Big Sky Men’s Basketball Tournament: No. 1 Eastern Washington looks to avenge last season’s first-round exit
Eastern Washington finds itself in a familiar spot entering this weekend’s Big Sky Tournament as the No. 1 seed – so familiar that David Riley is choosing not to shy away from talking about last season’s first-round exit.
“We’re embracing it,” EWU’s head men’s basketball coach said Wednesday. “We talked about how that adversity from last year, as long as we use it right, can prepare us and help us.”
Eastern (21-10) will play either No. 9 Idaho (11-20) or No. 10 Sacramento State (8-23), teams the Eagles beat twice each this season.
The Eagles’ game against the Vandals-Hornets winner will tip off at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Idaho Central Arena in Boise.
No matter the opponent, Riley recognized its ability to test and potentially beat the Eagles.
Last year’s 81-80 loss to Northern Arizona is a great example, but so was Monday night’s 91-88 EWU victory at last-place Sacramento State.
“Everyone’s really good,” Riley said. “There’s not that big of a disparity.”
The rigid structure of the 10-team bracket means that the Eagles have a limited pool of opponents up until a potential championship game matchup. Should the Eagles win their first game, they would play either No. 4 Weber State or No. 5 Montana State – who play Monday night – in a semifinal match Tuesday evening.
Here’s a look, then, at the five teams on the bracket’s top half.
Eastern Washington (No. 1)
Overall record (Big Sky): 21-10, 15-3
Last six games: 4-2
Impact player: Cedric Coward, Jr. (15.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 39.7% 3s)
Chance they win it all: 40%
Discussion: Balanced and healthy, the Eagles can go four deep on their bench as needed, with the return of Mason Williams giving them much-needed perimeter depth. No Big Sky team has attempted more free throws (654), and no offense shoots better (50.4%) than the Eagles. Their weakness has been turnovers (13.1 per game) – and lately 3-point defense, which has fallen to the worst in the conference (35.9%). But no one defends the rim and midrange better.
Weber State (No. 4)
Overall record (Big Sky): 20-11, 11-7
Last six games: 4-2
Impact player: Dillon Jones, Jr. (20.8 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 5.2 apg)
Chance they win it all: 15%
Discussion: Always dangerous because they take care of the ball (conference-low 9.7 turnovers per game), and because they have league MVP Jones, the Wildcats are a legitimate threat to win the tournament. They also allow fewer points than anyone else (66.8 per game), and they make their free throws, ranking second in the Big Sky (74.8%) behind Eastern (76.8%).
Montana State (No. 5)
Overall record (Big Sky): 14-17, 9-9
Last six games: 3-3
Impact player: Brian Goracke, Jr. (13.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 35.4% 3s)
Chance they win it all: 5%
Discussion: The Bobcats just beat the Wildcats 76-64 on Monday, and on Feb. 1 they beat the Eagles in Bozeman by 10. This is a team that has a legitimate path to the title game. It’s a team, too, that can sink 3s, making a conference-best 276 at the second-best rate (36.5%). But rebounding (minus-5 per game) has been an issue.
Idaho (No. 9)
Overall record (Big Sky): 11-20, 5-13
Last six games: 2-4
Impact player: Quinn Denker, Jr. (12.4 ppg, 3.7 apg, 33.6% 3s)
Chance they win it all: 1%
Discussion: Four wins in five days is a tall task, but NAU nearly did it last year. The Vandals beat the Hornets twice, and they kept up with Eastern once (in an 87-79 loss in Cheney). Putting it all together for four games, though, is unlikely for the conference’s ninth-worst scoring team (67.9 points per game).
Sacramento State (No. 9)
Overall record (Big Sky): 8-23, 4-14
Last six games: 2-4
Impact player: Duncan Powell, So. (12.1 ppg, 7 rpg, 2 apg)
Chance they win it all: 1%
Discussion: Three of the Hornets’ four conference wins came at home (Weber State, Idaho State, Portland State) with the lone road win at Montana State. They also led Eastern down the stretch Monday. But their offense is last in the conference in scoring (66.6 points per game) and turnovers committed (14.9 per game). Four wins in a row would seem a big ask this year.