The 1997 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 7–9 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
[2] Pacific defeated Nevada in the championship game, 63–55, to obtain the first Big West Conference men's basketball tournament championship in school history.
The Tigers participated in the 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament after earning the conference's automatic bid.
Eight of the 12 teams in the conference participated, with Cal Poly, Idaho, North Texas, and UC Irvine not qualifying.
The top eight teams were seeded based on regular season conference records.