2023 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2023 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason tournament for the Big Sky Conference, held March 4–8 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. It was the 48th edition of the conference tourney, which debuted in 1976.

2023 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2022–23
Teams	10
Site	Idaho Central Arena Boise, Idaho
Champions	Montana State (4th title)
Winning coach	Danny Sprinkle (2nd title)
Television	ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2
Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournaments ← 2022 2024 →

2022–23 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern Washington	16	–	2		.889			23	–	11		.676
Montana State †	15	–	3		.833			25	–	10		.714
Weber State	12	–	6		.667			18	–	15		.545
Montana	10	–	7		.588			17	–	14		.548
Idaho State	8	–	10		.444			11	–	21		.344
Sacramento State	7	–	11		.389			14	–	18		.438
Portland State	6	–	11		.353			12	–	19		.387
Northern Colorado	6	–	12		.333			12	–	20		.375
Northern Arizona	5	–	13		.278			12	–	23		.343
Idaho	4	–	14		.222			10	–	22		.313
† Conference tournament winner

Second-seeded Montana State defeated ninth seed Northern Arizona 85–78 in the final and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Bobcats successfully defended their conference tournament title and earned a second straight NCAA appearance, their fifth overall.

Finalist NAU upset top-seeded Eastern Washington by a point in the quarterfinals and fourth seed Montana by twelve in the semifinals. The other semifinal was rematch of the previous year, with a similar result; this time, MSU needed double overtime to eliminate third seed Weber State 60–58. In 2022, they outlasted the Wildcats by three points in regulation.

Seeds

The ten teams were seeded by conference record; the top six teams received a first-round bye.^[1]

Seed	School	Record	Tiebreaker
1	Eastern Washington	16–2	—
2	Montana State	15–3
3	Weber State	12–6
4	Montana	10–7
5	Idaho State	8–10
6	Sacramento State	7–11
7	Portland State	6–11
8	Northern Colorado	6–12
9	Northern Arizona	5–13
10	Idaho	4–14

Schedule

Session	Game	Time	Matchup	Score	Television	Attendance
First round – Saturday, March 4
1	1	5:30 pm	No. 9 Northern Arizona vs. No. 10 Idaho	87–79	ESPN+
	2	8:00 pm	No. 7 Portland State vs. No. 8 Northern Colorado	80–84
Quarterfinals – Sunday, March 5
2	3	5:30 pm	No. 1 Eastern Washington vs. No. 9 Northern Arizona	80–81	ESPN+
	4	8:00 pm	No. 2 Montana State vs. No. 8 Northern Colorado	84–73
Quarterfinals – Monday, March 6
3	5	5:30 pm	No. 4 Montana vs. No. 5 Idaho State	83–74	ESPN+
	6	8:00 pm	No. 3 Weber State vs. No. 6 Sacramento State	70–64
Semifinals – Tuesday, March 7
4	7	6:30 pm	No. 9 Northern Arizona vs. No. 4 Montana	83–71	ESPNU
	8	9:00 pm	No. 2 Montana State vs. No. 3 Weber State	60–58 ^2OT	ESPN2
Championship game – Wednesday, March 8
5	9	9:30 pm	No. 2 Montana State vs. No. 9 Northern Arizona	85–78	ESPN2
Game times are in Mountain time; rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

	First round March 4 ESPN+					Quarterfinals March 5 & 6 ESPN+					Semifinals March 7 ESPNU/ESPN2					Championship March 8 ESPN2
						1	Eastern Washington	80
	9	Northern Arizona	87			9	Northern Arizona	81
	10	Idaho	76								9	Northern Arizona	83
											4	Montana	71
						4	Montana	83
						5	Idaho State	74
																9	Northern Arizona	78
																2	Montana State	85
						2	Montana State	84
	7	Portland State	80			8	Northern Colorado	73
	8	Northern Colorado	84								2	Montana State	60*
											3	Weber State	58
						3	Weber State	70
						6	Sacramento State	64

Note: * denotes overtime

References

1. "2023 Big Sky Men's & Women's Basketball Tournament Times Announced". bigskyconf.com. Retrieved January 28, 2023.

See also

• 2023 Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament