1995 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1995 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the twentieth edition, held March 9–11 at the Dee Events Center at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.[1]

1995 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1994–95
Teams6
SiteDee Events Center
Ogden, Utah
ChampionsWeber State (5th title)
Winning coachRon Abegglen (1st title)
MVPRuben Nembhard (Weber State)
← 1994
1996 →
1994–95 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Weber State 11 3   .786 21 9   .700
Montana 11 3   .786 21 9   .700
Montana State 8 6   .571 21 8   .724
Boise State 7 7   .500 17 10   .630
Idaho State 7 7   .500 18 10   .643
Idaho 6 8   .429 12 15   .444
Northern Arizona 4 10   .286 8 18   .308
Eastern Washington 2 12   .143 6 20   .231
Conference tournament winner

Top-seeded host Weber State easily defeated second seed Montana in the championship game, 84–62, to clinch their fifth Big Sky tournament title.[2]

Format

edit

Conference membership remained with the same eight teams, and no changes were made to the existing tournament format. The top six teams from the regular season participated, and the top two earned byes into the semifinals. The remaining four played in the quarterfinals, and the top seed met the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals.

Bracket

edit
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 9
Semifinals
Friday, March 10
Championship
Saturday, March 11
1 Weber State 71
4 Idaho State 65 4 Idaho State 65
5 Boise State 63 1 Weber State 84
2 Montana 62
2 Montana 73
3 Montana State 77 3 Montana State 63
6 Idaho 66

NCAA tournament

edit

Weber State received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and no other Big Sky members were invited. Seeded fourteenth in the Southeast regional, the Wildcats met Michigan State at Tallahassee, Florida. Down by nine at the half, the Wildcats outplayed the Spartans in the second half and won by seven points;[3] it was the first victory for a Big Sky team in the tournament in thirteen years, since Idaho made the Sweet Sixteen in 1982. It was the last game for retiring Spartan head coach Jud Heathcote,[4] who had previously coached in the Big Sky at Montana (1971–76). In the second round on Sunday, Weber State fell by two points at the buzzer to Georgetown and the Wildcats' season ended at 21–9;[5][6] they had last advanced in the NCAA tournament in 1979.

Runner-up Montana was invited to the NIT, but lost by thirty in the first round at Texas–El Paso.[7]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "1994-95 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  2. ^ "Weber State tops Griz for title". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. March 13, 1995. p. 4C.
  3. ^ "Weber St. shocks Jud, Michigan St". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 18, 1995. p. C5.
  4. ^ "Weber St. gives Jud an early farewell". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 19, 1995. p. 1D.
  5. ^ "Hoyas tip Weber St. on last-second basket". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 20, 1995. p. C6.
  6. ^ "NCAA Roundup". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. March 20, 1995. p. 4c.
  7. ^ "Miners rout Grizzlies for openers". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 18, 1995. p. 6D.