Eastern Washington bounced back for a big road win to further strength its first place lead while Sac State snapped an 11-game losing streak in Bozeman and Montana celebrated its five seniors in style on the second to last Saturday of Big Sky Conference regular-season action.
Two days after losing to Northern Arizona to give a game back in the Big Sky title race, EWU earned an 85-76 win over Northern Colorado in Greeley to earn that separation in the standings back.
In Bozeman, Montana State could not ride the momentum of Thursday’s win over Portland State, instead falling 66-63 to a Sac State team that entered the game on an 11-game losing streak.
In Missoula, Montana stayed hot, earning an 82-73 win over Portland State to move to one win away from the fifth 20-win season under 10th-year head coach Travis DeCuire.
Idaho State continues to have Weber State’s number this season while Idaho, after winning at Northern Arizona, has more wins this season than the Vandals have since the Don Verlin era.
The Big Sky Conference officially has one weekend left of league games plus a Monday season finale for most of its teams before the Big Sky Tournament gets underway in Boise, Idaho. Big Sky in Boise runs March 9-13.
EASTERN WASHINGTON 85, NORTHERN COLORADO 76
The Eagles dropped a 90-4 decision at home to Weber State last Saturday, then continued being haunted by NAU on Thursday, losing 78-71. The Lumberjacks knocked out EWU, the regular-season champions a year ago, on an Oakland Fort buzzer-beater in Eastern’s first game of the tournament in Boise last season.
Cedric Coward helped the Eagles bounce back in a big way for one of the signature wins of the season to help EWU stay atop the league standings at 12-3.
Coward, Eastern Washington’s do-everything 6-foot-6 wing, poured in a career-high 30 points and Ethan Price scored the 1,000th in his career as part of a double-double to help the Eags earn the season sweep of the Bears. A Northern Colorado win could have tied the Bears with EWU atop the Big Sky standings but instead Eastern has a two-game lead.
“It shows the character we’ve got. Not only coming into the game after two losses but being down 12 about 12 minutes in,” EWU head coach David Riley said in a press release. “We had a good huddle led by our players. Ethan was talking about ‘whatever is going to happen offensively doesn’t matter, we’ve got to get stops,’ and I thought our guys bought into that.”
The Eagles certainly bought in. Down 12 with 7:49 remaining in the opening frame, the Eagle defense locked in on the high-powered Bears, holding them to 34% shooting the rest of the way. Saint Thomas, who leads the conference in scoring, finished with 16 points on 5-of-14 from the floor.
“(UNC) a talented offensive team,” Riley said. “It shows the heart of our guys. The heart of a champion, if you want to get cliche on it. So proud of our guys for coming into a tough place to play. We talked about how every game from here on out is a championship game.”
Price hit his 1,000th point on a turnaround jumper early, but his biggest impact came on the glass, where he secured 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season (12 points, 10 rebounds) and third of his EWU career. Eastern finished with a narrow edge in overall rebounds, 37-36.
“You can say so much about Ethan Price as a player and what he does on the court, but what he does as a leader is some of the best I’ve ever seen,” Riley added. “…just reminding our guys about stops, our defense and keeping our guys locked in. Our focus has been an issue, so to see our guys come in like that, that’s a huge credit to Ethan Price.”
DeJour Reaves continued his candidacy for the top reserve in the Big Sky, pouring in 21 points off the bench to lead UNC.
MONTANA 82, PORTLAND STATE 73
The Griz have now won four out of five and are on the brink of the first 20-win season for the program since winning a school record 26 games and advancing to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2018 and 2019.
Montana celebrated senior night for five seniors, all of whom have had different paths to Missoula. Dischon Thomas, a former Colorado State transfer who the Griz recruited out of high school and when he was transferring from CSU, led the way, scoring 20 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Aanen Moody, a seventh-year senior who played at North Dakota and Southern Utah before coming to Montana three years ago, hit a pair of crucial 3-pointers down the stretch to kill PSU runs and finished with 17 points.
“The question on us has been, can we play through adversity,” DeCuire said. “It couldn’t have been any worse than it was for that four or five minute stretch in the second half. Guys found a way to hang in there. I thought we got stops when we needed to and we got rebounds when we needed to. We hung in there and never really gave up the lead and then Aanen Moody does what Aanen Moody does.”
Brandon Whitney, a four-year starter who has only ever played for the Grizzlies, had 17 points and four assists while helping UM navigate Portland State’s aggressive full-court press.
Josh Vazquez, a fifth-year senior who also started and finished his career at Montana, didn’t make a shot from the floor Saturday but he hit all six of his free throws.
And Laolu Oke, a hyper-athletic center who’s improved his game tremendously since transferring to UM from Division II Metro State, kept up his impressive rebounding marks, snaring nine boards despite battling foul trouble.
Montana is now 10-5 in conference play and sits in a tie with Northern Colorado for second place.
“It’s matchups. Anybody can beat anyone,” DeCuire said of the Big Sky. “There are certain teams that play certain ways or have players that people can’t match up with. Anyone can lose to anyone, and we said we would get to the last week and the race would be for real with multiple teams in striking distance. We’re not the ones with the pressure on us, so we will go be loose and play, be aggressive, and see what happens.”
Portland State, which routed Montana 72-46 in Portland a month ago, has not lost five of seven to sit at 7-9.
SACRAMENTO STATE 66, MONTANA STATE 63
Sacramento State entered the game having scored 62 points or less in eight of its last 11 games, all losses, as second-year head coach David Patrick has been playing a lineup that includes several freshman.
Led by junior Austin Patterson’s 20-point outburst, the Hornets suddenly found their stride against a Montana State team that is reeling. The Bobcats have now lost six of their last eight after a 5-1 start under first-year head coach Matt Logie.
Robert Ford III hit a pair of free throws with 1:06 left to cut the Sac State lead to 62-60. With 27 seconds left, Patterson missed a 3-pointer but Alex Kovatchev snared Sac’s 11th offensive rebound. Patterson converted a lay-up.
Sam Lecholat converted a second chance bucket with 13 seconds left to cut the deficit to 65-62. He was fouled but missed the free throw. Jed Miller grabbed the offensive rebound, leading to Ford attempting a game-tying 3-pointer that he missed. The Bobcats would never get closer.
Montana State finished just 7-of-23 from beyond the arc and lost the battle of the boards 37-27.
“They’re one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation,” Logie said in the press release. “We’re one of the worst. That’s how it played out.”
Montana State is 7-8 in league play. Sac State is now 3-13 in conference play.
IDAHO STATE 80, WEBER STATE 62
Brayden Parker dominated the paint and the Bengals dominated the Wildcats for the second time, earning a season sweep of Weber State for the first time in more than two decades.
ISU beat Weber 74-64 in Ogden last month, prompting Weber State head coach Eric Duft to rip his team in the post-game press conference. Until Saturday, it worked as WSU entered the game on a six-game winning streak that included winning at Eastern Washington last Saturday.
Parker poured in 25 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots to help pace the Bengals. Miguel Tomley scored 26 points and grabbed six rebounds as Idaho State moved to 7-8 in Big Sky play.
Dillon Jones had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, who fell to 9-6 and sit alone in fourth place.
IDAHO 86, NORTHERN ARIZONA 76
Quinn Denker dropped 20 points while Idaho erased a 15-point deficit to rally for a road win that gives Idaho 11 victories this season, the most in a single season for the Vandals since 2017-18, Don Verlin’s last as a head coach. This is Idaho’s first season under the leadership of head coach Alex Pribble
Denker was an all-around performer in the win with his fifth 20-point effort of the season while securing seven rebounds and a team-best seven assists. Julius Mims continued his dominance on both ends of the floor with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, two blocks and one steal. EJ Neal scored in double figures for the fifth time this season with 14 points.
Idaho is 5-10 in conference play while NAU is 6-9.
| School | Conf | Pct | Conf Home | Conf Away | Overall | Pct | Home | Away | Neutral | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Washington | 12-3 | .800 | 6-1 | 6-2 | 18-10 | .643 | 9-1 | 9-9 | 0-0 | W1 |
| Montana | 10-5 | .667 | 6-2 | 4-3 | 19-9 | .679 | 12-3 | 7-6 | 0-0 | W3 |
| Northern Colorado | 10-5 | .667 | 7-2 | 3-3 | 17-11 | .607 | 11-3 | 6-6 | 0-2 | L1 |
| Weber State | 9-6 | .600 | 5-2 | 4-4 | 18-10 | .643 | 10-2 | 7-6 | 1-2 | L1 |
| Idaho State | 7-8 | .467 | 4-3 | 3-5 | 12-16 | .429 | 8-3 | 4-12 | 0-1 | W1 |
| Montana State | 7-8 | .467 | 5-3 | 2-5 | 12-16 | .429 | 9-7 | 3-9 | 0-0 | L1 |
| Portland State | 7-9 | .438 | 6-2 | 1-7 | 16-13 | .552 | 10-2 | 5-10 | 1-1 | L2 |
| Northern Arizona | 6-9 | .400 | 4-4 | 2-5 | 13-16 | .448 | 7-4 | 5-11 | 1-1 | L1 |
| Idaho | 5-10 | .333 | 2-5 | 3-5 | 11-17 | .393 | 6-8 | 4-9 | 1-0 | W1 |
| Sacramento State | 3-13 | .188 | 2-5 | 1-8 | 7-22 | .241 | 5-7 | 2-13 | 0-2 | W1 |
