# 2016 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2016 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 7–12 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. This was the first Big Sky tournament at a neutral site and the first to include all twelve conference members. The top two seeds met in the final; regular season champion Weber State defeated Montana 62–59 and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

## Seeds

All 12 Big Sky schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference season record, with the top four teams receiving a first round bye. A tiebreaker system was used to seed teams with identical conference records.
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Weber State | 15–3 | |
| 2 | Montana | 14–4 | |
| 3 | Idaho | 12–6 | |
| 4 | Idaho State | 11–7 | |
| 5 | North Dakota | 10–8 | 1–1 vs. Weber State |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 10–8 | 0–1 vs. Weber State |
| 7 | Montana State | 9–9 | |
| 8 | Portland State | 8–10 | |
| 9 | Northern Colorado | 7–11 | |
| 10 | Sacramento State | 6–12 | |
| 11 | Northern Arizona | 3–15 | 1–1 vs. Idaho State |
| 12 | Southern Utah | 3–15 | 0–2 vs. Idaho State |

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup$^#$ | Score |
| First round – Tuesday, March 8 |||||
| 1 | 1 | 12:05 pm | #8 Portland State vs. #9 Northern Colorado | 74–67 |
| 1 | 2 | 2:35 pm | #5 North Dakota vs. #12 Southern Utah | 85–80 |
| 1 | 3 | 5:35 pm | #7 Montana State vs. #10 Sacramento State | 75–79 |
| 1 | 4 | 8:05 pm | #6 Eastern Washington vs. #11 Northern Arizona | 74–52 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 10 |||||
| 2 | 5 | 12:05 pm | #1 Weber State vs. #8 Portland State | 78–74 |
| 2 | 6 | 2:35 pm | #4 Idaho State vs. #5 North Dakota | 49–83 |
| 2 | 7 | 5:35 pm | #2 Montana vs. #10 Sacramento State | 70–53 |
| 2 | 8 | 8:05 pm | #3 Idaho vs. #6 Eastern Washington | 77–73 |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 11 |||||
| 3 | 9 | 5:35 pm | #1 Weber State vs. #5 North Dakota | 83–78$^{OT}$ |
| 3 | 10 | 8:05 pm | #2 Montana vs. #3 Idaho | 81–72 |
| Championship – Saturday, March 12 |||||
| 4 | 10 | 5:45 pm | #1 Weber State vs. #2 Montana | 62–59 |
| *Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. |||||

## Bracket

| First round Tuesday, March 8 | First round Tuesday, March 8 | First round Tuesday, March 8 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 10 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 10 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 10 | Semifinals Friday, March 11 | Semifinals Friday, March 11 | Semifinals Friday, March 11 | Championship Game Saturday, March 12 | Championship Game Saturday, March 12 | Championship Game Saturday, March 12 |
| | | | 1 | Weber State | 78 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Portland State | 74 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Portland State | 74 | 8 | Portland State | 74 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Northern Colorado | 67 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Northern Colorado | 67 | | | | 1 | Weber State | 83* | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | North Dakota | 78 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Idaho State | 49 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | North Dakota | 83 | | | | | | |
| 5 | North Dakota | 85 | 5 | North Dakota | 83 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Southern Utah | 80 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Southern Utah | 80 | | | | | | | 1 | Weber State | 62 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Montana | 59 |
| | | | 2 | Montana | 70 | | | | | | |
| | | | 10 | Sacramento State | 53 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Montana State | 75 | 10 | Sacramento State | 53 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Sacramento State | 79 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Sacramento State | 79 | | | | 2 | Montana | 81 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Idaho | 72 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Idaho | 77 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Eastern Washington | 73 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 74 | 6 | Eastern Washington | 73 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Northern Arizona | 52 | | | | | | | | | |
* – denotes overtime period Source:

## NCAA tournament

The Wildcats received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament; no other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament or the NIT. Weber State was seeded fifteenth in the East regional and lost 71–53 to Xavier in the first round in St. Louis. It was the tenth consecutive year that the Big Sky representative lost in the first round.