# 2017 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2017 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the 42nd edition of the postseason tournament for the Big Sky Conference, held March 7–11 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
In the final, regular season champion North Dakota defeated third-seed Weber State 93–89 in overtime to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. It was North Dakota's first NCAA tournament as a Division I team, after multiple appearances in the Division II tourney.
On October 8, 2016, Northern Colorado self-imposed a post-season ban amid an ongoing NCAA investigation into program violations, and did not participate.

## Seeds

Only 11 of the 12 teams in the conference participated in the tournament due to Northern Colorado's self-imposed ban. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. The top five teams received a first round bye.
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 |
| 1 | North Dakota | 14–4 | | |
| 2 | Eastern Washington | 13–5 | | |
| 3 | Weber State | 12–6 | 0–2 vs UND | 1–1 vs EWU |
| 4 | Idaho | 12–6 | 0–1 vs UND | 0–2 vs EWU |
| 5 | Montana | 11–7 | 1–0 vs UND | |
| 6 | Montana State | 11–7 | 0–1 vs UND | |
| 7 | Sacramento State | 9–9 | | |
| 8 | Portland State | 7–11 | | |
| 9 | Northern Arizona | 6–12 | | |
| 10 | Idaho State | 3–15 | 1–0 vs SUU | |
| 11 | Southern Utah | 3-15 | 0–1 vs ISU | |

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
| First Round – Tuesday, March 7 |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 2:35 PM | No. 8 Portland State vs. No. 9 Northern Arizona | 80–67 | Watch Big Sky | 1,507 |
| 1 | 2 | 5:35 PM | No. 7 Sacramento State vs. No. 10 Idaho State | 91–76 | Watch Big Sky | 1,507 |
| 1 | 3 | 8:05 PM | No. 6 Montana State vs. No. 11 Southern Utah | 109–105$^{3OT}$ | Watch Big Sky | 1,507 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 9 |||||||
| 2 | 4 | 12:05 PM | No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 8 Portland State | 95–72 | Watch Big Sky | 1,762 |
| 2 | 5 | 2:35 PM | No. 4 Idaho vs. No. 5 Montana | 81–77 | Watch Big Sky | 1,762 |
| 3 | 6 | 5:35 PM | No. 2 Eastern Washington vs. No. 7 Sacramento State | 89–70 | Watch Big Sky | 1,903 |
| 3 | 7 | 8:05 PM | No. 3 Weber State vs. No. 11 Southern Utah | 90–70 | Watch Big Sky | 1,903 |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 10 |||||||
| 4 | 8 | 5:35 PM | No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Idaho | 69–64 | Watch Big Sky | 2,003 |
| 4 | 9 | 8:05 PM | No. 2 Eastern Washington vs. No. 3 Weber State | 80–72 | Watch Big Sky | 2,003 |
| Championship Game – Saturday, March 11 |||||||
| 5 | 10 | 5:30 PM | No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 3 Weber State | 93–89$^{OT}$ | ESPNU | 2,025 |
| *Game times in PST. Rankings denote tournament seeding |||||||

## Bracket

| First round Tuesday, March 7 | First round Tuesday, March 7 | First round Tuesday, March 7 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Championship game Saturday, March 11 | Championship game Saturday, March 11 | Championship game Saturday, March 11 |
| | | | 1 | North Dakota | 95 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Portland State | 72 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Portland State | 80 | 8 | Portland State | 72 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Northern Arizona | 67 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Northern Arizona | 67 | | | | 1 | North Dakota | 69 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Idaho | 64 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Idaho | 81 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Montana | 77 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | North Dakota | 93* |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Weber State | 89 |
| | | | 2 | Eastern Washington | 89 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Sacramento State | 70 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Sacramento State | 91 | 7 | Sacramento State | 70 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Idaho State | 76 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Idaho State | 76 | | | | 2 | Eastern Washington | 72 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Weber State | 80 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Weber State | 90 | | | | | | |
| | | | 11 | Southern Utah | 70 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Montana State | 105 | 11 | Southern Utah | 70 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Southern Utah | 109*** | | | | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime period Source:

## NCAA tournament

The Fighting Hawks received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament; no other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament or the NIT. North Dakota was seeded fifteenth in the West regional and lost 100–82 to Arizona in the first round in Salt Lake City. It was the eleventh consecutive year that the Big Sky representative lost in the first round.