It's win-or-go-home time for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team.
 
Three victories away from a coveted berth into the NCAA Tournament, the second-seeded Eagles will travel to Boise, Idaho, next week to play in the Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Championship at Idaho Central Arena and will play either No. 7 Portland State or No. 10 Northern Arizona in their opener in the quarterfinals.
 
After the Big Sky Conference regular season concluded Saturday (March 6), Eastern finished as the No. 2 seed into the tournament. They will play at 4 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, March 11 versus the winner of the opening-round game between No. 7 Portland State and No. 10 Northern Arizona on Wednesday, March 10 at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Eastern didn't play PSU this season and the Eagles won their only game versus NAU (80-64 on Dec. 19).
 
The tournament will be held for the third consecutive year at recently re-named Idaho Central Arena (formerly CenturyLink Arena) in Boise, Idaho. The neutral-site tournament will run from March 10-13, 2021, and begins two days earlier for the women.
 
All preliminary games in the tournament will be on PlutoTV channel 1050, as well as via https://bigskyconf.com/watchbigsky. The championship game will be aired on ESPNU. Eastern games are also aired live on radio on 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM, via the web at tunein.com and via mobile phone app, with pre-game coverage starting a half-hour prior to tipoff. Larry Weir serves as the play-by-play broadcaster.
 
Eastern will make its 18th Big Sky Conference Tournament appearance in 33 years as a member of the league, and has a record of 17-15 in its 32 games. The Eagles are 6-5 all-time in the quarterfinals, and went on to win tourney titles in 2004 and 2015 to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
 
"It's going to be fun going to Boise with our heads up high and going in on a win," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans, whose team wrapped the season on Friday (March 5) with a 75-62 home win over Idaho State.  "But we have to play great and play our best basketball. We've been revving up for that all year long. We are going to have a great week of practice and then head on out."
 
The top five seeds receive a bye to the quarterfinal round. Three games take place on Wednesday, March 10 – No. 8 Northern Colorado versus No. 9 Sacramento State, No. 7 PSU versus No. 10 NAU and No. 6 Montana versus No. 11 Idaho. The other quarterfinal games on Thursday are No. 1 Southern Utah versus the winner of the #8/#9 game at 10 a.m., followed by No. 4 Idaho State versus No. 5 Montana State at 1 p.m. Weber State, the No. 3 seed, closes the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Pacific time against the #6/#11 winner. Eastern would play in the 7 p.m. Pacific time semifinal on Friday, March 12, and the other semifinal is at 4 p.m. The championship game on Saturday, March 13 is at 5 p.m. on ESPNU.
 
Eastern finished 12-3 in the league and 13-7 overall, and had won nine-straight games before falling to Idaho State 68-63 on March 3. Until that loss, EWU controlled its own destiny toward sole possession of a second-straight regular season title. After beating ISU in the rematch 75-62 on March 5, the Eagles still needed Weber State and Southern Utah to lose to win the championship.
 
However, Weber State and Northern Colorado did not play their finale because of Covid-19 concerns, thus leaving EWU and WSU with identical 12-3 league records. Eastern won the tiebreaker by virtue of a season sweep over Montana while the Wildcats split with the Grizzlies.
 
Southern Utah finished 12-2 and wrapped up the league title with a 73-54 win at Portland State. Had the Vikings won, Eastern would have successfully won its second-straight Big Sky regular season championship.
 
In the final standings based on winning percentage, Southern Utah was first (12-2, .857), followed by EWU and Weber State (12-3 .800). They were followed by Idaho State and Montana State (both 8-6 .571), Montana (7-9 .438), Portland State and Northern Colorado (both 6-8 .429), Sacramento State (5-9 .357), Northern Arizona (4-10 .286), and Idaho (1-17 .056).
 
The Eagles, winners of 10 of their last 11 games, are on the roll they had a year ago en route to the regular season league title. Last year after five games of the league season, the Eagles were 3-2 (like this year's team), and had won the first game of what would become a six-game winning streak. Eastern ended the regular season with a streak of seven-straight victories to win the league title with a 16-4 mark. But the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic halted the season the day EWU was to play its first game in the league tournament, as the Eagles ended the season with 14 victories in its last 16 games.
 
Eastern won at least 10 league games for the eighth-straight season. That only happened six times before in EWU's first 30 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I. Eastern's 53 league victories in the last four seasons – all under head coach Shantay Legans -- is the best four-year stretch in EWU's 33-year history in the league.
 
Legans, the reigning Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, is No. 4 in winning percentage in the 58-year history of the Big Sky Conference – second among those who coached at least four seasons. After the ISU games, he's 53-20 in four seasons for a percentage of .726. He only ranks behind Phil Johnson (Weber State 1968-71, .886, 39-5), Kermit Davis (Idaho 1989-90, .813, 26-6) and Dick Motta (Weber State, 1963-68, .727, 40-15), and is ahead of Travis DeCuire (Montana 2014-present, .719, 92-36) and Ron Abegglen (Weber State, 1991-99, .717, 86-34).
 
 

2021 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Championship

All Times Pacific
 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Game 1 – No. 8 Northern Colorado (10-10, 6-8) vs. No. 9 Sacramento State (8-11, 5-9), 8 a.m.  
Game 2 – No. 7 Portland State (9-12, 6-8) vs. No. 10 Northern Arizona (5-15, 4-10), 11 a.m.
Game 3 – No. 6 Montana (13-12, 7-9) vs. No. 11 Idaho (1-20, 1-17), 2 p.m.
 
Thursday, March 11, 2021, live streamed on Pluto TV, WatchBigSky.com
Game 4 – No. 1 Southern Utah (19-3, 12-2) vs. Game 1 Winner, 10 a.m.   
Game 5 – No. 4 Idaho State (13-10, 8-6) vs. No. 5 Montana State (11-9, 8-6), 1 p.m.
Game 6 – No. 2 Eastern Washington (13-7, 12-3) vs. Game 2 Winner, 4 p.m.
Game 7 – No. 3 Weber State (17-5, 12-3) vs. Game 3 Winner, 7 p.m.
 
Friday, March 12, 2021, live streamed on Pluto TV, WatchBigSky.com
Game 8 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (Semifinals), 4 p.m.
Game 9 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner (Semifinals), 7 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 13, 2021, televised on ESPNU
Game 10 – Championship Game, 5 p.m.
 

Eastern in the Big Sky Conference Tournament

 
• Eastern will make its 18th Big Sky Conference Tournament appearance in 33 years as a member of the league, and has a record of 17-15 in its 32 games. The Eagles are 1-0 in the first round, 6-5 in the quarterfinals, 8-4 in the semifinals and 2-6 in the championship. Before winning the 2015 title, Eastern hadn't appeared since the 2011-12 and 2010-11 seasons, which were EWU's first since 2006. The Eagles qualified for each tournament from 1998-2006.

• Eastern won Big Sky Conference Tournament championships and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2015 & 2004. The Eagles have also advanced to the National Invitation Tournament in 2003 and the College Basketball Invitational in 2016 and 2017. Eastern registered the school's first NCAA Division I postseason win with a 79-72 victory over Pepperdine in the first round of the CBI in 2016.

• Eastern's 2014-15 squad won the title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a trio of victories in Missoula, Montana. Included was a come-from-behind 69-65 over the host Grizzlies in the championship game.

• Before beating Montana for the 2015 title, Eastern had ended its season with losses to the Grizzlies in appearances in 2012, 2006 and 2005. But the year before, in 2004, EWU won the title with a 71-59 championship game victory over Northern Arizona to advance to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament (EWU made its first-ever NIT appearance in 2003).

• Although its streak of Big Sky tournament berths came to an end in the 2006-07 season, at the time Eastern was just the fifth school in league history to make nine-straight appearances in the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Eastern started the streak back in 1998 after making just one trip to the tourney in their first 10 seasons as a member of the conference. Interestingly, Montana's 77-69 victory over the Lumberjacks on Feb. 28, 2005, extended Eastern's streak and ended NAU's eight-season streak. Eastern's streak started in 1998 with an end-of-year victory at Montana. That "winner advance, loser eliminated" game ended Montana's 21-year streak.

• In 2011, Eastern's season came to an end with a 79-70 loss at Weber State in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. That came just three days after the Eagles stunned WSU on their home court 75-59 to end the regular season. Because of the upset, the Wildcats lost their chance at a first-round bye and had to face the Eagles again. In the rematch, WSU out-scored EWU 46-25 in the second half as the Wildcats overcame a 12-point EWU halftime lead and a 15-point deficit early in the second half.

• In 2013-14, the Eagles were 15-16 overall and missed the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a 10-10 league mark. Interestingly, Sacramento State was also 10-10, but secured the final bid because of a tiebreaker advantage over EWU, which dropped its final game of the season to Weber State 82-78.
 
Here is a list of Eastern's all-time games in the Big Sky Tournament . . .
2019 -- Championship (Boise, Idaho) #3 seed vs. #1 Montana - L, 62-68
2019 -- Semifinal (Boise, Idaho) #3 seed vs. #7 Southern Utah - W, 77-61
2019 -- Quarterfinal (Boise, Idaho) #3 seed vs. #6 Montana State - W, 90-84
2018 -- Championship (Reno, Nevada) #3 seed vs. #1 Montana - L, 65-82
2018 -- Semifinal (Reno, Nevada) #3 seed vs. #10 Southern Utah - W, 82-70
2018 -- Quarterfinal (Reno, Nevada) #3 seed vs. #6 Portland State - W, 78-72
2017 -- Semifinal (Reno, Nevada) #2 seed vs. #3 Weber State - L, 72-80
2017 -- Quarterfinal (Reno, Nevada) #2 seed vs. #7 Sacramento State - W, 89-70
2016 -- Quarterfinal (Reno, Nevada) #6 seed vs. #3 Idaho - L, 73-77
2016 -- First Round (Reno, Nevada) #6 seed vs. #11 Northern Arizona - W, 74-52
2015 – Championship (Missoula, Mont.) #2 seed vs. #1 Montana - W, 69-65
2015 – Semifinal (Missoula, Mont.) #2 seed vs. #3 Sacramento State - W, 91-83
2015 – Quarterfinal (Missoula, Mont.) #2 seed vs. #7 Idaho - W, 91-83
2012 – Semifinal (Missoula, Mont.) #4 seed vs. #1 Montana  – L, 66-74
2012 – Quarterfinal (Cheney, Wash.) #4 seed vs. #5 Idaho State – W, 81-75
2011 - Quarterfinal (Ogden, Utah) - #6 seed vs. #3 Weber State - L, 70-79
2006 - Semifinal (Flagstaff, Ariz.) - #3 seed vs. #2 Montana - L, 71-73 (ot)
2006 - Quarterfinal (Cheney, Wash.) - #3 seed vs. #6 Portland State - W, 81-75
2005 - Quarterfinal (Missoula, Mont.) - #6 seed vs. #3 Montana - L, 48-58
2004 - Championship (Cheney, Wash.) - #1 seed vs. #2 Northern Ariz. - W, 71-59
2004 - Semifinals (Cheney, Wash.) - #1 seed vs. #5 Weber State - W, 72-53
2003 - Championship (Ogden, Utah) - #2 seed vs. #1 Weber State - L, 57-60
2003 - Semifinals (Ogden, Utah) - #2 seed vs. #4 Idaho State - W, 76-67
2002 - Championship (Bozeman, Mont.) - #2 seed vs. #5 Montana - L, 66-70
2002 - Semifinals (Bozeman, Mont.) - #2 seed vs. #3 Weber State - W, 62-57
2001 - Championship (Northridge, Calif.) - #2 seed vs. #1 CS Northridge - L, 58-73
2001 - Semifinals (Northridge, Calif.) - #2 seed vs. #5 Northern Arizona - W, 58-53
2000 - Semifinals (Missoula, Mont.) - #2 seed vs. #3 Northern Arizona - L, 65-82
1999 - Quarterfinals (Ogden, Utah) - #6 seed vs. #3 Portland State - L, 74-80
1998 - Quarterfinals (Flagstaff, Ariz.) - #3 seed vs. #6 CS Northridge - L, 98-104 (ot)
1990 - Championship (Boise, Idaho) - #2 seed vs. #1 Idaho - L, 62-65
1990 - Semifinals (Boise, Idaho) - #2 seed vs. #5 Weber State - W, 83-67