NORTHERN COLORADO AT MONTANA STATE, 7:05 p.m. MST
Betting line: Montana State -7
KenPom gives Montana State an 80 percent chance to win
KenPom gives Montana State an 80 percent chance to win
Last time: Northern Colorado 78, Montana State 76. UNCO center Jeremy Verhagen knocked down two free throws with 26 seconds left to push the Bears past the ’Cats on a night when MSU made 11 3-pointers but shot 43.5 percent from inside the arc.
What’s at stake: Portland State, which trails Montana State by a game for seventh place, is playing the conference’s two worst teams at home. Chances are, the Vikings finish the season with eight conference victories, and PSU is 2-0 vs MSU (key in any tie-breaking scenarios).
So Montana State has to go 2-0 at home this week to cinch up its spot at seven. A No. 7 seed most likely means you’re playing Sacramento State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament. Falling to No. 8 and MSU would instead (again, most likely) play Northern Colorado.
NORTH DAKOTA AT MONTANA, 7:05 p.m. MST
Betting line: Montana -7.5
KenPom gives Montana a 76 percent chance to win
Last time: Montana 65, North Dakota 61. The Fighting Hawks held a 61-58 lead with 3:08 left in the game, but the Grizzlies finished on a 7-0 run as UND went 0 for 5 from the field and committed two turnovers. UM’s Martin Breunig had one of the best nights of his season, scoring 27 points (12-of-16 shooting).
What’s at stake: Montana can still win the regular-season championship if Weber State goes 0-2 this weekend. North Dakota is gunning for a top-four postseason seed.*
IDAHO STATE AT EASTERN WASHINGTON, 7:05 p.m. MST
Betting line: Eastern Washington -10.5
KenPom gives Eastern Washington a 79 percent chance to win
Last time: First meeting this season.
What’s at stake: Idaho State is 7-2 at home in Big Sky play but 3-4 on the road, and winning at Eastern, where the Eagles are a clean 10-0, won’t be easy. EWU is the kind of offense that seems to give ISU’s zone trouble. Venky Jois is a threat to score inside, but if the zone crashes Eastern’s deadeye shooters can rain fire from deep — and no team attempts or makes more 3s than EWU.
At the same time, can Eastern handle ISU point guard Ethan Telfair? I’m not sure there’s a defender on EWU’s roster who will be able to slow him down.
WEBER STATE AT IDAHO, 8 p.m. MST
Betting line: Weber State -2
KenPom gives Weber State a 54 percent chance to win
KenPom gives Weber State a 54 percent chance to win
Last time: First meeting this season.
What’s at stake: The Standard-Examiner’s Brandon Garside Tweeted that Joel Bolomboy is practicing again, but I get the sense the senior forward won’t play this week.
But when it comes to Weber-Idaho, no matter. This is still an enticing matchup to see how two of the better defensive and rebounding teams match up (the Wildcats lead the conference in defensive rebounding percentage, and the Vandals are the league’s top offensive rebounding team).
And the stakes are high, too. Idaho is after a first-round bye* and Weber wants a regular-season title.
SOUTHERN UTAH AT SACRAMENTO STATE, 8:05 p.m. MST
Betting line: Sac State -10.5
KenPom gives Sac State a 84 percent chance to win
Last time: First meeting this season.
What’s at stake: Not much is at stake from a seeding perspective. Yes, SUU could theoretically leapfrog up the standings from 11th or 12th to 10th with a couple wins … but those possibilities seem trivial in the face of the bigger picture. This is about two programs looking for solid footing, a late-season victory to start building for the future.
NORTHERN ARIZONA AT PORTLAND STATE, 8:05 p.m. MST
Betting line: Portland State -11.5
KenPom gives Portland State a 87 percent chance to win
Last time: First meeting this season.
What’s at stake: Watch out for the Vikings. String together a couple wins this week, head south to Reno* on a three-game winning streak and suddenly this is starting to feel like a dangerous team, someone no one will want to play in the tournament.
*obligatory #RoadtoReno
*obligatory #RoadtoReno
*obligatory #RoadtoReno
No comments:
Post a Comment