For some quick-hit material, team-by-team capsules are below. Looking at the preconference standings, well, the cream rises to the top. The order is pretty much how many around the league figure the conference season will go, save for Sacramento State being among the Big Sky Tournament teams. The bigger picture is accurate: Weber State on top, then Montana and then a giant jumble that needs to be put together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Big Sky Conference capsules
Eastern Washington
- Record: 6-6
- Streak: Lost 1
- Go-to guy: Collin Chiverton, Jr., F (18.0 points per game; 40-95 3-pointers, 42.1 percent). Chiverton is joined by two others in double-figure scoring, but is far and away the main option for the Eagles. Half of his shot attempts (95-189) are from 3-point range, but he is also an 82.8 percent free-throw shooter.
- Quick hits: The Eagles have lost 18 players to fouling out throughout the season, including Laron Griffin five times, Cliff Ederaine four times and both Chiverton and Cliff Colimon three times. … Colimon, EWU’s point guard, averages 5.58 assists and has eclipsed his assist and steal totals from last year before conference play begins. … The Eagles top four free-throw shooters are a combined 75 percent (118-157) from the line.
Idaho State
- Record: 2-9
- Streak: Lost 4
- Go-to guy: Chase Grabau, Sr., G (10.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2.2 steals per game; 34-72 field goals). Though he is only third on the list in scoring, Grabau is an all-around player for the Bengals: first in field goal percentage (min. 60 attempts), first in assists and steals, second in rebounds, third in blocks.
- Quick hits: ISU has three players netting double figures heading into conference play, but non have more than 133 points. … Grabau is 11 assists from breaking his total from last season … Seven-foot-4 redshirt junior center Jakub Kusmieruk is fourth on the team in rebounding with 3.2 per game.
Montana
- Record: 7-5
- Streak: Won 2
- Go-to guy: Will Cherry, Jr., G (14.0 points, 3.5 assist, 2.2 steals, 50-136 field goals). Cherry has led the team in scoring five times and leads them in most categories (free throws made and taken, field goals taken, 3-pointers taken, assists, steals).
- Quick hits: Forward Derek Selvig has missed three games but is still third on the team in scoring (8.3 ppg) and first in rebounds (7.1 rpg). … UM is one of only two teams in the Big Sky at .500 or better whose field goal percentage is worse than its opposition (42 percent to 41). … The Griz are also being outrebounded (35.2-33.4) by nearly two boards a game.
Montana State
- Record: 5-6
- Streak: Lost 3
- Go-to guy: Xavier Blount, Jr., G (11.6 points, 1.27 steals per game; 40-99 field goals, 40.4 percent). Blount has established himself as the No. 1 option on offense; he can score coming off a screen, taking his man to the basket or with a mid-range jumper.
- Quick hits: Centers Jourdain Allou (31-49 FG) and Mohammed Fall (32-59 FG) are shooting a combined 58 percent. … Despite missing two games, forward Tre Johnson leads the team in rebounds (58 total, 6.4 per game) and is second in points per game (9.9) and blocks (10). …Four different Bobcats have doled out 21 or more assists, while five have collected 11 or more steals.
Northern Arizona
- Record: 4-8
- Streak: Lost 1
- Go-to guy: James Douglas, Fr., G (12.5 ppg; 57-136 FG). Douglas is a scorer in the mold of Cameron Jones based on his first non-conference slate. He’s put up the most shots and 3-pointers for the Lumberjacks – sinking the most, too – and has a shooting percentage that hovers around 40 percent.
- Quick hits: Point guard Stallon Saldivar has taken on more of a scorer’s role (9.0 ppg) but hasn’t lost his penchant for being a pass-first playmaker, averaging 5.4 assists a game. … Redshirt freshman forward Gaellan Bewernick is second on the team in rebounds (56, 4.7 per game) and first in blocks (six). … Senior guard Durrell Norman leads the team in rebounds (78. 6.5 per game) and steals (16, 1.3 per game).
Northern Colorado
- Record: 3-8
- Streak: Lost 3
- Go-to guy: Tate Unruh, RSoph., G (13.1 points, 1 steal per game, team-best 26 3-pointers; 50-104 field goals) Unruh and true sophomore Paul Garnica have taken the scoring load upon themselves. Unruh is shooting 48 percent from the field, 45.6 from 3-point range and combines with Garnica to shoot 45 percent (96-for-214) from the field.
- Quick hits: Veterans Emmanuel Addo, Elliot Lloyd and Mike Proctor were expected to be the main trio for BJ Hill, but are third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in scoring per game and second, eighth and third, respectively, in rebounding per contest. … Redshirt sophomore center Connor Osbourne, who sat due to injury last season, leads the team in blocks (seven), rebounds per game (5.2) and overall field goal percentage (56.1, 23-41).
Portland State
- Record: 6-6
- Streak: Lost 2
- Go-to guy: Charles Odum, Sr., G (16.7 points, 1.5 steals, 68 field goals, 57 free throws; 68-138 FG). Odum is also the team leader in free throw percentage 89.1 percent (57-64) and assists (31, 2.6 per game). The 6-foot shooting guard has shot 61-66 (63.5 percent) from 2-point range this season.
- Quick hits: Junior forward Renado Parker, a mid-season transfer in 2010-11, has scored 47 points (9.4 per game) and grabbed 22 rebounds (4.4 per game) in five contests since becoming eligible. … One of two conference teams who went 0-6 on the road during non-conference play. … The Vikings have hit one less field goal (334-333) and 22 less 3-pointers (76-54) than their opposition, but balance it with a plus-73 margin in free throws made (210-137) and a plus-106 margin in free throws attempted (285-1798).
Sacramento State
- Record: 6-6
- Streak: Lost 2
- Go-to guy: Joe Eberhard, Jr., G/F (11.1 points, 6.4 rebounds per game, team-best 16 3-pointers; 46-93 field goals). Eberhard leads the Hornets in minutes and rebounds and is second in field goal percentage (min. 45 attempts), 3-point percentage (min. 20 attempts) and assists.
- Quick hits: The Hornets have outscored their opponents, 726-719, and are plus 29 (391-362) in second-half scoring. … Sacramento State has lost six games by an average of 12.5 points per contest, but only two of those losses are by more than 11 points (26, 29). … Freshman point guard Dylan Garrity leads the conference in assists (76, 6.9 per game) and has hit 28-34 free throws.
Weber State
- Record: 8-3
- Streak: Won 2
- Go-to guy: Damian Lillard, RJr., G (25.4 points, 1.1 steals, 3.6 assists per game; 83-170 FG). The two-time All-Big Sky first-team is up to his old tricks, having carried the Wildcats through Kyle Bullinger’s injury and Scott Bamforth’s recent shooting slump. He leads the team in points, steals assists, field goals (made and taken), free throws (made and taken), 3-pointers (made and taken) and total rebounds (64).
- Quick hits: The Wildcats are the only Big Sky team to have a positive margin in 19 different statistical categories. The one stat it trails in? Blocks at minus-13 (33-20). … Center Kyle Tresnak, the team’s tallest player at 6-foot-10 and a full-time starter, is seventh on the team in rebounding (32, 2.9 per game)… Lillard has taken 75 more shots than anyone else on the team.
