# 2018 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2018 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big Sky Conference. The tournament was held from March 6–10, 2018 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. Regular-season champion Montana defeated Eastern Washington in the championship game to win the tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

## Seeds

Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. The top four teams received a first round bye.
| Seed | School | Record | Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 |
| 1 | Montana | 16–2 | | |
| 2 | Idaho | 14–4 | | |
| 3 | Eastern Washington | 13–5 | 1–0 vs Weber State | |
| 4 | Weber State | 13–5 | 0–1 vs Eastern Washington | |
| 5 | Northern Colorado | 11–7 | | |
| 6 | Portland State | 9–9 | 2–0 vs Idaho State | |
| 7 | Idaho State | 9–9 | 0–2 vs Portland State | |
| 8 | North Dakota | 6–12 | 1–1 vs Montana State | 1–3 vs Eastern Washington/Weber State |
| 9 | Montana State | 6–12 | 1–1 vs North Dakota | 0–2 vs Eastern Washington/Weber State |
| 10 | Southern Utah | 5–13 | | |
| 11 | Sacramento State | 4–14 | | |
| 12 | Northern Arizona | 2–16 | | |

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
| First round – Tuesday, March 6 |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 12:00 pm | No. 8 North Dakota vs. No. 9 Montana State | 76–74 | Pluto TV 231 | 986 |
| 1 | 2 | 2:30 pm | No. 5 Northern Colorado vs. No. 12 Northern Arizona | 82–59 | Pluto TV 231 | 986 |
| 2 | 3 | 5:30 pm | No. 7 Idaho State vs. No. 10 Southern Utah | 68–76 | Pluto TV 231 | 977 |
| 2 | 4 | 8:00 pm | No. 6 Portland State vs. No. 11 Sacramento State | 71–67 | Pluto TV 231 | 977 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 8 |||||||
| 3 | 5 | 12:00 pm | No. 1 Montana vs. No. 8 North Dakota | 84–76 | ELEVEN | 1,110 |
| 3 | 6 | 2:30 pm | No. 4 Weber State vs. No. 5 Northern Colorado | 55–80 | ELEVEN Prime | 1,110 |
| 4 | 7 | 5:30 pm | No. 2 Idaho vs. No. 10 Southern Utah | 78–92 | ELEVEN | 1,078 |
| 4 | 8 | 8:00 pm | No. 3 Eastern Washington vs. No. 6 Portland State | 78–72 | ELEVEN | 1,078 |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 9 |||||||
| 5 | 9 | 5:30 pm | No. 1 Montana vs No. 5 Northern Colorado | 91–89 $^{OT}$ | ELEVEN | 1,236 |
| 5 | 10 | 8:00 pm | No. 3 Eastern Washington vs No. 10 Southern Utah | 82–70 | ELEVEN | 1,236 |
| Championship game – Saturday, March 10 |||||||
| 6 | 11 | 5:00 pm | No. 1 Montana vs No. 3 Eastern Washington | 82–65 | ESPNU | 1,378 |
| Game times in PT. Rankings denote tournament seeding. |||||||

## Bracket

| First round Tuesday, March 6 | First round Tuesday, March 6 | First round Tuesday, March 6 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 8 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 8 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 8 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Final Saturday, March 10 | Final Saturday, March 10 | Final Saturday, March 10 |
| | | | 1 | Montana | 84 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | North Dakota | 76 | | | | | | |
| 8 | North Dakota | 76 | 8 | North Dakota | 76 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Montana State | 74 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Montana State | 74 | | | | 1 | Montana | 91* | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Northern Colorado | 89 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Weber State | 55 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Northern Colorado | 80 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Northern Colorado | 82 | 5 | Northern Colorado | 80 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Northern Arizona | 59 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Northern Arizona | 59 | | | | | | | 1 | Montana | 82 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Eastern Washington | 65 |
| | | | 2 | Idaho | 78 | | | | | | |
| | | | 10 | Southern Utah | 92 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Idaho State | 68 | 10 | Southern Utah | 92 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Southern Utah | 76 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Southern Utah | 76 | | | | 10 | Southern Utah | 70 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Eastern Washington | 82 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Eastern Washington | 78 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Portland State | 72 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Portland State | 71 | 6 | Portland State | 72 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Sacramento State | 67 | | | | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime period
Source:

## NCAA tournament

The Grizzlies received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament; no other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament or the NIT. Montana was seeded 14th in the West regional and lost by fourteen to Michigan in the first round in Wichita. The last Big Sky team to advance in the NCAA tourney was Montana, a dozen years earlier in 2006.