1978 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1978 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 3–4 at Adams Field House at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.[1][2][3]

1978 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams4
SiteAdams Field House
Missoula, Montana
ChampionsWeber State (1st title)
Winning coachNeil McCarthy (1st title)
MVPBruce Collins (Weber State)
1977–78 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Montana12–2 .857  20–8  .714
Idaho State11–3 .786  16–10  .615
Weber State †9–5 .643  19–10  .655
Boise State8–6 .571  13–14  .481
Gonzaga7–7 .500  14–15  .483
Northern Arizona5–9 .357  11–14  .440
Montana State3–11 .214  9–17  .346
Idaho1–13 .071  4–22  .154
† Conference tournament winner

Weber State upset top-seeded Montana in the championship game, 62–55 (in overtime), to clinch their first conference tournament title.[4][5][6] the first of three consecutive. They had lost in the final in the first two editions.[5]

Format

First played in 1976, the Big Sky tournament had the same format for its first eight editions. The regular season champion hosted and only the top four teams from the standings took part, with seeding based on regular season conference records.

Montana made its inaugural appearance, not having qualified as a top-four team in either of the previous two years.

Bracket
Semifinals
Friday, March 3 		Championship
Saturday, March 4
      
1 Montana 70
4 Boise State 61
1 Montana 55
3 Weber State 62*
3 Weber State 84
2 Idaho State 79

Source:[7]

NCAA Tournament

Weber State received an automatic bid to the 32-team NCAA Tournament, but lost in the first round to Arkansas in Eugene, Oregon;[8] Arkansas ultimately advanced to the Final Four. It was the Wildcats' first NCAA appearance in five years, since they went to six consecutive (1968–1973).

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References
  1. "Big Sky playoff starts at Montana". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 3, 1978. p. 5B.
  2. Ewer, Bill (March 3, 1978). "Weber, Idaho State set for tourney test tonight". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B5.
  3. "1977-78 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  4. "Weber State stops Montana for Big Sky title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 5, 1978. p. 2B.
  5. Ewer, Bill (March 6, 1978). "Weber not awed by NCAA foe Arkansas". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B5.
  6. Ewer, Bill (March 4, 1978). "Weber going for Big Sky marbles". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 6A.
  7. "Montana, Weber in Big Sky finals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 4, 1978. p. 1B.
  8. Withers, Bud (March 12, 1978). "Arkansas' quick paralyzes Weber". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 4B.
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