Four Montana State University athletes, including the basketball team's leading scorer, Xavier Blount, were cited Feb. 13 for various misdemeanors after a weekend assault that sent Blount to the hospital and possibly ended his season.
Blount, 20, was cited for disorderly conduct and a minor in possession of alcohol, according to the Bozeman police. Football linebacker Roger Trammell, 21, was cited for misdemeanor assault; track sprinter Christopher Wilson, 20, for disorderly conduct and unlawful use of a driver's license; and football defensive tackle Zach Minter, 21, for unlawful use of a driver's license.
The assault was reported at a Bozeman bar early Sunday morning. A bouncer said a man -– Blount -- was found barely conscious on the back porch, according to police reports.
"Someone beat the crap out of him," the bouncer reported. The police indicated a verbal exchange between Blount and another man led to the assault.
Blount, a junior from Virginia Beach, Va., was taken to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital with shoulder and facial injuries, his stepfather, Varick Tucker, told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
In a statement released Feb. 13, MSU assistant athletic director for media relations Bill Lamberty said the injuries were "severe" and that they may end Blount's season.
Tucker told the Chronicle that Blount's shoulder had been dislocated and was immobilized. He said he is not sure about the extent of his injury. He added that Blount suffered a broken nose and significant lip lacerations.
"His season's over," Tucker said. "We don't know if it's jeopardized anything down the line."
Montana State coach Brad Huse confirmed the extent of Blount's injuries. Athletic director Peter Fields said in a written statement that he hopes Blount makes a full recovery.
"We are cooperating as Bozeman and Montana State University police and the MSU Dean of Students Office investigate this matter," Fields said. "The behavior alleged is unacceptable. We will not stand for it and will deal with it in an appropriate manner through our Student Code of Conduct and Student-Athlete Code of Conduct."
Blount is currently the Bobcats' leading scorer this season with an average of 11.6 points per game. He and the three other athletes were ordered to appear in Gallatin County Justice Court for an initial appearance prior to March 1.
--The Big Sky Conference will expand its men's and women's basketball tournaments to seven teams and hold each under one roof when the league expands next season, associate commissioner Ron Loghry said Feb. 14. The University of North Dakota and Southern Utah University will join the Big Sky next season for all sports, bringing the total to 11 teams for men's and women's basketball. Cal Poly and UC Davis will also join the Big Sky next school year, but for football only.
The expansion will necessitate a 20-game regular-season league schedule for basketball. The season will be capped by seven-team tournaments hosted by the regular-season champions. The league currently invites six teams to both its men's and women's tournaments. The women play at one site, March 8-10 this year; the men play quarterfinals at campus sites on March 3, then have the semifinals and championship at the site of the regular-season champion on March 6-7.
In next season's postseason tournament, the top seed will get a first-round bye in addition to hosting the tournament. The three first-round games will pit the No. 2 seed vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 vs. No. 5. The top seed will face the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals, with the remaining two teams squaring off.
Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said the coaches pushed for a league tournament that involved all 11 teams.
"If you look around the country, it's an exciting time of the year where you get everybody at one location, all the teams you compete against all year long," Tinkle told the Missoulian. "You're there and it's a true championship. Maybe that's something they'll look at down the road once they see how the seven-team (tournament) goes."
--The Big Sky will return to a schedule next season with travel partners. The partners will be Montana and Montana State, Eastern Washington and Portland State, Northern Colorado and North Dakota, Idaho State and Weber State, and Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. In the week that travel partners are scheduled to play each other, they'll also face the lone wolf -- Sacramento State.
"So the lone wolf isn't really a lone wolf anymore; they're playing two games (a week)," Big Sky associate commissioner Ron Loghry told the Missoulian. "Nothing's finalized, but this is what I'm sending out and what this small committee I'm working with is looking at and is real close to saying this is what we're going to do."
--Division I teams are limited to 29 regular-season games, unless they play in a regular-season tournament. In that case they can play 27 games in addition to the games they play at a tournament. With the added BracketBuster games (just completed last week), plus a return game from the previous season's BracketBuster weekend, that leaves schools with just seven nonconference games to schedule.
"I feel for some of the schools in our league that are required to play four, sometimes five, guarantee games," Montana coach Wayne Tinkle told the Missoulian. "They're not going to be able to get a home schedule in the nonleague, unless it's one or two non-Division I games. Our league wanted to expand (from nine to 11 teams) and I'm a big fan of our league, so I'm going to be behind all of these decisions. We'll make the best of it."
MATCHUP TO WATCH:
Eastern Washington at Idaho State, Feb. 23 –- The Bengals are coming off a potentially disheartening loss, losing at the buzzer at Pacific on Feb. 18 in the ESPN Sears BracketBuster game. How will the Bengals respond against an Eastern Washington team hungry to clinch a spot in the Big Sky Conference tournament?
AROUND THE LEAGUE
EASTERN WASHINGTON
--Eastern Washington forced a season-high 23 turnovers in its 78-73 loss at Cal Irvine Feb. 18. The Eagles did not take advantage of their stingy defense because they shot only 26 percent from the field in the second half, 34 percent overall in the ESPN Sears BracketBuster game.
"We actually did a really good job defensively," said first-year Eastern Washington head coach Jim Hayford. "We thought we could force a lot of turnovers and we did a good job with that. They are a very, very skilled team and we forced 23 turnovers. But they can shoot it -– I would like to see their field goal percentage a little lower. We forced 23 turnovers and had 13 offensive rebounds, so the effort and energy are there."
--The Eagles turned the 23 turnovers they forced at Cal Irvine into only 26 points. Eastern Washington had only nine turnovers after entering the game ranked 15th in NCAA Division I in turnover margin (+3.7 per game). The 62 percent field-goal shooting by the Anteaters was the highest percentage against the Eagles this season.
IDAHO STATE
--A few names have surfaced as potential replacements for Joe O'Brien at Idaho State, according to HoopDirt.com. It appears that interim coach Deane Martin has a legitimate shot at having the interim tag removed because of the way the Bengals have played the second half of the season. Idaho State athletic director Jeff Tingey is reportedly impressed with how the team has responded to Martin.
Other names mentioned by HoopDirt.com include: Bobby Steinburg, Kent State assistant coach; Bill Hawkins, head coach at Madison (Idaho) High School; Jeff Hironaka, Washington State assistant coach; Louis Wilson, Adams State head coach; Bill Evans, Montana assistant coach. Steinburg is known as a quality recruiter. Hawkins is well known in the area and has support from big-money donors. Hironaka is a former assistant at Idaho State in the 1980s who enjoyed success in seven years as the Seattle Pacific head coach. Wilson is another former Idaho State assistant who is 36-13 in two years at Adams State. And Evans is a veteran having coached 16 seasons as the head coach at Southern Utah and the last four as an assistant at Montana.
--In Idaho State's 66-64 loss Feb. 18 in overtime at Pacific, which prevailed thanks to an off-balance three-pointer by Trevin Harris at the buzzer, the Bengals had two players (senior F Abner Moreira and sophomore G Andre Hatchett) who participated the full 45 minutes and another (senior G Chase Grabau) who went 44.
"The guys want to play," Idaho State interim coach Deane Martin said. "They have earned the spot and you have to let the players play. They have earned the opportunity and you have to let them play until they are tired."
--The overtime loss at Pacific also included a rare feat in which two Bengals achieved career-high totals in steals. Senior G Chase Grabau recorded six, while junior G Melvin Morgan tallied five.
MONTANA
--Sophomore F Kareem Jamar recorded Montana's first triple-double in more than 30 years with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the Grizzlies' 94-79 non-conference win over visiting Hawaii in an ESPN Sears BracketBusters game Feb. 18. The 6-foot-5 wing from Venice, Calif., had his points and rebounds in double figures early in the second half, then added his 10th assist on a bullet to Mathias Ward for a layup with 2:18 to play, bringing his teammates off the bench in celebration.
"He was the man tonight," said backcourt mate Will Cherry, who led the Grizzlies with 24 points and five steals. "That's what he does. He brings different elements to the game, whether it's rebounding, scoring, assisting; tonight he did it all. He and Derek (Selvig) kind of have a competition about the assist record and today Reem beat him out. Tonight, he was everywhere."
--Montana coach Wayne Tinkle is the first Grizzlies coach since Mike Montgomery to put together three straight 20-win seasons Montgomery coached the Griz to four straight 20-win seasons from 1982-86.
--Montana junior G Will Cherry's five steals against Hawaii on Feb. 18 gave him 208 for his career, tied for seventh on the league's all-time list with Idaho's Brian Kellerman (1979-83). His 24 points gave him 1,106 for his career, moving him past Ed Argenbright (1954-56) and into 17th on the school's all-time list, just five points behind No. 16 Chris Spoja (1994-97).
MONTANA STATE
--Less than three minutes into the second half Feb. 15 against league-leading Weber State, Montana State -– losers of seven straight games entering this week –- trailed the Wildcats by 18 points but things drastically turned. Sophomore F Shawn Reid, who scored a career-high 31 points, made a layup with 17:23 left that launched a 16-0 run for Montana State, which eventually lost 79-70.
"They had some foul issues, (and) I think that helped, but we were being a lot tighter offensively," Montana State coach Brad Huse said. "We were loose (with the ball) in the first half, Weber had something to do with that, but we turned the ball over and didn't shoot well. Weber was pretty efficient to start the game, and that hole was hard to come out of."
--Montana State's defense held the nation's leading scorer, Weber State guard Damian Lillard, to 17 points on Feb. 15. In the two games against the Bobcats this year, Lillard has scored only 34 points combined.
NORTHERN ARIZONA
--Northern Arizona senior G Durrell Norman, who was honored in a pregame ceremony for Senior Day on Feb. 18 against Cal Davis, scored a career-high 26 points with seven rebounds and made 14 free throws in 36 minutes in the Lumberjacks' 70-65 loss. NAU, which squandered a 21-point lead, lost its 14th straight game while Cal Davis won for the first time on the road this season.
"It was nice and will be something I will remember moving forward," Norman said of his career-high scoring performance. "It will be a great memory but it will be tainted a little because we were not able to pull out the 'W' and gave up such a big lead in the second half. Our hats are off to UC Davis. They played a tremendous game."
--Norman's fondest memory of his NAU career was upsetting Arizona State 69-68 on Dec. 17 this season in Tempe. "I will always remember the locker room after the ASU game and how excited everyone was with Stallon (Saldivar) hitting the game-winning shot," said Norman. "That game in itself is my favorite memory from my senior year, hanging out after that game."
NORTHERN COLORADO
--Freshman G Tevin Svihovec scored 34 points, a record since Northern Colorado became a Division I program, in the Bears' 81-73 win over Cal Poly on Feb. 18. The previous record was 33 points held by Will Figures, who achieved that mark on Feb. 13, 2010. Figures was a senior in that game; Svihovec is a redshirt freshman.
"Tevin makes you a lot better coach," Northern Colorado coach B.J. Hill said. "He's a special kid, and I think what does it, what gives him the confidence to go out and make those plays, is his level of mental maturity and mental toughness for a redshirt freshman far surpasses any other freshman I've ever had the chance to coach."
--Northern Colorado sophomore G Tate Unruh, the Bears' leading scorer, did not play against Cal Poly on Feb. 18 after injuring his ankle during the pregame warmups.
PORTLAND STATE
--A victory at Sacramento State on Feb. 23 would clinch a spot in the Big Sky Conference tournament for the Vikings.
--Senior F Chehales Tapscott already had 13 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists and a steal by halftime in Portland State's 85-67 win over visiting Sacramento State on Feb. 15. Tapscott played little in the second half, but finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots. He also had three steals and three assists to go with his Big Sky-leading 10th double-double.
"The seniors have to lay it on the line every night," Portland State coach Tyler Geving said. "Che stepped it up and continues to be a leader."
SACRAMENTO STATE
--Sophomore G Jackson Carbajal reached a career high for the second consecutive game when he scored 24 points in a 79-67 loss at home to San Jose State on Feb. 18. He scored 19 points in Wednesday's 85-67 loss at Portland State. Carbajal has now scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games and is averaging 14.5 points over that span.
"I thought he played really well," Sacramento State coach Brian Katz said of Carbajal. "He's being aggressive. He's kind of the guy we thought. He's a real bouncy, athletic guy who can jump up above you and shoot it. He can get to the rim and rebound and defend."
--Sacramento State wasted a 15-0 run in the first half in which San Jose State went 7:59 without a basket in its 79-67 loss to the Spartans on Feb. 18.
WEBER STATE
--With the 72-70 win over Texas Arlington on Feb. 18, Weber State improved to 15-0 at home this season and have won 16 straight and 23 of their last 24 at the Dee Events Center. The win over Texas Arlington, which was on a 16-game winning streak, was WSU's final regular season home game. The game had an attendance of 8,952 fans, the second largest of the season. The Wildcats finished the regular season averaging 6,771 fans.
--In Senior Night for Senior F Darin Mahoney and Senior F Kyle Bullinger on Feb. 18, both played in their final regular season home game and shined. Mahoney finished with only two points but pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds. Bullinger had eight points and became the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.
--After rolling a four-wheeler last summer, Senior F Kyle Bullinger was fit and ready to go for Weber State's opening game. Then came an ugly dislocation of his right elbow in that game. Subsequently, Bullinger, one of the Wildcats' leaders, spent the next two months watching injured from the bench, elbow tightly bound. His return to form has been slow even as WSU continues to roll.
"These things happen," said Bullinger, a first team all-conference player in 2011, to the Salt Lake Tribune. "But the goal never changes. The path is a little different."
