EWU, Idaho draw old foes in BracketBusters

Men’s basketball: There will be a definite retro Big Sky Conference feel to the 2011 ESPN BracketBusters games involving Eastern Washington and Idaho.

Eastern (7-24), battling for one of the six berths in the BSC tournament, learned Monday that it will entertain former Big Sky rival Cal State Northridge at Reese Court on Feb. 19 in one of the 46 games in this year’s BracketBusters event that will be staged Feb. 18-20.

Northridge (8-13), in second place in the Big West Conference, was a member of the Big Sky from 1996-2001. (Photo of EWU-Northridge.)

Tipoff for the Matadors’ return to Reese Court is set for 7:05 p.m.

Idaho (12-9), a charter member of the Big Sky and current member of the Western Athletic Conference, will travel to Bozeman, Mont., on Feb. 19 to take on former BSC rival Montana State (11-10) at a time yet to be determined. The Vandals left the Big Sky in 1996.

Neither will be among the 11 BracketBusters games that will be televised on ESPN’s network of cable stations.

Steve Bergum

GU’s Redmond top WCC player

Women’s basketball: Gonzaga junior Katelan Redmon is the West Coast Conference player of the week, the seventh time this season and third week in a row a Bulldog has been honored.

The Lewis and Clark graduate had 44 points and 13 rebounds as the Zags reached the midpoint of the WCC season with a 7-0 record, running their league winning streak to 23 games.

GU is 19-4 overall and can reach 20 wins for the fifth straight season against Portland on Friday at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Dave Trimmer

Bengals fire Bratkowski

NFL: The Bengals have fired longtime offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, the first change in their coaching staff following a 4-12 season.

Bratkowski has been offensive coordinator since 2001, two years before Marvin Lewis took over as coach. He played wide receiver at Washington State (1975-77) and was also an offensive coordinator at WSU (1987-88).

It is the first notable change in a team having a turbulent offseason.

Cincinnati has finished with a winning record twice in the last 20 years.

Associated Press