BOISE, Idaho — Montana State is goin' dancing. Again.
The Bobcats, a No. 5 seed, used a big second-half run to push past archrival and No. 3 Montana 85-70 Wednesday night to win the Big Sky Conference tournament championship and earn a berth in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
It is the third consecutive Big Sky title and the third straight NCAA tourney trip for the Bobcats and the first under coach Matt Logie, who was hired at MSU last April.
In its fourth straight trip to the championship game, Montana State trailed by 11 points, 49-38, early in the second half but clawed back and eventually took the lead at 51-50 on a 3-pointer by Tyler Patterson with 12:23 remaining.
After that the Bobcats went on a 14-0 burst, and when Patterson hit another 3 with 8:28 left the Cats led 62-53. A turnaround shot by Robert Ford III with 6:29 to go gave MSU a 14-point lead at 67-53.
During that stretch, the Grizzlies shot 0 for 8 from the floor. Montana State's lead grew to as much as 21 points with 2:13 left after a Brandon Walker putback.
It was just the second matchup between Montana and Montana State in the championship game of the Big Sky tournament and the first since 1986, which was also won by MSU.
It was the 12th all-time tourney matchup between the rivals and the first since 2009. Each team has now won six times in those meetings.
The Bobcats, now at .500 with a 17-17 overall record, will learn their seeding and opponent for the upcoming NCAA tournament on Sunday. The tournament begins March 19-20 with the First Four. The first round is March 21-22.
The Grizzlies, at 23-10, are expected to continue their season with a postseason berth, possibly in the College Basketball Invitational, which begins March 23-24.
