1991 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1991 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the sixteenth edition, held March 6–9 at Dahlberg Arena at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.^[1]

1991 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1990–91
Teams	6
Site	Dahlberg Arena Missoula, Montana
Champions	Montana (1st title)
Winning coach	Stew Morrill (1st title)
MVP	Kevin Kearney (Montana)
Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournaments ← 1990 1992 →

1990–91 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Montana †	13	–	3		.813			23	–	8		.742
Nevada	12	–	4		.750			17	–	14		.548
Idaho	11	–	5		.688			19	–	11		.633
Boise State	10	–	6		.625			17	–	10		.630
Idaho State	7	–	9		.438			11	–	18		.379
Weber State	7	–	9		.438			12	–	16		.429
Montana State	6	–	10		.375			12	–	16		.429
Eastern Washington	5	–	11		.313			11	–	16		.407
Northern Arizona	1	–	15		.063			4	–	23		.148
† Conference tournament winner

Top-seeded host Montana defeated two-time defending champion Idaho in the championship game, 76–68, to win their first Big Sky tournament title.^[2]

Format

No new teams were added to the Big Sky prior to the 1990–91 season, leaving total membership at nine.

No changes were made to the tournament format, except that host site was not predetermined and went to the regular season champion.^[3] The top six teams from the regular season were included; the top two earned byes into the semifinals while the remaining four played in the quarterfinals.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 6					Semifinals Friday, March 8					Championship Saturday, March 9
						1	Montana	109
	4	Boise State	69			5	Idaho State	97
	5	Idaho State	73								1	Montana	76
											3	Idaho	68
						2	Nevada	74
	3	Idaho	60			3	Idaho	93
	6	Weber State	54

Source:^[4][5]

NCAA tournament

The Grizzlies gained the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and no other Big Sky members were invited. Seeded sixteenth in the West Regional, Montana lost to UNLV in Tucson in the first round. Boise State hosted a first-round game in the NIT, but lost by a point to Southern Illinois.^[6]

See also

• Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament

References

1. "1990-91 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
2. Grummert, Dale (March 10, 1991). "Montana breaks through to beat Idaho". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
3. "Montana wins right to hold tourney". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 3, 1991. p. 5C.
4. Grummert, Dale (March 7, 1991). "UI survives opening round". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1D.
5. Grummert, Dale (March 9, 1991). "Idaho rolls into Big Sky Conference finals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
6. "S. Illinois rolls by Boise St. at NIT". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. March 14, 1991. p. 1B.