Big Sky Conference

Bobcats go cold, fall victim to Sac upset in Reno

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RENO, Nevada — The Bobcats have lived and died by the 3-point shot all season. On Tuesday in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament, missed shots from beyond the arc killed Montana State’s season.

MSU converted just 6-of-28 shots from beyond the arc. Junior Sarp Gobeloglu drilled four of his five attempts from deep, meaning the normally reliable Tyler Hall, Marcus Colbert and Quinton Everett combined to shoot 1-of-16 from deep.

Montana State’s inability to convert from distance combined with Sacramento State’s relentless intensity and the standout play of sophomore Justin Strings led to the first upset of the Big Sky Tournament as the 10th-seeded Hornets moved on with a 79-75 upset of the seventh-seeded Bobcats.

MSU guard Marcus Colbert

MSU guard Marcus Colbert

“We live and die by the three,” said Colbert, who finished his final game with 16 points and five assists. “We can’t let that define us. We have to figure out how to defend. We wanted to attack the basket a little more tonight but we just settled a little too much.”

Strings scored 25 points and hit big shots in big moments all evening. Senior Cody Demps scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, including four offensive boards as Sac State dominated the offensive glass, grabbing 11 offensive rebounds and scoring 15 second chance points. And Sacramento State won the battle of two of the hardest playing teams in the league.

“This was just like the other two games against them (both Montana State wins),” said Sac State head coach Brian Katz, who’s moved to 14-17 with the win. “They were just brawls. They played so hard. They play harder than anyone in the league. We came out and played harder and that was the different today.”

Sacramento State set the tone early, grabbing five offensive rebounds and scoring seven second-chance points in the game’s first eight minutes. Of Sac’s 11 offensive rebounds, four led to 3-pointers.

“The No. 1 thing in their mind was to establish physicality early on,” MSU head coach Brian Fish said. “They got four of the five first rebounds and got us on our heels. We settled too much for jumpers and shot 28 3s instead of driving it at the basket. There is a team over there in Sac State that has been in the tournament and the experience showed in that game.”

Sac St. forward Justin Strings boxes out MSU forward Zach Green

Sac St. forward Justin Strings boxes out MSU forward Zach Green

Montana State shot a league-high 729 3-pointers in the regular season. MSU converted from deep at 37.8 percent, second in the league. When the Bobcats were hot, they were among the most dangerous teams in the conference. In a 101-58 win over Northern Arizona, Montana State hit a Big Sky-record 25 3-pointers.

On Tuesday, Montana State ran its offense against Sac’s 2-3 zone with good ball movement. MSU got good look after good look. But Everett missed all five of his attempts and never looked confident, Colbert missed all five of his attempts and couldn’t find his rhythm. Hall was hounded by Demps for the duration of the game.

“Of the 28 3s, I thought 25 of them were good looks,” Fish said. “We might’ve forced a few but at the end of the day, they were open 3-pointers.”

Despite missing 14 of its first 17 attempts from beyond the arc, MSU’s ability to convert in the paint helped the Bobcats earn its largest lead late in the first half. Gobeloglu, who finished with 16 points off the bench, hit a 3-pointer to give MSU a 25-20 advantage with 5:37 until halftime.

With a sizeable contingent of Hornets fans in the stands — Sacramento is less than two hours from Reno and the announced attendance was 1,723 — Strings and the Hornets responded with a 16-6 run to close the half. Strings scored six points during the spurt as Sac took a 36-31 lead to the locker room.

MSU forward Zach Green

MSU forward Zach Green

“The crowd had a huge influence and it was great having the fan base behind us,” said Strings, an honorable mention All-Big Sky selection. “It’s great having the tournament in Reno because our fans and parents can come to really lift us.”

Demps drilled his lone 3-pointer midway through the second half to give Sac its biggest lead, 61-49. Demps dished out five assists to go with his 15 points while rerouting Hall all evening. He did not play in Sac State’s first two matchups against MSU.

“I felt Cody might be able to be the league MVP this year but that didn’t materialize,” Katz said of his oft-injured star. “When you have a guy who knows your system who knows your system who has been successful, it’s going to make a difference.

Zach Green hit Montana State’s first 3-pointer of the second half to cap a 9-2 MSU run that cut it to five. Colbert hit buckets in the lane to cut the lead to three points on two different occasions in the last five minutes. Gobeloglu hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 75-71 with 30 seconds left and another triple to cut it to 77-75 with seven seconds left but Nick Hornsby put the game on ice.

Sacramento State moves on to face second-seeded Montana in the quarterfinals at 5:35 p.m. PST on Thursday evening.

“It’s a tall order,” Katz said. “I think Travis DeCuire is an excellent young coach. They have three things that are a problem. Great low post game, a great shooter in (Brandon) Gfeller and they have three guys who can drive the ball. We have our hands full.”

Montana State’s season ends with a 14-17 record. The Bobcats were up and down all season, never winning more than three in a row and suffering just one four-game losing streak. In the end, when the Bobcats were hot, they had a chance. On Monday, they were not.

MSU guard Marcus Colbert

MSU guard Marcus Colbert defended by Sac St. guard Cody Demps

Colbert finished the evening with 16 points and five assists, boosting his career totals to 1,372 and 453, respectively. He finishes his career as the 11th-leading scorer and second-leading assist man in MSU history.

“That’s not how we wanted to end the season, that’s for sure,” Colbert said. “But I’m happy I was able to play with this group of guys and this coaching staff. I feel blessed and I’m excited to see what the program has moving forward.”

Fish will continue to build around Hall, the Big Sky Freshman of the Year. He also returns all but Colbert and senior Danny Robison from a promising core.

“It’s never fun to lose but I liked how hard our guys played,” Fish said. “They made one or two more plays than us. If it’s an upset, this is my fault but my guys played hard, our team competes. We have to get some mileage on these guys to see the tournament. We have a lot of bridges to cross to get this program where we need to be and I think this was another bridge. Had we won it, I thought it was a good one. To lose it, we have a chance to learn a lot because if this doesn’t motivate you through the summer for what it takes, we are in trouble for next year. I don’t think my guys will forget this.”

 

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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