BOISE, Idaho — Just like we all predicted, right?
In a tournament where pandemonium was almost guaranteed because of how level the playing field in Big Sky Conference men’s basketball has been all season, it’s actually hard to say that Montana bouncing the top seed was unexpected at all.
Idaho, on the other hand, winning three games in three days to possibly become the first No. 7 seed in the history of the tournament to advance to the Big Dance? That was a shock.
Portland State won its first outright league title since 2009 by gutting out a 13-5 mark in league play. The Vikings started 11-1 in Big Sky games, only to hit a late-season skid. Jase Coburn’s team bounced back by drilling Weber State on the final Monday of the regular season to avoid sharing the conference title with Montana State.
PSU then earned its first Big Sky Tournament win on Sunday by outlasting upstart Idaho State. That set the stage for the Vikings to get a shot at redemption against Montana, the only team that swept Portland State during the regular season.
In PSU’s trip to Missoula the last weekend of the regular season, Big Sky MVP Terri Miller Jr. committed an egregious flagrant foul that got him tossed from the game early in the second half. That ejection certainly colored the result, a 74-68 Montana win that confirmed to the Griz that they have one of the highest ceilings of any team in the league.
Two days after beating PSU, Montana fell flat on its face in Greeley, Colorado, losing 85-57 to Northern Colorado to sew up a 10-8 league record and ensure a Monday rematch with UNC in the 4-5 game.
The Griz showed up in that game like they so often do under head coach Travis DeCuire when the conference tournament rolls around: sharp, renewed and looking like the favorite. Money Williams picked Northern Colorado apart, getting downhill at will on the way to 40 points to boost the Griz to a 95-89 win and into the semifinals for the ninth time in 11 tournaments under DeCuire.
Williams didn’t let up Tuesday night, helping the Griz explode to a 51-32 lead with 9:23 to go. The Griz had to hold on for dear life to secure a 75-72 win. But Montana is into the championship for the seventh time under DeCuire.
“One thing about the Griz, we like to keep it interesting,” DeCuire said with a smile. “We have a hungry group though and the guys scrapped and made the plays we needed to make when we needed to make them to win the ball game.
“We set the tone defensively. Holding them to 25 percent in the first half is incredible. When you hold teams under 40 percent, you typically win regardless of how things go, and we held them to 31 percent. Our defense is incredible right now and if we continue, we have an opportunity to cut down nets.”
Montana might be the No. 4 seed. But the Griz have been to the NCAA Tournament 13 times in their proud history, including three times under DeCuire. Montana is the defending tournament champion and has played in the tournament title game 23 times prior to Wednesday’s 9:45 p.m. tip-off.
For Idaho, this is uncharted waters, at least since their return to the Big Sky. Once upon a time, the late Don Monson had Idaho among the ranks of the national elite. Monson’s 1981 and 1982 teams were two of the greatest teams in Big Sky Conference history. In 1982, the Vandals went 27-3 and advanced to the Sweet 16.
Idaho advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1988 and 1989 under Kermit Davis and got back to the Big Dance again in 1993 under Larry Eustachy. Idaho has not been back to the Big Sky Tournament title game since.
None of Joe Cravens, the second round of Kermit Davis, David Farrar, Leonard Perry, George Pfeifer, Don Verlin or Zac Claus had any Big Sky Tournament success and only Verlin (five CIT appearances) played in any sort of postseason tournament whatsoever as Idaho bounced between the Big Sky, the Big West and the Western Athletic Conference before returning to the Big Sky in 2014.
Verlin led Idaho to 20+ wins in their second season back in the league and again two years later before his controversial firing. Claus bottomed the program out, going 15-61 in league play over four seasons and 0-4 in the Big Sky Tournament.
That underachievement has gone hand in hand with the Big Sky Tournament making its home here in Boise, the capital city of the Gem State. The burgeoning metropolis is filled with Vandal alums. And they have come out in droves for the successful women’s basketball program, who will also play for an NCAA Tournament bid several hours before the men’s game tips off.
Wednesday night is anticipated to be one of the biggest crowds at Idaho Central Arena for a men’s championship game.
“What a great day to be a Vandal,” UI head coach Alex Pribble said. “What our women’s team did (a 59-51 win in the semifinals against Sac State) and what our guys did tonight, just a great time to be a Vandal.
“This is the vision we had when we took over the program. We wanted to put ourselves in a position where we were in a position to compete for championships. I just could not be more proud of the effort and the togetherness the guys showed tonight. From the start of our time together, I’ve felt like this was a really special group.”
Pribble, who has resurrected Idaho basketball, is in his third season. The Vandals won a conference tournament game last season, beating Portland State in the second round before losing 78-55 to Montana in the semifinals. This season, Idaho finished 9-9 in league and was pushed to the No. 7 seed because of tiebreakers. The Vandals made short work of Sac State on Saturday, blasting the Hornets 68-45 in the final Big Sky game for the departing school.
Sunday, Idaho outlasted a banged up but second-seeded Montana State team to advance to the semis for the second year in a row. And last night, Pribble earned a win over Don Monson’s son, Dan Monson, who is in his second season as the head coach at Eastern Washington.
“Our guys have a better sense of the tradition of Idaho basketball than any of our previous teams,” Pribble said. “It’s a special situation. I’m wearing a Coach Monson patch. I’ve been wearing it all year. What he represents, and the special teams in the early 1980s, the legacy he left here, we talk about and we want to do right by him and his family. We want to do right by the Idaho Vandals basketball players that played in the 1980s and early 1990s.
“We won two nights ago and one of the first texts I got was from Orlando Lightfoot. He’s a legendary ball player. There’s a deep tradition, a deep sense of pride in the Idaho community and our guys understand that.”
A key to Idaho’s run this week has been the stellar play of Kolton Mitchell, a local product from Couer d’Alene whose family have been stalwarts at the Big Sky Tournament in Boise for the last several years. Mitchell is a Vandal through and through. And he’s shown it this week, particularly on Tuesday night while pouring in 26 points to help his team move into the tournament chipper for the first time in 33 years.
“Being close to Idaho growing up, I watched a ton of Idaho games, have always been a fan so to be able to put on the jersey has been so cool,” Mitchell said. “Coach has had a ton of people come in to speak to us to tell us what we need to get this program back to. It’s been very cool to see the greats of Idaho be able to come inspire us.”
Montana swept Idaho during the regular season, beating UI 79-73 in Moscow and winning 73-68 in Missoula.
For the Vandals to become the first team to win four straight games at a neutral site to win the Big Sky Tournament, they’ll have to solve Montana’s physical brand of defense.
“Montana has given us trouble,” Pribble said. “Their physicality, their toughness … Coach DeCuire does a really good job. And Money Williams is an elite scorer. He’s a special player. It’s going to be a challenge but that’s how it’s supposed to be. You aren’t going to get a ticket to the Big Dance with something easy.”
The other key for Idaho will be the primary key for the Griz: can Money keep cashing in? Williams’ 40 points in the second round against Northern Colorado were the second-most in a tournament game by a Griz and the fourth-most in Big Sky history. He followed it up with 32 points on Tuesday. He needs 12 points to break Anthony Johnson’s all-time tournament record of 83 points, set over three games in 2010 to lead UM to the NCAA Tournament under former head coach Wayne Tinkle.
“Money was money,” DeCuire said. “The biggest thing is he’s gotten in the rhythm early in the game. He’s set the tone with his aggression, his pace and then the rest follow.
“That’s what leadership looks like. I think a lot of people think leadership is telling people what to do. Sometimes you have captains that communicate, but a true leader goes out and does his job and then everyone else falls in. We had a lot of guys do their jobs tonight, but Money was special once again.”
For Montana, playing for a trip back to the Big Dance is a familiar spot, even if it took a season filled with ups and downs after last year’s squad graduated five seniors.
“We just have to get as fresh as possible,” DeCuire said. “The next 12 hours, these guys have to get rest before we get up and start over. That’s the most important part: to be fresh physically and then to have the mentality of competing to win a championship.”
For Idaho, this is uncharted territory, particularly since UI returned to the Big Sky.
“It’s taken a lot of resilience and it’s taken a lot of trust. Trust from our players in the process and in our coaching staff,” Pribble said. “After every game, win or lose, we evaluate, reflect and look at our process. When you feel like you’re doing the right things but the outcome is not there, it takes a lot of trust to still have the buy-in and belief to stay the course.
“This is a very resilient group who trusted the process and it’s coming together at the right time for us.”\
