Big Sky Conference

Bobcats want to put rivalry loss behind them at NAU

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Tyler Hall and Harald Frey slumped into their seats at the post-game press conference, the disappointment of their recently finished rivalry loss painted on their faces.

Montana State had battled for 30 minutes with the rival Grizzlies of Montana in Missoula. But a lack of help defense under the basket combined with an inability to stay in front of UM’s stellar sophomore guard duo of Ahmaad Rorie and Michael Oguine led to a 90-84 win by the hosts, the Grizzlies’ 13th straight over MSU.

The loss to a rival is always demoralizing but MSU’s dissatisfaction heightened because the defeat snapped MSU’s five-game winning streak, the longest surge of Brian Fish’s three-year tenure.

Montana State head coach Brian Fish/ by Brooks Nuanez

Montana State head coach Brian Fish/ by Brooks Nuanez

The Bobcats stay on the road this weekend with one of the Big Sky Conference’s toughest trips in terms of travel. Montana State plays at Northern Arizona on Thursday night before taking on Southern Utah in Cedar City on Saturday afternoon. Fish’s message to his team is to not let the displeasure caused by Saturday’s rivalry loss trickle into this weekend and affect his team’s mentality when taking on a pair of teams with a combine five league victories.

“You try not to put too much more emphasis on it because it’s just one of 18 (conference games),” Fish said on Tuesday. “It is a demoralizing loss because when the kids walk across campus, that’s the team everybody wants them to beat. But at the same time, it’s not like an AP class where it’s a weighted class. It’s one win, it’s one loss and we have to move on.”

The battle in the Big Sky for a top five finish and the first-round bye in the Big Sky Tournament that comes with it is officially entering the stretch run. Montana’s win pulls them into a tie for fifth with MSU at 6-5 in league play with the same road trip upcoming. Weber State is a game and a half ahead of Eastern Washington and North Dakota at 9-1. EWU and UND, both 8-3, play in Grand Forks on Thursday. Idaho is alone in fourth at 7-4 with games at Northern Colorado and UND upcoming this week.

Southern Utah won at NAU and Northern Colorado to open league play but the Thunderbirds have lost nine straight since. Northern Arizona owns quality wins over Portland Sate, Northern Colorado and North Dakota in Flagstaff but is 0-6 on the road in conference play to sit at 3-8. NAU is in 11th place in the Big Sky standings while Southern Utah is alone in 12th.

Montana State sophomore Devonte Klines corrals a rebound after a missed dunk by Montana sophomore Michael Oguine/by Jason Bacaj

Montana State sophomore Devonte Klines corrals a rebound after a missed dunk by Montana sophomore Michael Oguine/by Jason Bacaj

Montana State is a definitive favorite for the first time since its win over Northern Colorado in Bozeman on January 14. But the Bobcats aren’t buying into what this week’s matchups look like on paper.

“That’s what you do on Sundays, look at that stuff,” Fish said. “You don’t let yourself get too far caught up into it because you think this team will win there, this team will win there and that never happens. You have to focus on yourself to get the next one.”

In the guard-heavy Big Sky, only Idaho and Sacramento State have the ability to go big like NAU does. The return of senior center Jordyn Martin, the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year two years ago before missing last season with a torn ACL, has helped anchor the Lumberjacks’ interior defense. He is NAU’s leading scorer (12.4 points per game) and the top rebounder in the Big Sky at 8.8 per game, including 9.6 in conference play.

NAU fifth-year head coach Jack Murphy said, outside of EWU senior Jacob Wiley, he feels Martin stacks up with any big man in the league. Murphy said Martyn’s return has been a key when NAU has found success because of his ability to defend in the post but also defend on the perimeter against teams who play guard-heavy lineups like Montana State is sure to on Thursday.

“Jordyn being a dynamic defender helps us because Jordyn is able to matchup with a guy like (MSU junior) Zach Green or other guards for stretches and not really hurt us defensively,” Murphy said. “He’s not the quickest guy but he’s so smart. He has great footwork and knows where he’s supposed to be. And offensively, it puts some stress on the defense having to guard a guy of Jordyn’s size and rebounding ability. Jordyn has shown with teams that play smaller that he can take advantage.”

Northern Arizona sophomore Marcus DeBerry, pictured here at the Big Sky Tournament last spring/ by Brooks Nuanez

Northern Arizona sophomore Marcus DeBerry, pictured here at the Big Sky Tournament last spring/ by Brooks Nuanez

Murphy has employed a lineup that includes 6-foot-1 junior Kye De Laveaga and 6-5 sophomore Marcus DeBerry in the back court paired with 6-7 true freshman Chris Bowling up front with Martin and hulking 6-foot-8, 295-pound senior Ako Kaluna. Kaluna had one of his best games as a Lumberjack in NAU’s 86-80 loss at Weber last week, scoring a team-high 25 points and grabbing nine rebounds against Weber’s talented front line of Zach Braxton, Kyndahl Hill and Jordan Dallas.

“They beat North Dakota (68-67) two weeks ago, somebody who pounds you on the boards, so you know they can rebound,” Fish said. “They have been very effective at pounding teams inside. They can score very well. (Mike) Green comes off the bench and has been probably as good as anybody off the bench.”

Green, a slashing 5-10 sophomore, is actually averaging 1/10th of a point per game more than Martyn but has played in two less games. His 12.5 points per game is third in the Big Sky among bench scorers, trailing Portland State swingman Deontae North (14.2) and Northern Colorado sharpshooter D.J. Miles (12.8).

MSU will counter NAU’s size with one of the fastest attacks in the league. The Bobcats play 6-foot-5 sophomore Sam Neumann its starting center while the 6-4 Green plays power forward. MSU’s backcourt consists of 6-1 freshman point guard Harald Frey, 5-11 sophomore defensive specialist Devonte Klines and 6-5 super scoring sophomore Tyler Hall.

The improved play of Frey during his rookie season has gone hand in hand with MSU’s recent surge. The southpaw from Oslo, Norway is averaging just shy of 16 points and 2.4 assists per game in Big Sky play. He is shooting 52 percent from the floor and 51 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

“He’s gotta be Freshman of the Year in the league,” Murphy said. “He’s outstanding. He’s second in the league in true shooting percentage in conference games. He’s hitting a high percentage of shots from 3 and from 2, from the free throw line. He seems to play with a good pace and feel. He’s an outstanding young guard. I would think he’s entrenched there as the starting point guard for years to come.”

Stay with the ‘Cats & the Griz at Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada March 5-12

Stay with the ‘Cats & the Griz at Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada March 5-12

The Bobcat rotation — including senior Quinton Everett providing quality minutes as the sixth man and raw 6-9 junior Benson Osayande occasionally showing flashes — has had no problem scoring. But Montana State is giving up nearly 80 points per game, something that the Griz exploited by isolating Rorie and Oguine for the duration of the final 10 minutes in Missoula. Fish hopes that changes at Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff on Thursday night.

“I thought against Montana, our help side defense was awful,” Fish said. “It wasn’t as bad on the ball. We put guys on islands and we didn’t give them much help.

“Our Achilles heel has been when we put teams on the free throw line more than us. We stopped guarding, started fouling and tried to do it through offense (at Montana). That’s just not who we have been the last month and that’s something we have to get back to.”

 

 

 

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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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