1991 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

1991 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1990–91
Teams6
SiteDahlberg Arena
Missoula, Montana
ChampionsMontana (1st title)
Winning coachStew Morrill (1st title)
MVPKevin Kearney (Montana)
← 1990
1992 →
1990–91 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Montana † 13 – 3   .813 23 – 8   .742
Nevada 12 – 4   .750 17 – 14   .548
Idaho 11 – 5   .688 19 – 11   .633
Boise State 10 – 6   .625 17 – 10   .630
Idaho State 7 – 9   .438 11 – 18   .379
Weber State 7 – 9   .438 12 – 16   .429
Montana State 6 – 10   .375 12 – 16   .429
Eastern Washington 5 – 11   .313 11 – 16   .407
Northern Arizona 1 – 15   .063 4 – 23   .148
† Conference tournament winner

The 1991 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the sixteenth edition, held March 6–9 at Dahlberg Arena at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.[1]

Top-seeded host Montana defeated two-time defending champion Idaho in the championship game, 76–68, to win their first Big Sky tournament title.[2]

Format

No new teams were added to the Big Sky prior to the 1990–91 season, leaving total membership at nine.

No changes were made to the tournament format, except that host site was not predetermined and went to the regular season champion.[3] The top six teams from the regular season were included; the top two earned byes into the semifinals while the remaining four played in the quarterfinals.

Bracket

Quarterfinals
Wednesday, March 6 		Semifinals
Friday, March 8 		Championship
Saturday, March 9
1 Montana 109
4 Boise State 69 5 Idaho State 97
5 Idaho State 73 1 Montana 76
3 Idaho 68
2 Nevada 74
3 Idaho 60 3 Idaho 93
6 Weber State 54

Source:[4][5]

NCAA tournament

The Grizzlies gained the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and no other Big Sky members were invited. Seeded sixteenth in the West Regional, Montana lost to UNLV in Tucson in the first round. Boise State hosted a first-round game in the NIT, but lost by a point to Southern Illinois.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "1990-91 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  2. ^ Grummert, Dale (March 10, 1991). "Montana breaks through to beat Idaho". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  3. ^ "Montana wins right to hold tourney". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 3, 1991. p. 5C.
  4. ^ Grummert, Dale (March 7, 1991). "UI survives opening round". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1D.
  5. ^ Grummert, Dale (March 9, 1991). "Idaho rolls into Big Sky Conference finals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  6. ^ "S. Illinois rolls by Boise St. at NIT". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. March 14, 1991. p. 1B.