NCAA berth on the line in Missoula tonight
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Tonight's the night. The night we find out if we have one local team in the NCAA tournament or two. Will Eastern Washington join Gonzaga in the tournament? And will there be any controversy? Read on.
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• Did you get a chance to watch the end of Montana's win over Northern Arizona – and the postgame kerfuffle – in the late Big Sky semifinal game last night? If you are a Washington State fan, it probably brought back memories of a New Year's Eve loss to Oregon that may have changed the course of Ken Bone's tenure at WSU. And underscored how unfair it was the Cougars were assessed a technical foul and lost that game in overtime. If you don’t know what I'm talking about, then I'll refresh your memory – and explain how it relates to last night. In the earlier game, the Cougars had just taken a two-point lead and there was less than a second left. Oregon was still gathering the ball in, had yet to make an attempt to bring it on the court, when a whistle blew because a Washington State bench player was on the court, caught between the sideline and the key. A technical foul was assessed on WSU, the Ducks hit both free throws and won in overtime. Now fast-forward to last night in Missoula. Jordan Gregory scored on a drive with 0.4 seconds left on the clock to give UM a 61-59 lead over Northern Arizona. Someone in street clothes, clutching a piece of paper, explodes off the bench to either celebrate or congratulate a Griz, reaching the elbow of the key in front of the Montana bench. Realizing there was time on the clock, he turned, sprinted and then dove off the court while a whistle blows. But the officials review it and decide he didn’t interfere with Northern Arizona's ability to get the ball in and don't assess a technical. A long last-second shot fails. There is only one big problem. Though the angle this video was shot doesn't allow you to see the Lumberjack inbounder, a picture I saw on Twitter last night, shot from higher up, caught the scene with the Montana person at the free-throw line. The NAU player wants to throw the ball into his teammate who is less than three feet from the interloper. But he can't. Not with a guy in street clothes so close. If the rule enforced in Pullman is taken literally – as the Pac-10 at the time said it had to be – then a technical should have been called last night. Even more alarming, the incident seems to be the impetus for the after-game handshake ruckus between the coaches and teams. And, yet, despite it all, Montana moves into the finals to face Eastern Washington, as it should be.
• What is on the line tonight? Let's see. A trip to the NCAA tournament. And, quite possibly, a referendum on whether the Big Sky should still be holding conference tournaments at host sites. You know the video from last night is going to be shown on SportsCenter throughout the day, right? And the Big Sky isn't going to look good, no matter how you dice it. If anything untoward happens tonight as the two best teams in the conference duke it out for the automatic berth, then the conference's reputation will take another hit. Let's face it. The key here is the basketball game. Eastern has a chance to make a rare appearance in the NCAAs. Montana, playing on its homecourt in front of its fans, wants to deny that opportunity and seize it for itself. It should be a classic basketball game pitting two teams with opposing philosophies. And it should be fun.
• By the way, Bone, whose first Washington State team was on a roll before the Oregon debacle but sputtered the rest of the season, is now an assistant at Montana. I'm surprised he didn't grab the interloper himself and throw him into the fifth row.
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• WSU: Speaking of the Cougars, Jacob Thorpe has a morning post with links to all the Pac-12 news and basketball action. The two semifinals last night seem to have been great battles. ... Commissioner Larry Scott met the media at the tournament and had some interesting things to say. ... It's Saturday, so we have the mailbag from ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog. ... The Cougars have a lot of offensive line experience returning.
• Gonzaga: The Zags opened the WCC baseball season with a 7-0 win over visiting USF.
• EWU: Jim Allen is in Missoula, where yesterday he had to pull a semifinal double play. Jim has the story of the women's loss to UM, 55-51, in a physical contest. He then has the story of the men's surprisingly easy 91-83 win over Sacramento State. ... Jim also has a notebook from the tournaments and a morning post with links. ... One more thing. Jim has a story on the Eagles' football players hoping for a shot professionally.
• Chiefs: Not only did Spokane defeat Portland 5-3 last night in the Arena to clinch a WHL playoff spot, the Chiefs also kept up their run of good play against the Winterhawks, a possible playoff opponent. Chris Derrick has the game story and a blog post. ... Tri-City picked up a key win while Everett suffered a tough shootout loss.
• Seahawks: The inevitable roster churn that is the NFL offseason continued for the Hawks yesterday, with a key secondary backup looking to find another home. At the same time, other players visited Seattle as they try to find the right fit. ... Speaking of fit, Jimmy Graham seems to be trying to fit in from the get-go. ... To fill roles, some players may be given other assignments. ... Pete Carroll still struggles with the way the Super Bowl ended. ... A couple of former Hawks have found new homes. ... J.R. Sweezy enjoyed a bonus year.
• Mariners: If it matters to you, Robinson Cano is back in camp. Of course it matters. Everything about Cano matters. He has been through a rough time but is ready to get back to what he loves, playing baseball. ... The biggest competition in camp might just be between the lefthanders trying to earn a bullpen spot. Spokane's Tyler Olson is one of those vying to make the roster. ... The M's handled Milwaukee handily yesterday, winning 10-5.
• Sounders: San Jose comes to CenturyLink tonight, bringing with it some bad memories for the Sounders – and a whole bunch of ex-Sounders. The Quakes were tough on Seattle last year.
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• By the way, well after I had hit the sack last night, my beloved Anteaters scored a 72-63 overtime win over UC Santa Barbara, another UC school I supported with my tuition fees, albeit for my son. Anyhow, UC Irvine will once again try to earn its first Division I NCAA basketball berth tonight when it faces Hawaii. Go Eaters. Until later ...
