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1977 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

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1977 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1976–77
Teams4
SiteISU Minidome
Pocatello, Idaho
ChampionsIdaho State (1st title)
Winning coachJim Killingsworth (1st title)
MVPEd Thompson (Idaho State)
← 1976
1978 →
1976–77 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Idaho State 13 1   .929 25 5   .833
Weber State 11 3   .786 20 8   .714
Gonzaga 7 7   .500 11 16   .407
Montana State 6 8   .429 12 14   .462
Northern Arizona 5 9   .357 12 15   .444
Boise State 5 9   .357 10 16   .385
Montana 5 9   .357 7 19   .269
Idaho 3 11   .214 5 21   .192
Conference tournament winner


The 1977 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–5 at the ISU Minidome at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.[1][2]

Top-seeded Idaho State defeated Weber State in the championship game, 61–55, to clinch their first Big Sky men's basketball tournament.[3][4]

The Bengals received an automatic bid to the 32-team NCAA tournament, hosted Long Beach State,[4] and won. In Provo, Utah, they upset UCLA by a point, but lost to UNLV in the Elite Eight.

Format

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First played in 1976, the Big Sky tournament had the same format for its first eight editions. The regular season champion hosted and only the top four teams from the standings took part, with seeding based on regular season conference records.

Montana State and Gonzaga made their first appearances, not having qualified as a top-four team the previous year.[2] It was Gonzaga's sole Big Sky tournament; they narrowly missed the next two and left for the WCAC in the summer of 1979.

Bracket

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Semifinals
Friday, March 4
Championship
Saturday, March 5
      
1 Idaho State 93
4 Montana State 77
1 Idaho State 61
2 Weber State 55
3 Gonzaga 68
2 Weber State 69

References

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  1. ^ "1976-77 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Gonzaga, Montana State in tough but not without chances". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). March 4, 1977. p. 31.
  3. ^ Missildine, Harry (March 6, 1977). "Idaho State dumps Weber; earns title and NCAA berth". Spokesman-review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D2.
  4. ^ a b Benson, Lee (March 7, 1977). "A secure 'Dome-ain' for ISU". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B4.