1977–78 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team

1977–78 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball
Big Sky tournament champions
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record19–10 (9–5 Big Sky)
Head coach
Home arenaDee Events Center
1977–78 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Montana 12 – 2   .857 20 – 8   .714
Idaho State 11 – 3   .786 16 – 10   .615
† 9 – 5   .643 19 – 10   .655
Boise State 8 – 6   .571 13 – 14   .481
Gonzaga 7 – 7   .500 14 – 15   .483
Northern Arizona 5 – 9   .357 11 – 14   .440
Montana State 3 – 11   .214 9 – 17   .346
Idaho 1 – 13   .071 4 – 22   .154
† Big Sky Conference tournament winner

The 1977–78 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State College during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Wildcats were led by third-year head coach Neil McCarthy and played their home games on campus at the new Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah. They were 17–9 overall in the regular season and 9–5 in conference play.

Weber State was third in the regular season standings and qualified for the four-team conference tournament, hosted by regular season champion Montana in Missoula.[1][2] The Wildcats defeated defending champion Idaho State in the semifinal,[3][4] then upset the host in the final in overtime.[5][6]

Weber State appeared in the first five finals of the conference tournament; this was the first of three consecutive titles.

The Wildcats received the Big Sky's automatic bid to the 32-team NCAA tournament, but lost in the first round to seventh-ranked Arkansas in Eugene, Oregon;[7][8] Arkansas ultimately advanced to the Final Four. It was Weber State's first NCAA appearance in five years, since they went to six consecutive (1968–1973).

Sophomore guard Bruce Collins was named to the all-conference team; forward David Johnson and center Richard Smith, also sophomores, were honorable mention.[9][10]

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Tue, Nov 29*
 Long Beach State W 99–96 OT 1–0
 Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Sat, Dec 3*
 Loyola Marymount W 70–64  2–0
 Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Mon, Dec 5*
 Midwestern State W 107–72  3–0
 Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Sat, Dec 10*
 Utah State W 84–79 OT 4–0
 Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Wed, Dec 14*
 UC Davis W 95–65  5–0
 Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Sat, Dec 17*
 at Oregon State L 72–74 OT 5–1
 Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Tue, Dec 20*
 Utah W 71–61  6–1
 Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Tue, Dec 27*
 at Utah L 88–98  6–2
 Special Events Center 
Salt Lake City, Utah
Fri, Dec 30*
 Sacramento State W 82–73  7–2
 Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Tue, Jan 3*
 at BYU L 76–81  7–3
 Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Fri, Jan 6*
 at Gonzaga L 76–78  7–4
(0–1) 		Kennedy Pavilion 
Spokane, Washington
Sat, Jan 7*
 at Idaho W 72–63  8–4
(1–1) 		Kibbie Dome 
Moscow, Idaho
Mon, Jan 9*
 Chico State W 76–57  9–4
 Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Sat, Jan 14
 at Northern Arizona W 73–72  10–4
(2–1) 		Walkup Skydome 
Flagstaff, Arizona
Tue, Jan 17*
 at Utah State L 65–74  10–5
 Smith Spectrum 
Logan, Utah
Sat, Jan 21
 Northern Arizona W 78–66  11–5
(3–1) 		Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Thu, Jan 26
 Idaho State W 68–65  12–5
(4–1) 		Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Sat, Jan 28
 Boise State W 84–61  13–5
(5–1) 		Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Fri, Feb 3
 at Idaho State L 67–77  13–6
(5–2) 		ICCU Dome 
Pocatello, Idaho
Sat, Feb 4
 at Boise State L 70–75  13–7
(5–3) 		Bronco Gymnasium 
Boise, Idaho
Fri, Feb 10
 at Montana State W 83–73  14–7
(6–3) 		Brick Breeden Fieldhouse 
Bozeman, Montana
Sat, Feb 11
 at Montana L 52–62  14–8
(6–4) 		Adams Field House 
Missoula, Montana
Thu, Feb 16
 Montana State W 90–80  15–8
(7–4) 		Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Sat, Feb 18
 Montana L 56–58 OT 15–9
(7–5) 		Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Thu, Feb 23
 Gonzaga W 80–63  16–9
(8–5) 		Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Sat, Feb 25
 Idaho W 86–69  17–9
(9–5) 		Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Big Sky tournament
Fri, March 3
7:00 pm 		(3) vs. (2) Idaho State
Semifinal 		W 84–79  18–9
 Adams Field House (9,350)
Missoula, Montana
Sat, March 4
8:00 pm 		(3) at (1) Montana
Final 		W 62–55 OT 19–9
 Adams Field House (9,203)
Missoula, Montana
NCAA tournament
Sat, March 11*
12:10 pm 		(4Q-W) vs. (2L-W) No. 7 Arkansas
First round 		L 52–73  19–10
 McArthur Court (9,141)
Eugene, Oregon
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain time.

[11]

References

  1. ^ "Big Sky playoff starts at Montana". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 3, 1978. p. 5B.
  2. ^ Ewer, Bill (March 3, 1978). "Weber, Idaho State set for tourney test tonight". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B5.
  3. ^ "Montana, Weber in Big Sky finals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 4, 1978. p. 1B.
  4. ^ Ewer, Bill (March 4, 1978). "Weber going for Big Sky marbles". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 6A.
  5. ^ "Weber State stops Montana for Big Sky title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 5, 1978. p. 2B.
  6. ^ Ewer, Bill (March 6, 1978). "Weber not awed by NCAA foe Arkansas". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B5.
  7. ^ Withers, Bud (March 12, 1978). "Arkansas' quick paralyzes Weber". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 4B.
  8. ^ Benson, Lee (March 13, 1978). "The Hogs bury Weber". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 2D.
  9. ^ "Montana's Richardson all-conference for third year". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 7, 1978. p. 1B.
  10. ^ "Grizzlies' 'M.R.R.' 3-timer". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 8, 1978. p. 17.
  11. ^ "1977-78 Men's Basketball Schedule". weberstatesports.com. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
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