First & foremost, let me thank Scottydog for graciously letting me chime in on his posts relating to Big Sky hoops. I'm a mere gym rat, shagging rebounds for a top player here. I'm all over Weber St. also. They are tops in the BSC. I really expected this line to be closer to -10. This is my favorite game in the conference for Saturday.
No team in D1 takes it lightly when Montana is coming to your gym. I've been looking forward to this game. If you just sized up the starting 5 at tip off, you would say "Hey, those 5 from EWU are all taller than those 5 from Montana." EWU is 8-0 on Reese Court with wins over the Dons & Morehead St. Bogdan Bliznyuk is becoming a top performer in the conference avg. 19 pts & 6 boards. I see this as a one possession game. Both teams are 75%+ from the free throw line. The length of EWU gives me pause for concern. As always, I'll be cheering for the Scottydog pick.
The team that has impressed me the most in the BSC is Southern Utah. Playing with the "picked to finish last" chip on their shoulder, they are 2-0. Both on the road. Former Findlay Prep & UNLV interim coach Todd Simon also coaches with a chip from not being tabbed head coach at UNLV. These guys bring it with gusto for 40 minutes EVERY night. Texas Tech transfer Randy Onwuasor is a 6'3 beast that reminds me of former Big Sky standout Rodney Stuckey. He has been a one man wrecking crew in the first 2 conference games and has a 23.7 pt. season avg. & an eye popping 34.5 pts in Big Sky play. Today SUU travels to North Dakota after beating N. Colorado outright Thursday as a 8 pt dog. I've seen both SUU & N Dakota live and think Onwausor is every bit as good as pre-season Big Sky MVP pick Quentin Hooker. N. Dakota struggled with N. Arizona Thursday, and we were short two of our three Senior starters. I really thought when I clicked on the Scottydog Wild West thread it may have been S. Utah today. Southern Utah +11 is just too many points IMO. I'm flying with the T-Birds.
Thanks again Scottydog for letting me in the gym. I'll make sure the floors get mopped up.
JOTINI