Big Sky Conference Tournament Recaps

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Bozeman, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Melvin Jones sunk a three-pointer with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation, sending the sixth-seeded Portland State Vikings to a 68-65 victory over the third-seeded Montana State Bobcats in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at Worthington Arena.

Julius Thomas led the way for Portland State (13-18) with 19 points and six boards, while Jones finished with 17 points on 5-of-9 three-pointers in the win.

Bobby Howard and Danny Piepoli netted 16 points apiece for Montana State (15-14), while Erik Rush added 13 and seven rebounds.

The Bobcats shot just 36.7 percent from the floor in the opening half, but were lucky to head into the locker room knotted up at 29-29 at the intermission.

The Vikings connected on 50.0 percent of their second-half field goals, including Jones' game-winning shot from beyond the arc.

Portland State will now move on to face top-seeded Weber State in the semifinals on Tuesday night.

Final Score: Montana 81, Northern Arizona 60

Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Johnson scored a game-high 22 points and the fourth-seeded Montana Grizzlies handled the fifth-seeded Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, 81-60, in a Big Sky Conference quarterfinal-round matchup at the Dahlberg Arena.

Will Cherry and Raason Young each contributed 11 points in the win for Montana (20-9), which will go on to battle second-seeded Northern Colorado in the semifinals on Tuesday evening.

Cameron Jones led the way for Northern Arizona (14-14) with 21 points on the night, while Nick Larson added 11 and seven rebounds.

The Grizzlies took a healthy 39-25 lead into the intermission after shooting 48.4 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, including 5-of-8 from long range.

Montana cruised to the 21-point victory by hitting on 50.0 percent of its field goals in the second half.

The Grizzlies won the battle in the trenches, outrebounding Northern Arizona 41-29, including a 15-5 advantage on the offensive boards.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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