2023 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament explained

Year:2023
Coach:Danny Sprinkle
Coachcount:2nd
Conference:Big Sky Conference
Titlecount:4th
Champions:Montana State
City:Boise, Idaho
Arena:Idaho Central Arena
Teams:10
Gender:Men's
Division:I
Television:ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2

The 2023 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason tournament for the Big Sky Conference, held March 4–8 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. It was the 48th edition of the conference tourney, which debuted in 1976.

Second-seeded Montana State defeated ninth seed Northern Arizona 85–78 in the final and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Bobcats successfully defended their conference tournament title and earned a second straight NCAA appearance, their fifth overall.

Finalist NAU upset top-seeded Eastern Washington by a point in the quarterfinals and fourth seed Montana by twelve in the semifinals. The other semifinal was rematch of the previous year, with a similar result; this time, MSU needed double overtime to eliminate third seed Weber State 60–58. In 2022, they outlasted the Wildcats by three points in regulation.

Seeds

The ten teams were seeded by conference record; the top six teams received a first-round bye.[1]

SeedSchoolRecordTiebreaker
1Eastern Washington16–2 rowspan=10
2Montana State15–3-->
3Weber State12–6-->
4Montana10–7-->
5Idaho State8–10-->
6Sacramento State7–11-->
7Portland State6–11-->
8Northern Colorado6–12-->
9Northern Arizona5–13-->
10Idaho4–14-->

Schedule

SessionGameTimeMatchupScoreTelevisionAttendance
First round – Saturday, March 4
115:30 pmNo. 9 Northern Arizona vs. No. 10 Idaho87–79ESPN+
28:00 pmNo. 7 Portland State vs. No. 8 Northern Colorado80–84
Quarterfinals – Sunday, March 5
235:30 pmNo. 1 Eastern Washington vs. No. 9 Northern Arizona80–81ESPN+
48:00 pmNo. 2 Montana State vs. No. 8 Northern Colorado84–73
Quarterfinals – Monday, March 6
355:30 pmNo. 4 Montana vs. No. 5 Idaho State83–74ESPN+
68:00 pmNo. 3 Weber State vs. No. 6 Sacramento State70–64
Semifinals – Tuesday, March 7
476:30 pmNo. 9 Northern Arizona vs. No. 4 Montana83–71ESPNU
89:00 pmNo. 2 Montana State vs. No. 3 Weber State60–58 2OTESPN2
Championship game – Wednesday, March 8
599:30 pmNo. 2 Montana State vs. No. 9 Northern Arizona85–78ESPN2
Game times are in Mountain time; rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

Note: * denotes overtime

References

  1. Web site: 2023 Big Sky Men's & Women's Basketball Tournament Times Announced . 2023-01-28 . bigskyconf.com . en.

See also