Big Sky Conference

Colbert spurs Bobcats to comeback win over Idaho

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Marcus Colbert decided to take over once again.

Montana State’s senior point guard scored 17 straight points in the first half of MSU’s 85-71 win over Eastern Washington on Thursday. On Saturday, with his team fighting for air thanks to a physical but short-handed Idaho team, Colbert again proved why he is one of the Big Sky Conference’s best competitors.

MSU guard Marcus Colbert

MSU guard Marcus Colbert

With the Bobcats trailing 38-25 less than three minutes into the second half, Colbert hit sophomore Zach Green for a 3-pointer in rhythm. Two possessions later, Colbert hit a jumper from the baseline, his first of the afternoon. The swish sparked Colbert. The Gem State native caught fire, taking out any lingering hard feelings toward his in-state school that never gave the Post Falls native a scholarship offer.

Colbert scored 15 straight points, including drilling four 3-pointers in less than eight minutes as MSU turned a 13-point deficit into a three-point lead with 10 minutes, 35 seconds to play. Colbert finished with 23 points, including 21 after halftime as Montana State rallied for a 70-68 win over Idaho in front of 2,435.

“I feel like I have something to prove against every school to be honest so it’s no different for Idaho,” Colbert said. “I didn’t want to go to Idaho anyway.”

The Bobcats rode the momentum of Colbert’s shooting streak, overcoming a first half in which the team shot 27 percent. MSU’s ability to respond when in precarious positions continues thanks in large part to Colbert. The senior is averaging 17 points and 5.3 assists per game during his fourth and final season as MSU’s starting point guard.

“He’s a senior, he knows he’s down at the end of the rope and he is just so tough, so hard nosed,” MSU head coach Brian Fish following the 16th win of his career. “He’s just fun to coach. He was shooting 20 percent from 3 during league for a while there and he’s fought his way out of it. You have two ways to go when the ball isn’t going in: you get in the gym and shoot or you accept it and cry. He just keeps fighting. I love coaching him.”

MSU defenders Tyler Hall, Marcus Colbert & Tyson Kanseyo pressure Idaho guard Chris Sarbaugh

MSU defenders Tyler Hall, Marcus Colbert & Tyson Kanseyo pressure Idaho guard Chris Sarbaugh

The win sealed a weekend sweep hardly anyone saw coming. The Bobcats entered Thursday’s action on a three-game losing streak. Colbert scored 23 points each night and totaled 12 assists as Montana State earned its first home sweep in Fish’s two seasons at the helm. MSU enters a single-game week that culminates with rival Montana in Bozeman on Saturday with a 4-4 record in Big Sky play, 9-11 overall.

“Half way; that first half was ugly,” Colbert said when asked if MSU turned a corner with the weekend sweep. “We weren’t talking as well. We weren’t defending as well. We couldn’t score. But the second half we brought it. That gives us a little confidence but at the same time, we can’t come off a win like Thursday and in the first half, be sluggish. We have to bring it like that all game.”

Idaho, a 63-58 victor Thursday in Missoula over previously unbeaten Montana, played without its two best players. Junior point guard Perrion Calandret did not play either game during the Treasure State swing for the Vandals. Victor Sanders scored 27 points at UM but missed Saturday’s game with a hand injury. Idaho fell to 4-3 in league, 12-8 overall in the Vandals’ second season back in the Big Sky.

“I really think we took a huge step defensively,” Fish said. “We gave up 71 points to the highest scoring team in the league (EWU) and we gave up 68 points to a team that obviously had their hands tied behind their backs today.”

MSU guard Tyler Hall

MSU guard Tyler Hall

Montana State practiced with a sense of urgency unseen before this week. Fish conducted sessions that crept up on three hours and focused almost exclusively on defense and toughness. He hopes the result is a motivating factor as MSU enters rivalry week

“I don’t know if I’m as focused on the sweep as I liked how we prepared for the week to play,” Fish said. “We were a lot better defensively than we were two weeks ago last time we were at home. We had the hand on the ball, we were way more aggressive. I thought if we ever got our defense to somewhere in the same area code as our offense, we could become a good team and I thought this week was the best step we made.”

In the first half, Idaho used a packed zone defense to fluster Montana State. The Bobcats converted just 8-of-29 shots, including just 4-of-16 from beyond the arc. Quentin Everett scored nine of his 11 points before intermission. The Vandals took a 33-23 lead to the locker room behind a career-high 14 points from Nick Blair, a true freshman from Las Vegas playing extended minutes due to injuries.

After halftime, Idaho extended the margin to its largest before the Bobcats began their rally. Back-to-back Colbert layups capped a 19-5 run and gave MSU the 47-44 lead. Chad Sherwood’s second 3-poitner tied the game at 47. Then Colbert handed the reigns to his sidekick and Tyler Hall took his turn taking over the action.

MSU guard Tyler Hall

MSU guard Tyler Hall

The star true freshman hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to extend MSU’s lead to 53-47. Following Idaho’s fifth turnover in a 10-possession span, Colbert missed a 3-pointer toward the end of the shot clock but secured his own offensive rebound and found Gobeloglu for a trailing 3-pointer to give MSU its largest lead, 56-47 with 8:28 left.

“I think this win gives us momentum but it also shows us that even if you win a game, that doesn’t mean you are going to come out hot every game,” said Hall, still Montana State’s leading scorer (18 points per game). “We just have to keep pushing and preparing to compete every game.”

Idaho junior center Ty Egbert, a former club teammate of Colbert’s in the Spokane-Post Falls area, kept Idaho in the game down the stretch. The 6-foot-9 forward got MSU junior Tyson Kanseyo in foul trouble and punished injured senior captain Danny Robison underneath, scoring 11 straight points for the Vandals.

Hall battled foul trouble for the duration of the second half. With three minutes to play, Fish gambled, inserting Hall into the game with four fouls and MSU clinging to a 61-58 lead following an Egbert jump shot. Hall promptly buried his fifth 3-poitner of the game with 2:35 to play. He finished with 16 points.

“He was going to sit until the tied it and I was going to try to ride it as long as I could,” Fish said. “We had it at 3:48 and we got it down to three because of an offensive rebound. Breaking news: we aren’t very good when Tyler is over next to me. He’s a special player and he’s a helluva lot better on the floor.”

MSU forward Zach Green

MSU forward Zach Green

Pat Ingram’s layup in traffic cut the MSU lead to 66-62 with 90 seconds left and caused Idaho head coach Don Verlin to use his final timeout. Arkadily Mkrtychyan converted under the basket with 50 seconds left to cut the MSU lead to 68-64.

On the ensuing MSU possession, the Bobcats winded down nearly all of the 30-second shot clock before isolating Hall. His dagger attempted careened off the back rim and into Mkrtychyan’s hands. Blair’s layup cut the MSU lead to 68-66 with 12 seconds left. Colbert hit one of two free throws but Green secured the offensive rebound. Out of a jump ball, MSU got the ball to Hall, who hit 1-of-2 from the stripe to seal the win.

Montana State hosts Montana on Saturday. The Grizzlies are gunning for their 10th straight rivalry win. Will Bynum scored 22 points in a 73-67 win in Missoula to help Montana State secure the season sweep of the Grizzlies in 2010.

“This result is a selling point,” Fish said. “You need a little sugar every once in a while before the guys buy in. They found a way, they bought in and they will be more apt to want to get better on Monday. This is probably the best time in the world to have a few days off to get back. To have a couple of days with everyone feeling good with smiles, the students are back, our crowds have been going up, it’s certainly a fun time and we can enjoy it a couple of times before we start getting ready.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

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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