CHENEY, Washington — Tyler Hall has the ability to score 30 points as efficiently as any guard in college basketball. The problem for Montana State Bobcats is when Hall scores 30, the Bobcats do not win.
The trend continued here at Reese Court on Thursday night.
Mired in one of the worst offensive slumps of the Brian Fish era, things looked bleak for Montana State early on. The Bobcats missed 11 straight shots, did not convert a field goal for 11 minutes, 23 seconds and gave up a 23-5 run to enter halftime at Reese Court down 34-22 to Eastern Washington.
After halftime, the Bobcats turned to Hall to mount a feverish comeback. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard carried the scoring load quite literally. Hall put on a scoring display to remember, notching 17 straight points to help MSU turn a 15-point deficit into a one-point game with 10 minutes to play. Hall ended the night with 33 points, including 26 after halftime but it wasn’t enough.
Eastern Washington shot 61 percent, including 68.4 percent in an incredibly efficient second half to keep the Bobcats at bay with an 82-64 win in front of 1,380 on Thursday night.
Montana State sophomore Tyler Hall/ courtesy of EWU athletics
“The loss is frustrating,” said Hall, who is now 0-4 this season when scoring 30 and 0-6 in his career. “I don’t really care about the points, honestly.”
The win moves Eastern Washington to 8-0 at home this season. EWU is now 2-0 in Big Sky play, 10-5 overall, the first team in the league to reach double figure wins this winter.
“Montana State is a good basketball team and they are going to have a good year,” EWU sixth-year head coach Jim Hayford. “We’re going to see them again, and maybe another time in Reno. Tyler Hall is a very good player. They heated up at the beginning of the second half, but our guys showed great composure and were resilient.”
The loss drops Montana State to 1-2 in league play, 6-10 overall. MSU has lost eight of its last nine. MSU is 0-4 this season when Hall scores at least 30. The Bobcats have lost all six games Hall has surpassed 30 points in his already decorated career.
Hall is one of the most skilled scorers in all of college basketball. The reigning BSC Freshman of the Year entered the first conference road game of his sophomore year leading the Big Sky and tied for fifth in the country with 23.1 points per game. On Thursday, he converted 11-of-19 field, including 9-of-14 after halftime. Hall missed all three of his first-half 3-point attempts but drilled 5-of-8 from deep after halftime.
“He’s a good player but what is frustrating is we cut that game to one point, go to the free throw line, miss a free throw (Sam Neumann) that would’ve tied it and we give up an offensive rebound, get our hands on rebounds but don’t complete it,” Fish said. “We are playing through some adversity and we gave ourselves a chance with nine minutes to go. We have to finish it.”
EWU senior Jake Wiley posts up MSU sophomore Sam Neumann/ Courtesy of EWU athletics
Eastern Washington executed its offense with striking efficiency throughout the contest. The Eagles converted 29 of their 48 shots and 10 of their 16 tries from beyond the 3-point arc. EWU hit 14-of-21 after halftime, including 7-of-10 from deep.
On the rare occasion Eastern Washington did miss, stud center Jacob Wiley would help the Eagles secure possession. His five offensive rebounds led to all 14 of EWU’s second-chance points, including leading to four 3-pointers. Wiley finished with 10 rebounds overall and he earned four of his seven assists off of offensive boards.
“He’s real athletic and he’s awkward to guard,” Hall said. “He’s a quick big who is athletic, strong. Tough matchup. We have to step it up and get ready for Saturday.”
Montana State had no answer for Wiley from start to finish. The athletic 6-7 graduate transfer from Lewis & Clark State who spent his freshman year at Montana scored 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists. He converted 10 of 15 shots from the floor.
Eastern Washington sophomore Jesse Hunt finishes through contact/courtesy of EWU athletics
Neumann had a chance to tie the game at 49 with 10:15 left but missed the first of two free throws. But Wiley’s 3-point play sparked a 12-2 run, his assist to Jesse Hunt for another 3-point play extended it and his assist for a Cody Benzel’s third 3-pointer capped it as EWU pushed the advantage to 61-50 with eight minutes to play.
“Jacob Wiley was really good inside, but we also had huge minutes off the bench from Jesse,” said Hayford after Hunt scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. “When we were talking about how good we were going to be in the front-court this season, Jesse was a big part of the equation. He struggled through the non-conference schedule but he kept coming to work every day.”
Once Eastern Washington pushed the lead to 12, the Bobcats could not cut it under double digits for the final eight minutes of the game.
“Little things,” Hall said. “We were getting the stops but we weren’t completing them,” Hall said. “We were giving second-chance shots, we turned the ball over. The little things started to bite us when we cut it to one.”
Montana State sophomore Devonte Klines/ courtesy of EWU athletics
Sophomore Devonte Kines scored a career-high 14 points and played solid defense on Bliznyuk, a 6-6 point forward who entered the game averaging 20 points per game. He finished with eight points and three assists while battling foul trouble all night.
“They had a big height advantage and that was different for us,” Klines said. “One mistake, if one of us didn’t help or one of us got beat, it was difficult for us to get back and get stops.”
Hall drilled 3-pointers on four of six possessions, including the four-point play. Two of the triples came with EWU senior Felix Van Hofe’s hand in his face. Van Hofe answered both with 3s of his own. He finished 5-of-7 from deep for 19 points to keep EWU unbeaten in conference.
Hall and Klines combined to score 47 of MSU’s 64 points. Zach Green, MSU’s second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game, scored zero points and fouled out. Senior Quinton Everett, MSU’s fourth-leading scorer at 10.1 points per game, scored one point and missed all seven of his field goals. Harald Frey, MSU’s third-scorer at 11.8 points per game, finished with six points.
“They have a lot of fight and the thing is, there’s more fight than there was earlier,” Fish said. “There are four guys who are really fighting now. It’s going to go from four to five, from five to six. It’s going to grow. Once you do it, you won’t be scared of it.”
Montana State plays at Idaho on Saturday night in Moscow. Idaho lost at home to Montana 70-57 on Thursday.
