Jed Miller dropped 20 points for the fourth time this season, and Patrick McMahon added a near-double-double of 19 points and nine rebounds as Montana State won its third straight game, 74-62, over Idaho State on Thursday night.
The Bobcats moved to 12-8 overall and 6-1 in Big Sky play with the victory, winning their sixth straight contest at home and pushing their overall winning streak to three games. The Cats have now won 14 of their last 15 matchups against the Bengals, including each of the last three contests.
“They played like great seniors do – like all-conference seniors do,” head coach Matt Logie said of McMahon and Miller. “They’ve got ownership in this deal, so they know when it’s time to step up and make big plays, and they certainly did that tonight.”
The two teams played a tight ballgame early, with Montana State leading, 9-5, heading into the first media timeout before the half turned into a game of runs. Montana State pushed their lead to 14-7 on a 5-2 run before the Bengals countered with six-straight points to trim the Bobcats’ lead to 14-13 at the 10:57 mark. Montana State pushed their lead back to six points three times over the next four minutes and led 30-24 with just under six minutes left in the first half.
Idaho State countered with a 10-2 run to take their first lead since the first two minutes capping off the run with a three-pointer, two free throws, and a layup to take a 34-32 advantage at the 2:07 mark. That was the last time the Bengals would lead as the Cats scored six-straight points to lead, 38-34 at halftime. McMahon and Miller led the Bobcats with nine points each in the half as Montana State shot 42.4% from the floor to Idaho State’s 44.4%.
Idaho State sunk the first two buckets coming out of the break to tie the game at 38, but McMahon and Davian Brown countered with a pair of layups to push the lead to 42-38, at the 17:20 mark. The Bobcats slowly increased their lead to seven points, 51-44, over the next several minutes as McMahon led the way with three more buckets by the 13:59 mark. After an ISU bucket in response, the Bobcats used a game-high 8-0 run to push their lead to 13 points, 59-46, with 11:18 left in regulation. From there, the Bengals countered with eight-straight points to bring their deficit back to five, 59-54, at the 6:43 mark. That was the closest the Bengals would come for the remainder of the game as Miller knocked down a three to shift the momentum with 5:05 to play, sparking a 12-4 run to put the Cats back up by 13, 71-58, with 1:31 to play. The Bobcats went on to win, 74-62, as the Bobcats shot 45.2% from the floor and an impressive 54.5% (6-of-11) from three in the final 20 minutes while outrebounding Idaho State, 20-13, in the second half.
Montana State outshot Idaho State, 43.8% to 40.7%, in the contest and held the Bengals to just 28.0% from downtown. The Bobcats led for 34 minutes, scored 13 points off nine ISU turnovers, and tallied 13 fast-break points to Idaho State’s seven.
Miller posted his fourth 20-point game of the season, all of which have come in Big Sky play, with a 6-of-11 shooting performance for 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, and one steal. McMahon tallied an impressive 19 points, a career-high nine rebounds, and one assist to finish just one board short of his first career double-double. Brown tallied his third-straight double-digit scoring effort with 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
