1979 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1979 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the fourth edition of the tournament, held March 2–3 at the Dee Events Center at Weber State College in Ogden, Utah.^[1][2]

1979 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1978–79
Teams	4
Site	Dee Events Center Ogden, Utah
Champions	Weber State (2nd title)
Winning coach	Neil McCarthy (2nd title)
MVP	Bruce Collins (Weber State)
Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournaments ← 1978 1980 →

1978–79 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Weber State †	10	–	4		.714			25	–	9		.735
Northern Arizona	8	–	6		.571			14	–	14		.500
Idaho State	8	–	6		.571			14	–	13		.519
Montana	7	–	7		.500			14	–	13		.519
Gonzaga	7	–	7		.500			16	–	10		.615
Montana State	6	–	8		.429			15	–	11		.577
Boise State	6	–	8		.429			11	–	15		.423
Idaho	4	–	10		.286			11	–	15		.423
† Big Sky Conference tournament winner

Top-seeded Weber State defeated Northern Arizona in the championship game, 92–70, to clinch their second of three consecutive titles in the tournament.^[3][4] The Wildcats were in the first five finals, dropping the first two and winning the next three.

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.

In their last season in the conference, Gonzaga tied for fourth in the standings (7–7) but did not qualify; they lost their final game to Boise State in overtime and were on the short end of the tiebreaker with Montana for the fourth seed.^[5][6][7]

Bracket

	Semifinals Friday, March 2					Championship Saturday, March 3
	1	Weber State	98
	4	Montana	71
						1	Weber State	92
						3	Northern Arizona	70
	3	Northern Arizona	90
	2	Idaho State	76

NCAA tournament

Weber State received an automatic bid to the expanded 40-team NCAA tournament, where they were seeded seventh in the Midwest region, the first time the Big Sky representative was not in the West region. The Wildcats defeated New Mexico State in overtime in the first round in Lawrence, Kansas,^[8][9][10] but were stopped by second-seeded Arkansas.^[11][12]

References

1. Rock, Brad (March 3, 1979). "Weber vs. NAU for 'Sky crown". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A3.
2. "1978-79 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
3. Rock, Brad (March 5, 1979). "Weber rules Big Sky, eyes NCAA". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B3.
4. "Big Sky belongs to Weber". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 4, 1979. p. 4B.
5. "Overtime! Bad news for WSU, Gonzaga..." Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). February 26, 1979. p. 23.
6. Brown, Butch (February 26, 1979). "Big Sky playoffs next; Zags out". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 24.
7. "Big Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. February 25, 1979. p. 4B.
8. "Weber clips Aggies in overtime". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 10, 1979. p. 4B.
9. Robinson, Doug (March 10, 1979). "Weber stays alive, awaits Arkansas". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A3.
10. Woodling, Chuck (March 10, 1979). "Weber wriggles by Ags, gains Razorback rematch". Lawrence Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 11.
11. Cottrell, Chris (March 12, 1979). "Hogs still prime porkers". Lawrence Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 13.
12. Robinson, Doug (March 12, 1979). "Arkansas knocks off Wildcats". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 1D.