The Vikings joined the Montana Lady Griz atop the Big Sky Conference standings with a 72-60 home win over Eastern Washington on Saturday. Senior Kelsey Kahle scored 23 points to lead Portland State, followed by Katia Hadj-Hamou with 12 points. Read a recap of the game on Portland State’s athletic web site.

The Vikings will finish their regular season with a pair of tough tests in the Treasure State this coming week. They’ll try to avenge their only league loss to Montana State on Thursday before invading Dahlberg Arena for a showdown with the Lady Griz on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.

In other action Saturday, Montana State and Idaho State secured berths in the Big Sky tournament with victories. The Cats handled Northern Colorado in Bozeman and the Bengals won at Northern Arizona in a thriller, 62-60. Read a recap of the MSU/UNC game from the Cats’ web site and a recap of the ISU/NAU game from the Jacks’ web site.

The Lady Griz will have their eye on Portland State Saturday at 3:05 p.m. The Vikings will shoot for a share of first in the Big Sky Conference in their last regular-season home game against Eastern Washington. The Eagles pushed PSU in Cheney last month, but have since fallen on hard times. Last Saturday’s 80-58 loss at Northern Colorado was maybe their worst of the season. Read a preview story on Saturday’s game in the PSU student newspaper, the Daily Vanguard.

The Eagles also have a lot on the line Saturday. They most likely need to rack up wins in two of their final three games to reach the Big Sky tournament. Portland State, on the other hand, could lose to Eastern Washington and still win the conference if it wins at Montana and Montana State next week.

Weber State fans think they have the Big Sky Conference’s MVP in senior guard Kellen McCoy. They chanted MVP when McCoy touched the ball Thursday during the Wildcats’ win over Northern Arizona, the Ogden Standard-Examiner reported. McCoy scored a career-high 27 points in the game. McCoy is a fine player on by far the best team in the league, but he’s not the MVP. Montana’s Anthony Johnson deserves that honor and it’s a good guess he’ll receive it Thursday when the Big Sky announces its all-conference team.

- Bob Meseroll

The Montana men’s basketball team will either finish second and get a bye into the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals, or it will face Montana State at home on Saturday, March 7 in the quarterfinals. Those are the only two possibilities for the Griz. To finish second, the Griz need Eastern Washington to beat Portland State on Saturday in Cheney, Wash., or for Montana State to beat Northern Colorado on Sunday in Greeley, Colo. A Bobcat win over the Bears would give the Griz the tie-breaker with Portland State; the Griz swept the Cats while the Cats and Vikings split. Another game before the semifinals might not be so bad for the Griz, who didn’t play very well in their loss at Northern Colorado on Thursday.

Weber State has clinched the outright regular-season title and will host the semifinals and finals March 10-11 at Dee Events Center. The dates apparently fall during Weber’s spring break, something the school’s student newspaper swears is a conspiracy by the Big Sky office to deprive Wildcats students of an opportunity to watch their team.

Portland State will finish either second or third and Idaho State has fourth locked up and will host the No. 5 seed in a quarterfinal. That leaves Montana State and Eastern Washington battling for the sixth and final spot. Eastern needs a win over Portland State on Saturday to keep its hopes alive. Montana State gets in with a loss by Eastern, or a win in one of its two remaining games (at UNC and at home against Weber).

 That’s the truth as I know it.

- Bob Meseroll

Portland State avenged its loss at Montana State with a 64-58 win over the Bobcats on Wednesday in Portland. PSU senior Jeremiah Dominguez told the Oregonian he felt he responsible for the Vikings’ first loss to the Cats. Dominguez and Dominic Waters violated the team’s curfew after losing to the Griz in Missoula, then were benched by coach Ken Bone for a good portion of the game in Bozeman. The Vikings have clinched no worse than third in the Big Sky standings.

1. Weber State (12-1, 18-8): The Wildcats looked even better beating the Griz in Missoula than they did in Ogden. This doesn’t appear to be a team that peaked too soon.

2. Montana (11-4, 17-10): While the Griz didn’t play as well as they’re capable of in their showdown with Weber last week, they would’ve needed to play a nearly perfect game to win. From here on out, though, the pressure is on Weber as the favorite.

3. Portland State (9-5, 19-9): The rest of the league better hope that the Vikings didn’t suddenly find themselves in their 93-81 win over Boise State on Saturday. When they’re hitting from deep, they’re an explosive team.

4. Idaho State (7-7, 10-18): The resurgent Bengals should finish fourth with home wins over Sacramento State and Northern Arizona this week. If so, they’ll enter the tournament having won five of their last six.

5. Northern Colorado (6-8, 12-17): Talk about what-ifs. The Bears lost overtime games to Idaho State and Weber State, fell by three points at NAU and then lost at Portland State last week on a buzzer-beater and at Eastern Washington on a bad call in the final seconds. Without too much imagination, UNC could be 11-3 right now.

6. Montana State (6-7, 12-13): The Bobcats could make the tournament without winning another game, as long at Eastern falls to Portland State, but that’s no way to go into the postseason. If they finish sixth and the Griz are third, it’ll be Griz-Cat Part III.

7. Eastern Washington (6-9, 12-16): The Eagles could help Montana with a win over Portland State on Saturday, but the Griz shouldn’t count on it.

8. Northern Arizona (5-9, 8-17): The Jacks have an explosive young player in sophomore guard Cameron Jones, so there’s hope on the horizon.

9. Sacramento State (1-13, 2-25): With all the junior college transfers first-year coach Brian Katz brought in this season, you have to wonder if the Hornets will have enough scholarships to turn things around any time soon.

Sports editor Bob Meseroll was kind enough (I mean that) to correct some misinformation in the blog I posted yesterday about the Grizzlies needing to win at Northern Colorado Thursday to take second place and a first-round bye for the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tourney.

And I quote:  “The Griz can lose Thursday and have Portland State win twice and STILL get second place if Montana State beats UNC. The Griz would have a sweep of the Cats and Portland State would have a split.”

Every time we get down to this stage of the season, with a made scramble for at least a few of the tournament berths, someone comes up with a breakdown that, as UM sports information director Dave Guffey so aptly put it, could make your head spin.

Here’s the info Guff provided me today:

Weber State (12-1) – The Wildcats have clinched the top seed and the right to host the conference championship. Weber State will win the outright conference title with one more win, or a Montana loss. Weber State is at home Thursday against Northern Arizona and Saturday against Sacramento State. The Wildcats play at Montana State on March 3.

Montana (11-4) – Montana has clinched a tournament bid. Montana will finish either second or third. Montana will be second with one Portland State loss. If Montana and Portland State both finish 11-5, Montana will gain the No. 2 seed if any team other than Northern Colorado finishes fourth. Montana’s final regular-season game is Thursday at Northern Colorado.
To finish second
Win over UNC OR one PSU loss to either MSU or EWU
Loss to UNC and two PSU wins IF MSU defeats UNC (that would ensure that MSU would finish ahead of UNC in the standings)

Portland State (9-5) – Portland State has clinched a bid. Portland State can finish as high as second or as low as fifth. The Vikings play host to Montana State on Wednesday and are at Eastern Washington on Saturday.
To finish second
Wins over MSU and EWU AND UM loss to UNC AND UNC win over MSU (only way to do it)
To finish third
Wins over either MSU or EWU OR ISU loss to either NAU or SAC
To finish fifth:
Losses to MSU and EWU AND ISU wins over NAU and SAC AND MSU wins over WSU and UNC
(ISU is third, 3-1 in tiebreaker, MSU is fourth at 2-2, PSU is fifth at 1-3)

Idaho State (7-7) – Idaho State can finish as high as third or not make the postseason tournament. The Bengals will clinch a postseason bid with a victory. The Bengals play host to Sacramento State on Thursday and to Northern Arizona on Saturday.
To clinch a spot in the tournament
A win over either NAU or SAC OR a NAU loss to WSU OR if MSU wins one or none of their final three games OR an EWU win over PSU OR one Northern Colorado loss. ISU cannot lose a 7-9 tie to any team involved in the tie unless the only two teams in the tie are ISU and NAU.
To clinch fourth
Wins over NAU and SAC OR one win over either NAU or SAC and one loss by MSU to either PSU, UNC, or WSU OR with losses to NAU and SAC AND if MSU wins one or none of their final three games AND UNC does not sweep UM and MSU
To clinch third
Wins over NAU and SAC AND PSU losses to MSU and EWU

Montana State (6-7) – Montana State can finish as high as third or fail to qualify for the tournament. The Bobcats are at
To clinch a spot in the tournament
One win over either PSU or UNC or WSU OR one NAU and one EWU loss OR one NAU and a UM win OR one EWU and a UM win.
To clinch a home game
Two wins and two ISU losses provided one of the MSU wins is UNC OR MSU wins over PSU and WSU and two ISU losses and a UM win OR three wins and one ISU loss
Northern Colorado (6-8) – Northern Colorado can finish as high as fourth or not make the tournament. The Bears are seeking their first ever appearance in the Big Sky Championship.
To clinch a spot in the tournament
Two wins OR a win over UM and an NAU loss. NC can also get in with one win and three MSU losses, or one win and an EWU loss, or one win and no wins by MSU, EWU and NAU.
To clinch a home game
Two wins AND two ISU losses.

Eastern Washington (6-9) – Eastern Washington can finish no higher than sixth, or not make the tournament. The Eagles have one conference game remaining, on Saturday at home against Portland State. EWU also plays a non-conference game on Tuesday vs. Seattle.
*Win over PSU AND either three MSU losses or two UNC losses OR win over PSU and a UNC loss to Montana
NOTE: if UNC, NAU, and EWU all finish 6-10, NAU wins the tiebreaker if they defeat WSU but lose to ISU. If NAU defeats ISU but loses to WSU, then all three teams have identical results, and the RPI tiebreaker would be used to determine 6th, 7th, and 8th, and currently Eastern has the highest RPI of the tied teams. If NAU finishes 5-11, EWU and UNC can still tie at 6-10 and have identical results, going to the RPI tiebreak.

Northern Arizona (5-9) – Northern Arizona can finish as high as fourth our out of the tournament. Northern Arizona has two road games remaining, on Thursday at Weber State and on Saturday at Idaho State.
To clinch a spot in the tournament
Wins over WSU and ISU AND an ISU loss to SAC AND a PSU win over EWU AND both MSU and UNC do not finish 7-9.
If MSU, UNC, EWU, and NAU all finish 7-9 providing UNC beats UM but loses to MSU and ISU beats SAC; MSU is fifth (defeat of WSU, and a possible sweep, plus a win over Portland State) and NAU is sixth (win over WSU)
If MSU, UNC, EWU, and NAU all finish 7-9 providing UNC beats MSU but loses to UM and ISU beats SAC; UNC is fifth (4-2 against tied teams), MSU is eighth (2-4 against tied teams), and NAU is sixth (defeated WSU)
If ISU, MSU, UNC, EWU, and NAU all finish 7-9 providing UNC beats UM but loses to MSU; ISU is fourth (5-3 vs. tied teams), MSU is eighth (3-5 vs. tied teams), NAU is fifth (beat WSU), UNC is sixth (beat UM), and EWU is seventh (best win is PSU).
If ISU, MSU, UNC, EWU, and NAU all finish 7-9 providing UNC beats MSU but loses to UM; ISU and UNC are both (5-3 vs. tied teams), MSU is eighth (2-6 vs. tied teams), NAU is sixth (beat WSU) and EWU is seventh (best win is PSU). ISU is fourth (beat UM), and UNC is fifth.
To clinch a first round home game:
*Wins over WSU and ISU AND an ISU loss to SAC AND a PSU win over EWU AND MSU loss to PSU, UNC, and WSU AND a UM win over UNC.

Head spinning yet?

- Bill Schwanke

The Montana men’s basketball team showed something Saturday against Idaho State that it seemed to lack Thursday night against league leader Weber State: grit.

The Griz were on their heels pretty much all night against the Wildcats Thursday, but when ISU put the rush on several times Saturday afternoon, Montana players scratched and clawed to maintain a narrow lead through much of the game, then separated themselves from the Bengals in the late going.

Both teams shot at a blistering pace and ISU had a slight rebounding edge, but the Grizzlies’ pinpoint passing and lack of turnovers (only three for the entire game!) helped them beat back the Bengals’ challenge.

The game left Montana in sole possession of second place, but with Portland State still lurking in third place and unlikely to lose at home to Montana State or on the road at Eastern Washington, the Grizzlies need to win Thursday night at Northern Colorado – no easy task against a team that’s still scrambling for its own playoff position – to assure themselves second place and a bye into the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament coming up in Ogden, Utah.

The Griz remain somewhat shorthanded, relying heavily on eight guys, but for the most part substitution patterns have allowed UM players to remain fresh enough to weather most storms. And Anthony Johnson seems capable of playing more than 40 minutes a game if necessary as UM’s version of the Energizer bunny.

With the exception of the Weber State game Montana’s late conference run has been pretty spectacular. Johnson has settled nicely into the point-guard position and Kyle Sharp continues to justify Wayne Tinkle’s decision to start him in the post, especially given Brian Qvale’s improved play coming off the bench, particularly at the offensive end.

Can the Griz win at Northern Colorado Thursday? Absolutely. But it’ll likely take more of the same grit they displayed in Saturday’s rough-and-tumble win against Idaho State.

- Bill Schwanke

By Bill Speltz

1 (tie). Montana (12-1, 23-4) and Portland State (12-1 and 19-7): Mark a week from Saturday on your calendar and make your way to Dahlberg Arena for a Montana/Portland State showdown that will most likely determine the league champion. The difference between these two teams has become negligible. The Vikes have an intangible edge because they beat the Lady Griz in December in Portland. But Montana can find comfort in knowing its game with Portland State will be in Missoula, where it has lost only once this season to Gonzaga.

One thing has become apparent since the last time the teams met: Defense is priority No. 1. Montana leads the conference and it’s becoming increasingly more evident that coach Robin Selvig is going to lean on his 2-3 zone. His team has become adept at getting a hand in the face of 3-point shooters out of the zone. It also seems to play better offensively when it is not burdened by having to chase around the opponent in man defense. Portland State is racing up the league’s defensive rankings. Since allowing 94 points to Montana State in an overtime loss, the Vikes have held their last five league foes to an average of 60.6 points per game.

3. Montana State (6-7, 12-13): Does any team other than MSU even believe it has a chance against Montana and Portland State? The Cats know what they’re capable of because they handed the Vikings their only loss. MSU also put a scare into the Lady Griz in Bozeman recently. Montana State should earn the No. 3 seed for the Big Sky tournament. The Cats are riding a three-game win streak and their last three regular-season games are at home. But you have to wonder when their ugly side will rear its head again — the Jeckyl and Hyde side that sometimes forgets how to play defense.

4. Northern Colorado (5-7, 12-14): The Bears will invade Dahlberg Arena on Thursday, coming off their most impressive league win of the season — an 80-58 shellacking of Eastern Washington. If any team outside of Montana State has a legitimate chance at knocking off the Big Sky’s Big Two, it’s UNC. Why? Because the Bears lead the conference in 3-point field goals with 180. That’s 12 more than any other team in the conference. The problem for UNC is its remaining regular-season schedule is not favorable. After facing Montana, it has road games at Montana State and Northern Arizona before finishing up at home against Sac State.

5. Sac State (5-8, 7-19): The Hornets set a school record with their fifth conference win Saturday at Northern Arizona. Sac tripped the Lumberjacks in overtime, 83-80. With remaining home games against Idaho State and Weber State, the Hornets look like a good bet to reach the Big Sky tourney. But it may come down to the last weekend when the Hornets visit Northern Colorado.

6. Northern Arizona (5-8, 8-18): The Jacks’ home loss to Sac State on Saturday smarts. They’ve lost two games in a row. But NAU has a favorable schedule down the stretch with home games against Weber, Idaho State and Northern Colorado. The last-place Wildcats seem to have folded up shop for the season and the Bengals are running out of gas with only seven healthy scholarship players.

7. Idaho State (5-8, 8-18): Scoring 39 points on senior day last Saturday against Montana was embarrassing. If that’s the best effort the Bengals can muster in front of one of their best crowds of the season, then it’s obvious they’ve run out of gas. It’s been a trying season with losses to injury and academic issues. Credit Seton Sobolewski for keeping the team together as long as he has this season.

8. Weber State (3-10, 8-18): The Wildcats have lost four straight games, proving the old adage you can’t win if you don’t score. Weber is shooting 36 percent for the season and hasn’t broken 60 in its last four games.

Anthony Johnson’s closest pursuer for the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball scoring title, Sacramento State’s Loren Leath, missed Saturday’s game at Northern Arizona because he missed the team bus to the airport, the Arizona Daily Sun reported Sunday. Montana’s Johnson has 473 points in 27 games with just Thursday’s game at Northern Colorado remaining. Even if Johnson was shut out in Greeley, Leath would need 59 points in his final two games at Idaho State and Weber State to surpass Johnson.