Montana Basketball

Weber State's Damian Lillard may be the second leading scorer in the country, but his double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds wasn't enough as the Montana Grizzlies topped the Weber State Wildcats 85-66 Wednesday night in Missoula, Montana for the Big Sky Conference Championship.

The Grizzlies were led by sophomore guard Kareem Jamar and junior forward Mathias Ward, who each had 23 points on the night for the Grizzlies.

Despite the 19-point victory for Montana, it was Weber State who started hot in Dahlberg Arena.  The Wildcats began the game with a 7-0 lead within the first two minutes.  By the 10-minute mark, Weber State amassed a 23-13 lead powered by Lillard and sophomore center Kyle Tresnak, who finished the night with 12 points and four rebounds.

Three-pointers by Jamar and Derek Selvig sparked the Grizzlies as they tied the game 26-26 at the 6:05 mark, but another spark by the Wildcats would bring the score to a 36-31 Weber State advantage at halftime.

Will Cherry, who finished with 13 points and six assists for the Grizzlies, made a three-pointer at 17:16 in the second half to give Montana their first lead of the game.

The Grizzlies never looked back and led the rest of the way after a jumper by Ward with 14 minutes remaining.

All five of Montana's starters were in double figures for the game.

Along with Lillard and Tresnak, leading scorers for Weber State included Byron Fulton with 10 points and four rebounds and Kyle Bullinger with seven points.

With the victory, the Grizzlies will make their ninth overall NCAA tournament appearance in school history and first since 2010.  Montana will also look for their first NCAA tournament victory since upsetting Nevada in the first round as a No. 12 seed in 2006.

Montana will head into the NCAA tournament 25-6 (15-1 in conference) riding a 14-game win streak.

Weber State, finishing the season with a solid resume at 24-6 (14-2 in conference) will likely be in contention for an NIT or other postseason berth.

I'm not a fan of one-man gangs when it comes to college hoops success.  Aside from Danny Manning and the Miracles in 1988 it's not a great long-term solution.  However, Anthony Johnson's performance in a 66-65 win over Weber State for the Big Sky championship was impressive to say the least.  He singlehandedly brought the Grizz back from a sure-fire blowout with 42 points.  Think about that for a second.  That's two-thirds of the team's points. 

Somewhere in Storrs, Connecticut the Husky faithful are wondering why they didn't go after this guy.

Speaking of things Big East Louisville's loss dropped them a seed in today's bracket.  I was tempted to put them in a potential second-round matchup against archenemy Kentucky but the committee doesn't like to have non-conference rematches, so the Cards get kicked out to the East.  Marquette switched places with them by virtue of their close win over St. John's.

The other big news from yesterday probably resulted in a big skyward smile from the late, great Eddie Robinson as Grambling State knocked off Jackson State in the SWAC tourney.  Jackson State had gone 17-1 in the conference.  Arkansas Pine-Bluff takes their spot in the bracket for now. 

East Region(Syracuse)

1 Duke(ACC) v. 16 Lehigh(Patriot)

2 Kansas State(Big 12) v. 15 Vermont(America East)

3 Michigan State(Big 10) v. 14 Sam Houston State(Southland)

4 Temple(Atlantic 10) v. 13 MURRAY STATE(OVC)

5 Tennessee(SEC) v. 12 Arizona State(Pac-10)

6 Georgetown(Big East) v. 11 San Diego State(MWC)

7 Northern Iowa(MVC) v. 10 Virginia Tech(ACC)

8 Oklahoma State(Big 12) v. 9 Louisville(Big East)

South Region(Houston)

1 Kentucky(SEC) v. 16 ETSU(Atlantic Sun)

2 West Virginia(Big East) v. 15 Morgan State(MEAC)

3 Ohio State(Big 10) v. 14 WOFFORD(Southern)

4 Texas A&M(Big 12) v. 13 SIENA(MAAC)

5 Brigham Young(MWC) v. 12 Rhode Island(Atlantic-10)

6 Gonzaga(WCC) v. 11 OLD DOMINION(CAA)

7 Florida State(ACC) v. 10 Missouri(Big 12)

8 Clemson(ACC) v. 9 Notre Dame(Big East)

Midwest Region(St. Louis)

1 Kansas(Big 12) v. 16 Play-In Winner

2 New Mexico(MWC) v. 15 MONTANA(Big Sky)

3 Villanova(Big East) v. 14 OAKLAND(Summit)

4 Maryland(ACC) v. 13 Kent State(MAC)

5 Wisconsin(Big 10) v. 12 Memphis (Conference USA)

6 Richmond(Atlantic 10) v. 11 Utah State(WAC)

7 Texas(Big 12) v. 10 Ole Miss(SEC)

8 Marquette(Big East) v. 9 ST. MARY’S(WCC)

West Region(Salt Lake City)

1 Syracuse(Big East) v. 16 ROBERT MORRIS(Northeast)

2 Purdue(Big 10) v. 15 Pacific(Big West)

3 Pittsburgh(Big East) v. 14 NORTH TEXAS(Sun Belt)

4 Baylor(Big 12) v. 13 CORNELL(Ivy)

5 BUTLER(Horizon) v. 12 Georgia Tech(ACC)

6 Vanderbilt(SEC) v. 11 California(Pac-10)

7 Wake Forest(ACC) v. 10 Nevada Las-Vegas(MWC)

8 Xavier(Atlantic-10) v. 9 Texas El-Paso(Conference USA)

Play-In Game: Arkansas Pine-Bluff(SWAC) v. WINTHROP(Big South)