BOZEMAN — Brian Fish knew his team would have to adjust to a new rotation after the abrupt departure of their most productive bench scorer. Montana State’s head coach didn’t plan on adjusting to replace the scoring of their star.
After playing 11 games in 30 days, Montana State’s men’s basketball team took its first extended break, eight days between games to focus on finals. During the week off, standout freshman Isaac Bonton abruptly left the program. The Portland product was averaging more than eight points in nearly 19 minutes per game off the bench.
Without Bonton, Fish adjusted his rotation to include freshman Lassi Nikkarinen playing elevated minutes behind sophomore point guard Harald Frey. Senior center Benson Osayande also found more minutes on Monday as the Bobcats returned to the hardwood against Denver.
Those adjustments were part of the plan. Navigating the final non-conference home game of the season with leading scorer Tyler Hall on the bench with foul trouble was not.
Montana State guard Tyler Hall (3)/by Brooks Nuanez
Hall, MSU’s leading scorer (19.3 points per game entering the game), drilled his first two 3-point attempts as MSU jumped out to an 11-5 lead over the visiting Pioneers. But he picked up two fouls and sat for all but seven minutes in the first half. After halftime, the fouls continued piling up, including a controversial technical foul on a blocked shot and Hall fouled out for just the fourth time in 74 games as a Bobcat. He finished with eight points in 13 minutes.
Montana State did not bat an eye. Instead, Frey stepped into a scoring roll, netting 20 points for the sixth time in his short MSU career. Junior forward Keljin Blevins scored 13 points, junior guard Devonte Klines scored 12 points and spearheaded a MSU defense that forced 28 Denver turnovers and Montana State posted a wire-to-wire 79-65 victory in front of 2,200 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Monday night.
“I was so proud of the guys who come of the bench and played those minutes,” Fish said. “We had a lot of guys that hadn’t played that many minutes and hadn’t been in that situation.
“A lot of guys contributed tonight other than the guys we sometimes ride to get us there.”
The victory moves Montana State to 7-5 this season with a Thursday game at Omaha remaining on the non-conference schedule. The Bobcats beat the Mavericks 88-81 in overtime in Great Falls in the season opener for both teams. The loss drops Denver to 5-8, including 0-5 in true road games.
Montana State forward Keljin Blevins (2)/by Brooks Nuanez
“It for sure wasn’t a pretty game, but Coach always talks about finding a way to win and we are going adversity in one way or another and tonight it was foul trouble,” Frey said. “I fouled a lot, Tyler fouled a lot but we had guys stepping up. We had that next guy up mentality and we did it as a team.”
Frey, the reigning Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year, showed initiative attacking the rim and spotting up beyond the arc. He missed his first three 3-pointer before drilling two in a row during a 13-2 run that helped Montana State open a 37-23 lead just before halftime, MSU’s biggest of the night.
“I like how Coach is getting other people involved and forcing some other younger guys to step up and take a role of being a bigger part of the team,” Blevins said. “I feel like we did a good job of that tonight.”
The two sequences that led to Frey’s first two 3s — he finished 4-of-11 from beyond the arc — included extra passes from Blevins. Frey also finished with six of MSU’s 12 assists.
“We want Harry to be more aggressive,” Fish said. “We want Harry to take 13 to 15 shots a game. Tonight, he had 14. I’m not sure if I was the opposing coach if I’d want Harry get the looks he got because he’s not going to miss that many the second time around. He just kept fighting.
Montana State guard Harald Frey (5)/by Brooks Nuanez
“He’s such a good kid that sometimes when he misses shots early, he walks away from it. Today, I thought he was engaged the whole time.”
In a game with 53 fouls — 28 on Denver, 27 on MSU — Frey buoyed the Bobcats at the line as well. He hit all six of his free throw attempts, including four in the last 90 seconds to ice the victory. MSU made 22-of-27, about 10 percentage points better than their average from the stripe coming into the game. Denver made 24-of-33 free throws.
“It was tough, never got any flow,” Fish said. “It will be an interesting film watch. We couldn’t get any flow. I don’t know…I have to watch my words.”
Denver guard Joe Rosga, a former prep teammate of MSU junior forward Sam Neumann, scored nine of his 15 points after halftime, including drilled a 15-foot pull-up jump shot with two minutes, 23 seconds left to cut the lead to 66-63.
From there, Frey scored seven points, including answering the Rosga pull up with a 3-pointer rom the top of the key. His last free throws pushed the lead to 73-63 with 1:04 left before he too fouled out. Senior Joe Mvuezolo and Blevins each hit a pair from the stripe in the final minute as the Bobcats hit 10 straight free throws down the stretch.
Montana State guard Devonte Klines (10)/by Brooks Nuanez
“Everyone in the country knows Tyler is our main guy but the other guys, we have to step up,” Frey said. “Everyone can’t have a good day always, especially when you have five fouls. It’s tough to produce points. We needed someone to step up and I thought I’d do my part.”
Less than four minutes into the second half, Hall endured heavy contact on a 3-point attempt but did not receive a foul call. The preseason Big Sky MVP sprinted to the other end and blocked an Ade Murkey jump shot. He let out a scream of celebration and frustration. He was called for a technical foul, his third personal of the game. He picked up his fourth foul with 13:49 left and sat on the bench until 7:31 remained. He picked up his fifth foul on a questionable offensive foul call with 5:07 left.
“Tyler is supposed to be on the floor for 32 minutes so you lose a 16-minute rotation,” Fish said. “He got fouls so fast. I thought the rotations and movements were good considering the guys we normally have out there weren’t out there as much. It’s the old NFL backup quarterback deal. Sometimes, you have to step up and make plays and our guys stepped up.”
The Bobcats led from opening tip to final buzzer despite shooting just 38.7 percent overall, including making 9-of-29 from beyond the arc. MSU allowed a 13-2 Denver run to open the second half and shot 36 percent after halftime, including 3-of-13 from deep. MSU also lost the battle of the glass 42-30. Jake Pemberton hit 6-of-9 shots and scored 20 points to lead the Pioneers.
Montana State guard Lassi Nikkarinen (33)/by Brooks Nuanez
Still, the Bobcats have seven wins in the non-conference for the first time in 10 years. MSU will look for an eight victory Thursday night in Omaha. Montana State opens up Big Sky Conference play at Southern Utah on December 28.
“It’s building,” Fish said. “I don’t want to get a sour note because I’m very happy with the win but I don’t think we are nearly to where we can be yet. We have time to grow and get better. We are finally healthy to a degree, we are able to practice and we can smooth some things out.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.”
