THE MATCHUP
The Montana State men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaker at home to upstart Eastern Washington on the last day of 2022 as Eastern Washington completed its Big Sky Conference opening Treasure State sweep by posting a 70-67 win at MSU last Saturday. Thursday, MSU played its first Big Sky road game at a Northern Colorado squad that got swept by Weber State and Idaho State to open league play.
THE RESULT
Unlike last year’s regular-season meetings between the Montana State men’s basketball team and the Northern Colorado Bears, no late heroics were needed on either side to pull out the victory. Montana State used its significant advantage on the block to pound the Bears in a contest the visitors never trailed. The Bobcats shot 57 percent and led by as many as 30 points with six minutes to play on the way to a 77-56 win over the struggling hosts.
Last season, Montana State beat UNC on a last-second buzzer-beater from Raequan Battle to secure the first regular-season Big Sky title for the program in 20 years.
THE STANDOUTS
The narrative entering the game was that MSU would have a distinct advantage in the post and in the paint against a UNC squad that favors filling the floor with shooters and spreading the perimeter. That narrative proved to be right on.
Montana State senior center Jubrile Belo dominated the block, scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds. Great Osobor, Belo’s sophomore backup, went 6-of-7 from the floor and scored 15 points to go with six rebounds. Sophomore forward Sam Lecholat also got in the action, scoring seven points and grabbing nine rebounds for the defending Big Sky Conference champion Bobcats.
Darius Brown II had 10 points and dished out seven of Montana State’s 16 assists as MSU moved to 9-7 overall. Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle picked up his 65th win of his head coaching career, moving into 10th place in school history at his alma mater.
Montana State outplayed Northern Colorado in nearly every facet of the game. The Bobcats out-shot the Bears by connecting on 56.9% of their field goals to UNC’s 38.3%, plus MSU connected on 28.6% of its threes compared to UNC’s 23.5%.
Defensively, the Bobcats were stellar. The Bobcats didn’t allow a made UNC three until the second half; the Bears went 4-for-17 (23.5%) from beyond the arc. And for the second time in league play, the Bobcats put the clamps down on another one of the Big Sky’s top scorers. Averaging 25.5 points per game going into Thursday night, the league’s leading scorer Dalton Knecht finished with 8 points on 4-for-11 shooting while failing to make a three.
QUOTABLE
“I thought our defensive performance was tremendous. Our guys were connected. Their defensive intent and engagement — especially after last Saturday — was on another level. For not having Patrick McMahon and Caleb Fuller (each injured), our guys took some ownership and played for them today.”
Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle on the Bobcat Sports Radio Network.
“When Northern Colorado goes small, they’re really hard to guard. When they went small, we had to go big because that worked to our advantage. We had to limit them from three, which is easier said than done, but our guys did a great job of it tonight.”
Danny Sprinkle
What’s next
Montana State plays at Northern Arizona on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Walkup Skydome. The Lumberjacks posted a 75-74 overtime win over Montana in Flagstaff on Thursday night.
