Big Sky Notebook

Big Sky Conference Notebook


by Nick Dettmann

Player of the Week: Rodney Stuckey, Eastern Washington



No suspensions to be handed out



After reviewing video tape from the Montana/Idaho State game on Saturday, the Big Sky Conference announced Tuesday that no suspensions will be issued to Montana’s Dustin Dlouhy or Idaho State’s Logan Kinghorn.



Dlouhy was issued a flagrant foul for grabbing Kinghorn’s jersey as he was going up into the air to attempt a basket. Kinghorn fell to the floor hard and later charged the Montana bench before collapsing at half court. Both Dlouhy and Kinghorn were ejected from the game.



“We are disappointed with the hard foul,” Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton said in a statement released by the Big Sky on Tuesday. “It was a dangerous situation. Both players were punished for their actions by the game officials by being ejected from the game, but after reviewing the film and interviewing game officials we concluded there was no action that warranted further discipline.”



Big Sky teams learns game times for Bracket Buster games



Montana, Montana State and Eastern Washington will compete in non-TV games on Feb. 18 that resulted as being part of the BracketBusters presented by eBay pool. Montana plays host to Oral Roberts at 4:30 p.m. (EST), while Montana State plays host to Idaho at 9:05 p.m. (EST) and Eastern Washington travels to Cal State Fullerton at 5:05 p.m. (EST).



Eastern Washington Eagles (10-12 overall, 5-4 conference)

Feb. 2: Eastern Washington 87, Sacramento State 75

Feb. 4: Eastern Washington 73, Northern Arizona 61



Rodney Stuckey scored 27 points in helping the Eagles knock off the Hornets. Matt Penoncello added a collegiate-high 18 points and Deuce Smith also had 18 points, a season-high. Stuckey then added 28 points and eight rebounds as the Eagles ended Northern Arizona’s win streak. Derek Risper had 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.



Idaho State Bengals (10-11, 2-7)

Feb. 2: Montana State 98, Idaho State 87

Feb. 4: Idaho State 95, Montana 70



Ryan Baumgartner, Logan Kinghorn and David Schroeder each scored 16 points in a loss to Montana State. The Bengals led 74-71 with 8:45 remaining, but the Bobcats went on a 16-1 run to take control of the game. Then, the Bengals outscored the Grizzlies 61-30 in the second half to get an easy victory over Montana. Slim Millien scored 22 points with six assists.



Montana Grizzlies (16-5, 6-3)

Feb. 2: Weber State 72, Montana 67

Feb. 4: Idaho State 95, Montana 70



The Grizzlies had a double-digit lead late in the second half, but the Wildcats rallied back to give Montana the loss. Kevin Criswell scored 18 points and Andrew Strait scored 12 and grabbed seven rebounds. The Grizzlies had 22 turnovers in the contest. Then, the Grizzlies made just two field goals in the final 14:39 in a 95-70 loss to Idaho State. Strait led Montana with 16 points and eight rebounds.



Montana State Bobcats (13-10, 6-3)

Feb. 2: Montana State 98, Idaho State 87

Feb. 4: Weber State 67, Montana State 56



Al Beye scored a collegiate-high 29 points along with nine rebounds in MSU’s come-from-behind victory over the Bengals. Marvin Moss scored 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. True freshman Jacques Wilson, the son of ISU assistant coach Louis Wilson, scored a collegiate-high 14 points. Then, Beye scored 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a loss to Weber State. Ja’Ron Jefferson scored 11 points for MSU.



Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (16-7, 8-1)

Feb. 2: Northern Arizona 65, Portland State 63

Feb. 4: Eastern Washington 73, Northern Arizona 61



Ruben Boykin, Jr. hit a 15-foot jump shot with 3.3 seconds left to give the Lumberjacks a victory over Portland State. It was NAU’s 10th straight victory and moved to 8-0 in the conference for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Kelly Golob scored a game-high 20 points in the victory. Then, Boykin, Jr. scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Lumberjacks had the win streak halted by the Eagles. It was NAU’s first loss since losing to Arizona State on Dec. 22, 2005.



Portland State Vikings (8-14, 1-8)

Feb. 2: Northern Arizona 65, Portland State 63

Feb. 4: Sacramento State 68, Portland State 65



The Vikings continued their struggles with a pair of league losses. Juma Kamara scored 17 points to lead PSU in their loss to NAU. PSU dropped their fifth-straight game as they lost to Sacramento State. Kamara scored 15 points and had nine rebounds. Anthony Washington added 13 points. It was the first time PSU had lost to Sacramento State in Portland.



Sacramento State Hornets (14-9, 5-4)

Feb. 2: Eastern Washington 87, Sacramento State 75

Feb. 4: Sacramento State 68, Portland State 65



Jason Harris hit 8-of-11 shots en route to a 21 point effort in a losing cause to the Eagles. Harris also grabbed eight rebounds in the Hornets’ fourth consecutive loss. Alex Bausley and Da’Shawn Freeman each scored 14 points as well. Clark Woods scored 16 points and the Hornets outscored the Vikings 13-4 in the final 8:05 to earn their first ever victory over PSU in Portland.



Weber State Wildcats (9-13, 3-6)

Feb. 2: Weber State 72, Montana 67

Feb. 4: Weber State 67, Montana State 56



Coric Riggs scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in WSU’s upset over Montana. Weber State shot 60 percent in the second half, outscoring Montana 46-35. Then, Riggs scored 14 points and had eight rebounds as the Wildcats knocked off Montana State. Weber State outscored the Bobcats 38-17 in the second half.