THE MATCHUP
The Montana State Bobcats lost their first game of 2022 in overtime at Eastern Washington on Thursday, 88-86. Southern Utah blew a 17-point lead with less than five minutes to play in a 100-95 loss to Northern Colorado on Monday its last time out. Saturday in Cedar City, Utah marked the first regular-season matchup between SUU and MSU in two years. The last time the two teams played, Montana State beat the top-seeded Thunderbirds in overtime in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament to advance to the championship game for the first time in 12 years.
THE RESULT
The first-place team in the Big Sky Conference earned a signature 76-71 win over Southern Utah to remain atop the league standings.
Montana State has now won 17 of its last 19 games and sits at 21-6, tied for the best start in MSU’s Big Sky history. MSU’s 13-2 league record marks the most wins in the Big Sky since helping found the league as a charter member in 1963. MSU has not won a Big Sky regular-season title since 2002 and has not advanced to the NCAA Tournament since 1996.
BIG SKY SCOREBOARD JANUARY 19, 2022
 Montana State76 |  Southern Utah71 | Final | Cedar City, Utah (Conf.) | Box Score |
 Eastern Washington80 |  Idaho83 | Final | Moscow, Idaho (Conf.) | Box Score |
 Sacramento State |  Idaho State | 6:00 p.m. MT | Pocatello, Idaho (Conf.) | TV: ESPN Stats Radio: KISU Audio Video |
 Northern Colorado |  Weber State | 6:00 p.m. MT | Ogden (Conf.) | TV: ESPN+ Stats Radio: 103.1 FM “The Wave” Video |
MONDAY GAMES
| Idaho State | Northern Colorado | 6:00 a.m. MT | Greeley, Colo. (Conf.) | TV: ESPN+ Stats Radio: 1310 KFKA/103.1 FM Audio Video |
| Southern Utah |  Northern Arizona | 6:00 p.m. MST | Flagstaff, Ariz. (Conf.) | TV: ESPN+ Stats Radio: Lumberjack Radio Network Video |
THE STANDOUTS
Montana State’s defense worked in synchronicity to hold Tevian Jones, a former Illinois transfer who almost went to MSU and the Big Sky preseason MVP entering this season, to three points. Jones went 1-of-9 from the floor, his only make a banked in 3-pointer late in the shot clock.
Montana State also flustered John Knight III, holding Southern Utah’s explosive super senior point guard to eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. RaeQuan Battle, who celebrated his birthday by scoring a season-high 17 points, also drew a charge on Knight late in the second half to help foul him out and send the mercurial, passionate power guard to the bench in frustration.
On the other end, the Bobcats traded turns making big shots and keeping the Thunderbirds on their heels all afternoon. Coming off overtime against an SUU team that hadn’t played since Monday, MSU still looked like the tougher and more conditioned team, shooting 51 percent and dominating the battle on the boards 37-22.
Senior point guard Xavier Bishop scored a team-high 19 points while playing all 40 minutes of action. Battle hit all eight of his free throws and senior Abdul Mohamed hit all six of his free throws as MSU went 18-of-19 from the charity stripe.
Junior center Jubrile Belo, who scored 12 points, and Mohamed led MSU with seven rebounds each while freshman Great Osobor grabbed six.
QUOTABLE
“We did an unbelievable job on Tevian Jones, who might be the hardest guard in the league. He’s 6-foot-7, he can shoot it and the whole ability to hold them off the 3-point line was unbelievable.
“All our guys, they contributed and you can’t say enough about the fight, especially after an emotional game on Thursday.”
Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle
“The rebounding was huge and we knew it was going to be. Jones, John Knight, those guys take a lot of shots at the rim and we knew a lot of those shots were going to come off the rim so we had to corral them. That’s when they get a lot of those 3s. They get offensive rebounds and they kick it out and that’s when they are dangerous.”
Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle
“There’s no time to mellow out. The (Big Sky) championship game is just a few hours away from being exactly 21 days away. We have to improve every day over those 21 days.”
Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle
| SCHOOL | CONF | PCT | OVERALL | PCT | HOME | AWAY | NEUTRAL | STREAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana State | 13-3 | 0.813 | 21-6 | 0.778 | 10-1 | 9-5 | 2-0 | W1 |
| Weber State | 12-4 | 0.750 | 19-8 | 0.704 | 9-4 | 7-4 | 3-0 | W1 |
| Southern Utah | 10-5 | 0.667 | 16-9 | 0.640 | 10-3 | 4-6 | 2-0 | L2 |
| Northern Colorado | 9-5 | 0.643 | 14-12 | 0.538 | 7-3 | 6-8 | 1-1 | L1 |
| Montana | 10-6 | 0.625 | 17-10 | 0.630 | 13-1 | 4-9 | 0-0 | L1 |
| Eastern Washington | 8-7 | 0.533 | 14-12 | 0.538 | 7-3 | 7-8 | 0-1 | W3 |
| Portland State | 7-9 | 0.438 | 9-15 | 0.375 | 5-7 | 4-8 | 0-0 | W1 |
| Northern Arizona | 5-10 | 0.333 | 9-17 | 0.346 | 5-7 | 4-9 | 0-1 | L2 |
| Idaho | 4-11 | 0.267 | 7-18 | 0.280 | 6-6 | 1-10 | 0-2 | W2 |
| Idaho State | 4-11 | 0.267 | 6-18 | 0.250 | 5-6 | 1-12 | 0-0 | W1 |
| Sacramento State | 2-13 | 0.133 | 6-16 | 0.273 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 1-0 | L6 |
BOX SCORE
SOCIAL
WHAT’S NEXT
Southern Utah plays rival NAU on Monday. Montana State plays at Montana on Sunday, February 27. The Bobcats beat the Griz for the first time since 2016 earlier this season in Bozeman.
