Big Sky Conference

Hall hoping to capitalize on breakout Big Sky debut

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Brian Fish admits even he finds himself watching Tyler Hall when Montana State’s newest star finds his zone.

Fish, who on the surface seems to never stop coaching, found himself captivated on the inside during the second half of Montana State’s 83-82 win over Wyoming in Billings earlier this season. Hall scored 18 of his 24 down the stretch, including drilling two different go-ahead jump shots in the game’s final four minutes.

MSU head coach Brian Fish works with Tyler Hall in practice

MSU head coach Brian Fish works with Tyler Hall in practice

In Cedar City, Utah last weekend, Fish was too busy trying to get his Bobcats to play defense to be captivated by Hall, but everyone else in attendance or watching live certainly was. Hall drilled five 3-pointers and half of his 25 shots overall as he scored 36 points in a 93-82 loss to Southern Utah, the most by any player in the Big Sky this season.

“Sometimes, you just sit back and watch him play and he grabs the moment,” Fish said. “He grabbed it in Billings against Wyoming and he did it this weekend.”

Just when Fish or anyone else gets lost in the enamor of Hall’s mystique, small reminders spring up to remind those who follow the Big Sky Conference that Hall is just halfway through his first collegiate season.

Less than 48 hours after Hall’s memorable Big Sky Conference debut — an all-time record for points in a game by a Montana State freshman — Hall hit a rookie wall. Playing at 7,200 feet at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Arizona, Hall missed eight of his first nine shots and scored just two points in the first half as MSU entered the locker room trailing Northern Arizona 27-24.

“Coach Fish talked to me at halftime and my preparation before the game wasn’t really good,” Hall said. “I didn’t take stretching as serious as I should’ve coming off 48 hours rest. That second half, I locked in, my teammates still had confidence I could make plays and that’s what I did.”

Trailing 60-52 with 3:36 to play, Hall drilled a pair of 3-pointers, including one to knot the game at 60 with 1:03 left to help MSU force overtime. In the extra period, Hall scored two more buckets as Montana State earned its first league victory of the season with a 74-72 overtime victory. Despite the poor shooting start, Hall finished with 16 points.

MSU guard Tyler Hall

MSU guard Tyler Hall

“That’s part of the maturation process,” Fish said of Hall’s slow start. “I’ve never scored 36 points in a game. I would probably like to walk around a little longer feeling it too. He didn’t but he got locked in late and found a way. You look up late and you don’t think he played very well and he has 16 points and two or three of his buckets were some of the biggest plays we had.”

Since Hall signed out of Rock Island, Illinois, Fish has made no secret that he is the primary block the Bobcats want to build their program around. The smooth, soft-spoken 6-foot-4 shooting guard plays with a poise and calm demeanor that belies his age. His basketball IQ is that of a high-major player and his smooth jump shot earned him looks from Northern Iowa, North Dakota State, Omaha, Northern Illinois and South Dakota.

Fish, a former assistant on Dana Altman’s staff at Creighton and, most recently, Oregon, has had a relationship with Hall for a few years. MSU’s second-year head coach sold Hall on the vision of being the primary piece for Fish’s rebuilding process.

Thus far, the vision seems to be playing out. Montana State enters Thursday night’s matchup with Sacramento State in Bozeman with a 6-8 record, just one win shy of the total in Fish’s first season last winter. Hall has scored in double figures in all but one of Montana State’s games this season. He scored 25 in the win over Wyoming, 25 in a 76-72 win at Utah Valley, 25 in a 100-97 loss to Omaha and 24 against San Jose State.

As the conference season shifts into full gear, Hall is sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game. He is shooting 46 percent from the floor, including 42 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. He is shooting 87 percent from the free throw line, the second-best mark in the league. He has turned the ball over just 17 times in 14 games.

MSU guard Tyler Hall

MSU guard Tyler Hall

“As a team, we knew it from hanging in the summer and watching him play,” MSU senior point guard Marcus Colbert said. “He’s been key for us. He’s a great offensive player. He brings the element we need.”

“I think he’s doing well because he has the support of everybody. There’s no like, ‘Well, he’s a freshman, he’s taking all these shots.’ There’s none of that. We know he can score the ball. That’s his role on our team. Everybody embraces that.”

As MSU shifts into Big Sky mode, the opposing scouting report is sure to feature Hall’s name right next to Colbert’s as the key to slowing down the Bobcats. On Thursday, he will battle against Sac State’s physically formidable backcourt, liking having to beat Cody Demps and Marcus Graves if he wants to put up points.

“That’s the battle of an 18, 19 year old young man is understanding he is now at the top of a scouting report and he’s going to get bumped, he’s going to get face guarded and he’s got to play through that,” Fish said. “He has to accept that as a badge of honor and figure out how to beat it.”

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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