MISSOULA — Montana is the No. 3 seed and Montana State the No. 5 seed for the Big Sky Conference men's basketball championship, which begins Saturday at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
The tournament begins with first-round games featuring Idaho versus Sacramento State and Northern Arizona versus Idaho State. The winners of those games advance to Sunday's action, where they will play Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado, the top two seeds in the tournament.
Both Montana and Montana State start their tournaments Monday, March 11, with quarterfinal games. The Bobcats will play fourth-seeded Weber State at 5:30 p.m., and the Grizzlies will meet No. 6 Portland State at 8 p.m.
All six games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be broadcast on the MTN Channel.
The first semifinal, which tips off at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, will be aired on ESPNU, and the second semifinal, scheduled to tip off at 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, will be aired on ESPN2. The championship will also air on ESPN2 with tipoff scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13.
The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, which begins March 19.
The full Big Sky Conference tournament schedule is below.
Men's basketball
Big Sky Conference Tournament
March 9-13 at Boise, Idaho
Saturday, March 9
Game 1: Idaho vs. Sacramento State, 5:30 p.m.
Game 2: Northern Arizona vs. Idaho State, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 10
Game 3: Eastern Washington vs. Game 1 winner, 5:30 p.m., quarterfinal
Game 4: Northern Colorado vs. Game 2 winner, 8 p.m., quarterfinal
Monday, March 11
Game 5: Weber State vs. Montana State, 5:30 p.m., quarterfinal
Game 6: Montana vs. Portland State, 8 p.m., quarterfinal
Tuesday, March 12
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 p.m., semifinal (on ESPNU)
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 9 p.m., semifinal (on ESPN2)
Wednesday, March 13
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 9:30 p.m., championship (on ESPN2)
