1985 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1985 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 7–9 at the BSU Pavilion at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho.[1][2]

1985 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1984–85
Teams8
SiteBSU Pavilion
Boise, Idaho
ChampionsNevada (2nd title)
Winning coachSonny Allen (2nd title)
MVPDwayne Randall (Nevada)
← 1984
1986 →
1984–85 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Nevada 11 3   .786 21 10   .677
Montana 10 4   .714 22 7   .759
Weber State 9 5   .643 20 9   .690
Northern Arizona 8 6   .571 17 12   .586
Montana State 7 7   .500 11 17   .393
Boise State 5 9   .357 16 13   .552
Idaho State 5 9   .357 15 18   .455
Idaho 1 13   .071 8 22   .267
1985 Big Sky tournament winner

Regular season champion Nevada defeated seventh-seeded Idaho State in the championship game 79–63 for their second consecutive (and second overall) Big Sky tournament title. Nevada was nearly upset in the first round by last-place Idaho, but held to win by three points and advanced.[3]

Format

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For the second year, all eight Big Sky members participated in the conference tournament; this was the first in which all seven games were played at the same venue. Teams were seeded based on regular season conference records, and all were entered into the quarterfinal round. For the first time, the host team was not the top seed, as Boise State finished tied for sixth in the regular season and was seeded seventh.

Two upsets occurred in the first round, as the second and third seeds were eliminated.[3]

Bracket

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Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 7
Semifinals
Friday, March 8
Championship
Saturday, March 9
         
1 Nevada 83
8 Idaho 80
1 Nevada 79
4 Northern Arizona 67
5 Montana State 62
4 Northern Arizona 69
1 Nevada 79
6 Idaho State 63
3 Weber State 78
6 Idaho State 80
6 Idaho State 89
7 Boise State 86
7 Boise State 67
2 Montana 54

Source:[3][4]

NCAA tournament

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The Wolf Pack received an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament, where they lost to NC State (also nicknamed the Wolfpack) in the first round at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Regular season runner-up Montana played in the 32-team NIT, but lost 78–47 at UCLA in the first round;[5] the Bruins went on to win the NIT title.

References

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  1. ^ Devlin, Vince (March 7, 1985). "Big Sky upsets? 'Nothing to lose' for 8-21 Vandals". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 29.
  2. ^ "1984-85 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Devlin, Vince (March 8, 1985). "Idaho presses Reno before bowing". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 21.
  4. ^ "Nevada-Reno meets Idaho State in final". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 9, 1985. p. 14.
  5. ^ "Both UCLA, sky fall on Montana". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 15, 1985. p. 7F.