He never did it as a player, but as a first-year coach Larry Krystkowiak and his Montana Grizzlies basketball team brought home a Big Sky Conference Tournament championship.

The Griz avenged two regular-season losses to Montana State University with a convincing 79-67 win over the Bobcats in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore., Tuesday night.

The win put the Griz in the championship round Wednesday against Weber State University. Senior Kamarr Davis scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Grizzlies 63-61 over the Wildcats. Montana shot 47 percent from the field on 23-of-49 shooting in the game, and made 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) free throws, including 10-of-12 in the second half.

The Grizzlies (18-12) earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and await their seeding, which will be determined March 13. Montana will play in its first NCAA tournament since the 2001-02 season, when the Grizzlies lost 81-62 to Oregon in the first round of the Midwest Regional in Sacramento, Calif.

Get your forks and chopsticks ready.

The 2005 International Culture and Food Festival will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 13, in the University Center at UM.

Admission is $1 and the theme for this year's festival is "Discover World Treasures."

The festival, hosted by the International Student Association, is UM's largest international event. It features more than 40 countries and more than 90 food and display booths, performances, children's events and a five-hour international culture show covering all three floors of the UC.

Foods from across the world will be featured, including Serbian barbecue, Estonian berry cream floats, Indonesian chicken satay and chicken korma from Bangladesh. A maximum price of $3 per food item is set so people can enjoy tasting a variety of cuisines. Food goes quickly, so plan to arrive early for a good selection.

T.R. Reid, the Washington Post's Rocky Mountain bureau chief, will be at UM Tuesday, March 15, to deliver a lecture on Europe's increasing power.

"The United States of Europe?" will take place at 7 p.m. in the UC Theater.

In his latest book, "The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy," Reid says Europe is much closer to the dream of a "United States of Europe" than most Americans realize and that Europe is "determined to flex its political and economic muscle on the world stage."

Reid has covered the U.S. Congress, national politics and global affairs during his tenure at the Washington Post. He was the newspaper's London bureau chief from 1997 to 2002.

The lecture is sponsored by UM's Department of Political Science, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Journalism, Pi Sigma Alpha, the Montana Model United Nations and the Montana World Affairs Council.

Jodi Rave, a reporter and columnist for Lee Enterprises, will discuss Indian education at the first Town Hall Meeting sponsored by the UC Multicultural Alliance and the Diversity Advisory Council at UM.

"Common Ground: Indian Education for All" is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, in the UC North Ballroom. Rave will talk about how lawmakers and educators can preserve American Indian cultural integrity. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Rave works at the Missoulian and covers Indian issues for 44 Lee newspapers in 19 states. She completed a 2004 Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and has won several journalism awards, including top honors from the Associated Press and the Native American Journalists Association.

Students interested in attending UM are invited to attend an open house any Friday between March 25 and April 15.

The open houses will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each of the four Fridays and will include campus and residence hall tours, student panels, departmental meetings and informational sessions.

Check-in is at the UM Adams Center and tours will depart from there and from the admissions office in the Lommasson Center throughout the day.

The open house is free but students are asked to register by calling Enrollment Services at (800) 462-8636. For more information or to register, contact Enrollment Services at (800) 462-8636 or admiss@umontana.edu.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2005-06 Wilderness and Civilization Program at UM.

UM sophomores, juniors and seniors in any major who are interested in a wilderness studies minor can apply for the two-semester program, which integrates classroom learning and field studies.

In addition to classroom study, participants take a series of field trips throughout western Montana. Field trips include weekend visits to Yellowstone National Park, the Yaak Valley and the Flathead Reservation, and 10-day journeys in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and on the Missouri River.

Students are required to participate in a two-credit internship and service project, and will receive 14 to 16 credits per semester. A $250 fee per semester is required in addition to tuition.

The application deadline is April 1. Visit the Web site to download an application or stop by the Wilderness Institute in Main Hall Room 303. A maximum of 25 students are accepted into the program.

UM will host the annual Environmental Writing Institute May 25-28.

The workshop, led by authors Janisse Ray, Kim Todd and Phil Condon, provides writers an opportunity to work on existing writing, new writing or book proposals with published environmental and nature writers. The workshop will include small group discussions, a daylong field trip, individual consultations and a public reading.

The registration fee for successful applicants is $250, which includes all activities and some meals. Details and a printable application are available on the Web site.

Oregon State University's Julie Green will present a lecture titled "After Tea and 'The Last Supper'" at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 31, at UM. The lecture will be held in McGill Hall Room 210 and is free and open to the public.

The visiting artist's lecture will focus on her recent paintings -- specifically "The Last Supper," which consists of mineral paint on porcelain plates illustrating 200 final meal requests of death row inmates in the United States.

The Weber State Wildcats battled hard for a shot at the Big Sky Conference title last Saturday night, but the Montana Lady Griz basketball team held its ground.

Led by the superb all-around play of point guard Lynsey Monaco, Montana defeated Weber 77-70 in front of 5,414 roaring fans at UM's Dahlberg Arena. Monaco, offered seams by Weber's gambling man-to-man defense, scored a career-high 21 points and dished out eight assists for Montana.

UM is hosting the six-team Big Sky tournament through Saturday. Montana and Weber, the top two seeds, receive byes into the semifinals today. This is the second straight year and the 16th time since the 1982-83 that Montana has hosted the Big Sky Conference tournament.

Thursday night saw matchups between No. 6 Sacramento State and No. 3 Northern Arizona as well as No. 5 Idaho State and No. 4 Eastern Washington. The winners from those games will play either No. 2 Weber State at 5:35 p.m. or No. 1 Montana at 7:35 p.m. tonight. Victors play for the championship at 4:05 p.m. Saturday.

The UM Women's Hockey Team will host a home tournament Saturday and Sunday, March 12-13.

All games are free to the public and will be played at Glacier Ice Rink at the Missoula fairgrounds.

The skating Grizzlies will take to the ice from 3:20 to 4:20 p.m. Saturday and again from 6 to 7 p.m. that evening. Then on Sunday they will play from 7:20 to 8:20 a.m. A hockey skills competition will be held from 10 to 10:40 a.m., and the tournament's championship game is scheduled for 1:40 to 2:40 p.m.

Club women's hockey started at UM in 2000 and participation has increased each year. The club now includes 24 women who play teams from Whitefish, Bozeman, Helena, Great Falls, Idaho, Washington, Utah and Canada.