State11–7 .611  16–16  .500
Sacramento State9–9 .500  13–18  .419
Portland State7–11 .389  15–16  .484
Northern Colorado*7–11 .389  11–18  .379
Northern Arizona6–12 .333  9–23  .281
Southern Utah3–15 .167  6–27  .182
Idaho State3–15 .167  5–26  .161
† Conference tournament winner

In the final, regular season champion North Dakota defeated third-seed Weber State 93–89 in overtime to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. It was North Dakota's first NCAA tournament as a Division I team, after multiple appearances in the Division II tourney.

On October 8, 2016, Northern Colorado self-imposed a post-season ban amid an ongoing NCAA investigation into program violations, and did not participate.[1]

Seeds

Only 11 of the 12 teams in the conference participated in the tournament due to Northern Colorado's self-imposed ban. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. The top five teams received a first round bye.

Seed School Conference Tiebreaker 1 Tiebreaker 2
1 North Dakota 14–4
2 Eastern Washington 13–5
3 Weber State 12–6 0–2 vs UND 1–1 vs EWU
4 Idaho 12–6 0–1 vs UND 0–2 vs EWU
5 Montana 11–7 1–0 vs UND
6 Montana State 11–7 0–1 vs UND
7 Sacramento State 9–9
8 Portland State 7–11
9 Northern Arizona 6–12
10 Idaho State 3–15 1–0 vs SUU
11 Southern Utah 3-15 0–1 vs ISU

Schedule
Session Game Time* Matchup Score Television Attendance
First Round – Tuesday, March 7
1 1 2:35 PM No. 8 Portland State vs. No. 9 Northern Arizona 80–67 Watch
Big Sky		 1,507
2 5:35 PM No. 7 Sacramento State vs. No. 10 Idaho State 91–76
3 8:05 PM No. 6 Montana State vs. No. 11 Southern Utah 109–1053OT
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 9
2 4 12:05 PM  No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 8 Portland State 95–72 Watch
Big Sky		 1,762
5 2:35 PM No. 4 Idaho vs. No. 5 Montana 81–77
3 6 5:35 PM No. 2 Eastern Washington vs. No. 7 Sacramento State 89–70 1,903
7 8:05 PM No. 3 Weber State vs. No. 11 Southern Utah 90–70
Semifinals – Friday, March 10
4 8 5:35 PM No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Idaho 69–64 Watch
Big Sky		 2,003
9 8:05 PM No. 2 Eastern Washington vs. No. 3 Weber State 80–72
Championship Game – Saturday, March 11
5 10 5:30 PM No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 3 Weber State    93–89OT ESPNU 2,025
*Game times in PST. Rankings denote tournament seeding

Bracket
  First round
Tuesday, March 7		 Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 9		 Semifinals
Friday, March 10		 Championship game
Saturday, March 11
                                     
       
  1 North Dakota 95  
    8 Portland State 72  
8 Portland State 80
9 Northern Arizona 67  
  1 North Dakota 69  
  4 Idaho 64  
       
       
  4 Idaho 81
    5 Montana 77  
     
       
  1 North Dakota 93*
  3 Weber State 89
       
       
  2 Eastern Washington 89
    7 Sacramento State 70  
7 Sacramento State 91
10 Idaho State 76  
  2 Eastern Washington 72
  3 Weber State 80  
       
       
  3 Weber State 90
    11 Southern Utah 70  
6 Montana State 105
11 Southern Utah 109***  

* denotes overtime period
Source:[2]

NCAA tournament

The Fighting Hawks received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament; no other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament or the NIT. North Dakota was seeded fifteenth in the West regional and lost 100–82 to Arizona in the first round in Salt Lake City. It was the eleventh consecutive year that the Big Sky representative lost in the first round.

References
  1. "University of Northern Colorado imposed penalties on itself over NCAA violations". Associated Press. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  2. "The 2017 Big Sky Basketball Championships Schedule". SIDEARM Sports. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
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