Game Recap

Frey sparks Bobcats’ offensive outburst against ISU

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BOZEMAN — With Brandon Boyd and the Idaho State Bengals getting to the rim at will and Brian Fish about to explode with frustration on the Bobcat sideline, Harald Frey took the game into his own hands.

The Montana State junior point guard has received a particularly noticeable amount of extra attention from defenses across the Big Sky Conference this season. He’s been tremendous at times — a 31-point outing in a win over Washington State, 25 points in a win over Portland State — but he’s also struggled with his shot, especially as of late.

Thursday, Frey went 4-of-17 from the floor in MSU’s 93-84 home loss to first-place Weber State.

Idaho State took a shot 10 seconds of less into the possession on nine consecutive trips up the court, scoring eight times thanks to Boyd’s ability to get to the rim. Montana State’s 15-point lead evaporated into a two-possession game.

With the host Bobcats clinging to a 61-57 lead with 13 minutes, 16 seconds to play, Frey converted in the lane. That bucket sparked a scoring outburst for the southpaw combo guard.

The Oslo, Norway native hit his next four shots, including three from behind the arc. His 28-footer on a trailing play assisted by MSU senior Tyler Hall stretched Montana State’s lead to 85-71. Frey scored 21 points in the second half and tied a career high with 31 overall to pace Montana State to a 104-84 victory in front of 3,140 at Brick Breedin Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

Montana State guard Harald Frey (5) in the open court with Idaho State guard Balint Mocsan (20) defending/by Brooks Nuanez

“Not unexpected, good player who can do that but his mental aspect of that game is way bigger than 31 points, five assists,” Fish said. “He got us going, he got going down hill, attacking the basket, making plays, playing at a different pace.”

Last season in Bozeman, the Bengals drilled 17 3-pointers and scored 101 points in a 23-point win. The Bobcats returned the favor on Thursday thanks to Frey’s scorching shooting .

“It’s a great feeling,” said Frey after committing zero turnovers and dished out five assists. “They are a good team and I think in this league, anything can happen. You have everyone beating everyone. You have to be ready every single day. I think this is a great win and it gives us some momentum, something to build on.”

In a game that would make any defensive-minded head coach blush, the teams traded buckets from the outset. During the feverish stretch before Frey took over, Boyd scored 11 points in less than three minutes on a night the talented junior scored 17 second half points and 21 overall to pace the Bengals.

“He was certainly upset he didn’t start because he came at us and got going,” Fish said. “I love his competitiveness. I think he’s a really good player. Bill has coached a lot of games, really good coach. He was probably trying to jolt his lineup. Boyd responded. He was very aggressive and was an impressive player.”

But once Frey took initiative, it sparked the Bobcats. He went to the bench after his third deep 3-pointer in as many tries, opening the door for Hall to take his turn at lighting up Idaho State’s uninterested defense.

The Big Sky all-time scoring leader buried 3-pointers on back-to-back trips to extend the gap to 91-73, MSU’s largest lead, with 6:30 left. Hall hit 4-of-10 from beyond the arc to add to his Big Sky all-time mark. He finished with 26 points.

Montana State guard Harald Frey at the rim with Idaho State guard Balint Mocsan (20) defending/by Brooks Nuanez

Frey hit eight of his 12 shots in the second half and 12 of 20 overall. He buried six total 3-pointers, including five in the second half.

“The basket definitely felt big and there was good screens, good passes and I kept getting open,” Frey said. “That makes basketball easy. You just have to put it in the hoop.

“I don’t think there’s a secret recipe for when I play good or bad. I just try to stay consistent regardless of if I play good or bad, just get in the gym, get up the reps. That’s what my teammates keep telling me: keep shooting the ball when you’re open. I tried to feed off of that. Tonight, they were falling.”

The Bengals have not lost four straight. Opponents have shot at least 55 percent in each of the four games. Three of those games have been played since Monday during the Big Sky’s first 20-game schedule.

Idaho State is 3-6 in league play, 7-11 overall in its seventh season under veteran head coach Bill Evans.

“They are a really good offensive team and Coach Fish does a really good job of coaching his team that way,” Evans said. “They are really good offensively. I knew we’d have to score some points if we wanted to win. I thought 84 would’ve been enough.

“But they made some incredible shots. Their guards are as good as any guards in this league.”

Balint Mocsan and the Bengals blitzed the Bobcats at the beginning of the game at the Brick. Mocsan hit all three of his 3-pointers in the first seven minutes and scored 12 of ISU’s first 15 points. The Bengals began the game on a 7-2 run. Mocsan finished 10-of-12 for 25 points.

MSU senior Sam Neumann, who scored 13 points against Idaho State last season, scored eight of MSU’s first 18 points and finished with a season-high 12 points. He had a pair of free throws during a run that helped MSU open up a 10-point lead.

Montana State forward Sam Neumann (4) blows past Idaho State forward Kelvin Jones (35)/by Brooks Nuanez

Following MSU’s loss to Weber State, Fish ripped into his team’s defensive effort. The Wildcats made 12 of their first 18 shots and shot 55 percent overall. On Saturday, ISU shot 59.1 percent in the first half but the Bobcats entered the break with a 44-35 lead thanks in part to 13 ISU turnovers.

The Bobcats scored 20 points on those turnovers in the first half. Hall scored 12 points, Frey scored 10 points and Neumann grabbed eight of his nine rebounds before halftime.

Montana State started the second half on a 7-2 run to open up a 15-point lead. But Boyd, who came off the bench after the break, came back in four minutes into the second period and ripped off 11 straight points as part of a 16-5 ISU spurt. A Blake Truman 3-pointer cut the gap to 56-52 with 14:46 left.

Frey hit his first of three 3-pointers in three minutes on the ensuing possession. The Bobcats were off and running.

Montana State made 22 of its 34 shots in the second half, including nine of its 15 tries from beyond the arc. Frey went 5-of-8 from deep while Hall went 3-of-5 in the second half alone.

“The ball movement was really good,” Fish said. “We got that 15-point lead, lost a little bit of our sense of urgency that had been so good. On the other hand, they certainly attacked us so credit them on that. But we regrouped and we got it.”

The Bobcats hit 12 3-pointers all told. MSU dished out 20 assists, including five each from Frey and Neumann as part of an attack that saw MSU sink 41 of its 71 shots as the Bobcats snapped a three-game losing streak.

Montana State forward Keljin Blevins (2) shoots in the lane over Idaho State defender Jared Stutzman (21)/by Brooks Nuanez

“Our offense is going to come,” said MSU senior power forward Keljin Blevins after a 16-point outing. “Tonight, we scored 100 points. Our offense is going to be there every game. It’s been our defense that has been lacking. That’s what it came down to tonight.”

Montana State now enters preparation for the first week of February and the final rivalry game against Montana for Hall, Blevins and Neumann. The Bobcats took the Griz down in Bozeman two years ago to snap a 13-game losing streak. But UM has won three straight since then, including sweeping the ‘Cats last season.

Montana won 67-52 in Bozeman before ripping MSU 90-63 in Missoula. The last Cat-Griz matchup marked the second-largest margin of victory in the rivalry.

“We all know how big that game is but then again, it’s just another game,” Frey said. “It’s the next game now so it’s important to us. But this was a big win for us, giving us some momentum, stopping that losing streak going into next week for sure.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved. 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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