BOISE, Idaho — The Montana men’s basketball team will tip off its quest for the Big Sky Conference tournament championship against Northern Arizona.
The No. 2 seed Grizzlies will play the No. 7 seed Lumberjacks in the second quarterfinal game at 8 p.m. Sunday at Idaho Central Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
NAU defeated No. 8 seed Eastern Washington, 66-53, in the first round Saturday. Trent McLaughlin, a first-team All-Big Sky pick, led the Lumberjacks with 17 points. Carson Towt, a second-team selection and all-defensive team honoree, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points.
The Griz posted a 2-0 record against NAU during the regular season. They scored an 81-76 win in January in Missoula behind Malik Moore’s 20-point, five-assist performance. They then gutted out an 83-80 victory in February in Flagstaff, Arizona, behind Kai Johnson’s 22-point, seven-assist outing.
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With Brandon Whitney as a primary defender, Montana limited McLaughlin to 19 points on 6-of-21 shooting in the first game and 19 points on 6-of-16 in the second meeting. McLaughlin, who was the Big Sky preseason MVP, currently ranks second in the country averaging 22.1 points per game.
Towt, who leads the nation at 12.4 rebounds per game, was held to nine points and 10 rebounds in the first matchup. He had 15 points and 13 boards in the rematch.
Montana won a share of the Big Sky regular season championship by posting a 15-3 record in league games. NAU went 8-10 and tied for sixth place.
No. 9 seed Weber State beat No. 10 seed Sacramento State, 83-70, in the other first-round game Saturday. The Wildcats will play No. 1 seed Northern Colorado in the first quarterfinal game at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Big Sky tournament pairings
Game 1: No. 9 Weber State 83, No. 10 Sacramento State 70, first round
Game 2: No. 7 Northern Arizona 66, No. 8 Eastern Washington 53, first round
Game 3: No. 1 Northern Colorado vs. Weber State, quarterfinal, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, ESPN+
Game 4: No. 2 Montana vs. Northern Arizona, quarterfinal, 8 p.m. Sunday, ESPN+
Game 5: No. 4 Idaho State vs. No. 5 Montana State, quarterfinal, 5:30 p.m. Monday, ESPN+
Game 6: No. 3 Portland State vs. No. 6 Idaho, quarterfinal, 8 p.m. Monday, ESPN+
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, semifinal, 7 p.m. Tuesday, ESPNU/ESPN+
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 6 winner, semifinal, 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN2/ESPN+
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, championship, 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN2/ESPN+
Frank Gogola is the Senior Sports Reporter at the Missoulian and 406 MT Sports. Follow him on X @FrankGogola or email him at frank.gogola@406mtsports.com.