Jump to content

1977–78 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1977–78 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball
Big Sky tournament champions
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record19–10 (9–5 Big Sky)
Head coach
Home arenaDee Events Center
Seasons
1977–78 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Montana 12 2   .857 20 8   .714
Idaho State 11 3   .786 16 10   .615
Weber State 9 5   .643 19 10   .655
Boise State 8 6   .571 13 14   .481
Gonzaga 7 7   .500 14 15   .483
Northern Arizona 5 9   .357 11 14   .440
Montana State 3 11   .214 9 17   .346
Idaho 1 13   .071 4 22   .154
Big Sky Conference tournament winner

The 1977–78 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State College during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Wildcats were led by third-year head coach Neil McCarthy and played their home games on campus at the new Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah. They were 17–9 overall in the regular season and 9–5 in conference play.

Weber State was third in the regular season standings and qualified for the four-team conference tournament, hosted by regular season champion Montana in Missoula.[1][2] The Wildcats defeated defending champion Idaho State in the semifinal,[3][4] then upset the host in the final in overtime.[5][6]

Weber State appeared in the first five finals of the conference tournament; this was the first of three consecutive titles.

The Wildcats received the Big Sky's automatic bid to the 32-team NCAA tournament, but lost in the first round to seventh-ranked Arkansas in Eugene, Oregon;[7][8] Arkansas ultimately advanced to the Final Four. It was Weber State's first NCAA appearance in five years, since they went to six consecutive (19681973).

Sophomore guard Bruce Collins was named to the all-conference team; forward David Johnson and center Richard Smith, also sophomores, were honorable mention.[9][10]

Postseason results

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Big Sky tournament
Fri, March 3
7:00 pm
(3) vs. (2) Idaho State
Semifinal
W 84–79  18–9
Adams Field House (9,350)
Missoula, Montana
Sat, March 4
8:00 pm
(3) at (1) Montana
Final
W 62–55 OT 19–9
Adams Field House (9,203)
Missoula, Montana
NCAA tournament
Sat, March 11*
12:10 pm
(4Q-W) vs. (2L-W) No. 7 Arkansas
First round
L 52–73  19–10
McArthur Court (9,141)
Eugene, Oregon
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain time.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Big Sky playoff starts at Montana". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 3, 1978. p. 5B.
  2. ^ Ewer, Bill (March 3, 1978). "Weber, Idaho State set for tourney test tonight". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B5.
  3. ^ "Montana, Weber in Big Sky finals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 4, 1978. p. 1B.
  4. ^ Ewer, Bill (March 4, 1978). "Weber going for Big Sky marbles". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 6A.
  5. ^ "Weber State stops Montana for Big Sky title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 5, 1978. p. 2B.
  6. ^ Ewer, Bill (March 6, 1978). "Weber not awed by NCAA foe Arkansas". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B5.
  7. ^ Withers, Bud (March 12, 1978). "Arkansas' quick paralyzes Weber". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 4B.
  8. ^ Benson, Lee (March 13, 1978). "The Hogs bury Weber". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 2D.
  9. ^ "Montana's Richardson all-conference for third year". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 7, 1978. p. 1B.
  10. ^ "Grizzlies' 'M.R.R.' 3-timer". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 8, 1978. p. 17.
[edit]