EWU faces Idaho State tonight

Mike Burns wanted to make one thing perfectly clear – the only way to play any game, any sport, any time, is to win.

That said, Burns and his Eastern Washington men’s basketball team face a strange game tonight at Idaho State.

If the Eagles (13-14, 8-5) win, they face the league’s hottest team, Portland State, winners of four straight, at Reese Court Saturday night in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. If they lose, it’s Idaho State (13-13, 4-9) in a rematch.

Eastern swept PSU, but the win in Cheney went to overtime only after the Vikings missed a last-second shot.

The Eagles beat ISU in the first meeting by 16, dropping the Bengals to 0-5 in league. Since then they’ve gone 4-4 with a 25-point pounding of a Montana team that swept Eastern.

ISU should be fired up. Besides the tourney berth on line, it’s also Senior Night and the last game for coach Doug Oliver, who announced his retirement before the game at Cheney.

This strange ending to the Big Sky regular season came about when the schedule was interrupted last weekend when four teams – EWU, Northern Arizona, Montana and Montana State – participated in the ESPN Bracket Buster pool. That pushed three games to tonight, something the coaches aren’t particularly thrilled with.

“It is what it is,” Burns said after the Eagles clinched third by whipping Montana State 87-53 on Saturday. “There are other teams in the league that have to play on Monday as well. It’s a lot easier traveling to Pocatello after a big win than the alternative.”

NAU is in Missoula tonight in what became a meaningless game when Montana lost in overtime at Portland State on Saturday. The Lumberjacks have clinched the BSC title and host for the tourney final four; UM is second. The other game is Sacramento State at MSU, with the winner playing host to a tournament rematch on Saturday.