Key games for EWU

For Big Sky teams, the postseason is all about winning the conference tournament and nailing down the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA’s 68-team field.

• So while Eastern will learn a lot about itself during a brutal nonconference schedule that includes road games against Gonzaga (Nov. 11), Oregon (Nov. 17) and UCLA (Dec. 14), the circle-your-calendar dates for the Eagles are Dec. 30, when the travel to Missoula to take on Montana, and Jan. 5, when they welcome defending BSC champion and preseason favorite Weber State to Reese Court.

Those two games against the teams picked to finish 1-2 in this year’s Big Sky regular-season title race will give Hayford, his players and EWU fans a good idea of just how much the Eagles benefitted from testing themselves against some of the nation’s best in nonconference play, and how the match up against the Big Sky’s elite programs.