Webergrad02
Active member
Big Sky
When: Thursday (first round); Friday (semifinals); Saturday (championship)
Where: Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.
The favorite: Weber State has won 11 consecutive games. The Wildcats lost the regular-season title to Montana, but they're the hottest team in the tournament. They're second in the nation with a 50.8 percent clip from the field. They have the Big Sky's top scoring offense (75.1 PPG) and scoring defense (61.3 PPG allowed), too. Davion Berry (15.1 PPG) is one of the three players averaging double figures for Weber State.
The top challengers: Montana won the regular-season title, but it's still not 100 percent. Mathias Ward, who leads the Grizzlies with 14.8 PPG, is out for the season with a foot injury that he suffered in mid-February. Will Cherry (13.3 PPG and 1.8 SPG) missed three games in early March after suffering his second foot injury of the season, but then scored 14 points in a promising return in Saturday's 63-50 win over Northern Arizona. Without Ward, however, this is not the same group. Montana State and North Dakota could get lucky, I guess. But Montana or Weber State will represent the league.
My pick: After Damian Lillard was drafted last summer, many assumed that Weber State's chances of earning the conference's auto-bid over Montana would decrease. But Montana's injuries and the Wildcats' late surge have helped prove that theory wrong. Weber State will dance in 2013.
When: Thursday (first round); Friday (semifinals); Saturday (championship)
Where: Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.
The favorite: Weber State has won 11 consecutive games. The Wildcats lost the regular-season title to Montana, but they're the hottest team in the tournament. They're second in the nation with a 50.8 percent clip from the field. They have the Big Sky's top scoring offense (75.1 PPG) and scoring defense (61.3 PPG allowed), too. Davion Berry (15.1 PPG) is one of the three players averaging double figures for Weber State.
The top challengers: Montana won the regular-season title, but it's still not 100 percent. Mathias Ward, who leads the Grizzlies with 14.8 PPG, is out for the season with a foot injury that he suffered in mid-February. Will Cherry (13.3 PPG and 1.8 SPG) missed three games in early March after suffering his second foot injury of the season, but then scored 14 points in a promising return in Saturday's 63-50 win over Northern Arizona. Without Ward, however, this is not the same group. Montana State and North Dakota could get lucky, I guess. But Montana or Weber State will represent the league.
My pick: After Damian Lillard was drafted last summer, many assumed that Weber State's chances of earning the conference's auto-bid over Montana would decrease. But Montana's injuries and the Wildcats' late surge have helped prove that theory wrong. Weber State will dance in 2013.
