Portland State -- After dropping their opener by 21 at UCLA, the Vikings right the ship for a two straight wins in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. In the late Sunday Championship, the Vikings lost 64-63 to Colorado State on a last second shot. Portland State opened the tourney with a three-point 66-63 win over Akron and a 75-73 semifinal win over Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (picked to win the Summit Conference), a game where the Vikings had trailed by as many as 9 points. Akron came into the tournament as the top-ranked seed. Other teams in the tournament include Alaska-Fairbanks, Oregon State, USC Upstate and Tennessee State. Note: Colorado State advanced to the tourney championship with wins over Oregon State and Tennessee State.
Weber State -- A packed house watched the Wildcats snap a six-game losing streak to Utah State (pre-season national ranking at 50th) nipping the Aggies 78-71 after trailing much of the game. Weber State coach Randy Rahe had previously served as assistant to Utah State coach Stew Morrill (Grizzly men’s coach from 1987-91) for 13 years. Later in the week, the Wildcats lost both games of the O’Reilly CBE Classic in Los Angeles, dropping their first game 71-59 to Division II Cal State San Bernadino and the consolation game 69-66 to Youngstown State. Weber State center Arturas Valeika led the Cats with 22 points against Youngstown State and was named the Big Sky Player of the Week for his efforts in the tourney.
Montana State -- Any prognosticators who picked the Bobcats as a bottom-rung team for this year should take another look at second-year coach Brad Huse’s Cats, 2-1 against tough competition so far. The Cats dropped their opener to UNLV by 11, 76-65, after trailing by as many as 20 early. A 74-56 win over Long Beach State -- picked last in the tough Big West Conference -- and a two-point, 86-84 win over visiting Boise State on a game-clinching trey from point Guard Casey Durham with three seconds remaining, have the Cats at 2-1 so far. True freshman Bobby Howard of Great Falls scored 27 for the Cats in the Boise State win.
Northern Colorado -- The Bears opened the season with a 104-97 victory over last year’s Division I leading offensive team, Virginia Military Institute (100.9 ppg), in the opening game of the Air Force Classic. The Bears then gave Air Force a tussle before falling by 9 in the championship, 71-62. A 12-point 59-47 loss at Iowa -- this year tabbed to occupy the Big 10 cellar -- followed before the Bears romped to an 18-point 64-56 win over visiting Denver. UNC, behind solid play from two freshmen and a sophomore, host Colorado State Dec. 1st.
Idaho State -- The Bengals are off to an 0-3 start, dropping their opener at Iowa 58-43, before getting thumped 90-69 at Brigham Young. Saturday the Bengals dropped an overtime 66-61 decision to Long Beach State after a turnover with 15 seconds remaining led to a game-tying shot by the 49ers. The loss was the 6th consecutive overtime loss suffered by the Bengals (including one to the Griz) going back to last season. The Bengals host MSU Northern Wednesday, a team the Grizzlies beat 72-47 last week. Junior 6-6 guard Matt Stucki had 19 points against the 49ers.
Eastern Washington -- The Eagles -- with perhaps the toughest first-week schedule of any Big Sky Conference team, are 1-3 so far. EWU opened with a 68-41 loss at Washington State (the Griz play WSU Friday), then dropped a 92-57 decision to the New Mexico Lobos after leading 10-3 in the early going. Friday the Eagles trailed the Washington Huskies by 18 at halftime, eventually losing 82-68. Sandwiched in between the losses was a 59-51 win at UC Riverside (0-4 so far this year). The completely re-tooled Eagles are led by new coach Kirk Earlywine (former Utah assistant under Kirk Majerus) and return only four players, including lone starter Kellen Williams. Eight Eagles have seen considerable action so far this year.
Sacramento State -- The Hornets are off to a 1-3 start, with a lone 104-71 decision over winless NAIA foe Simpson. Cal State Sacramento lost by 31 in its opener at Kansas State, 94-63, before losing a 57-53 decision against visiting Southern Utah. Saturday the Hornets lost at San Francisco, 93-63. The Hornets have been out-scored by an 8.75 per game average, which surges to a minus-19 average deficit if the Simpson victory is dropped.
