Bobcats vs. Sac State Game Notes
2/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Montana State’s road losing streak reached three on Thursday, as Northern Arizona tripped the ‘Cats 84-61 in Flagstaff. MSU snapped a four-game losing streak to Sacramento State in Bozeman last month, but has lost five straight road games to the Hornets.
Game Information
Saturday’s game tips off at 7:05 pm PST/8:05 pm MST in Sacramento’s Hornet Gym. The game is broadcast on the Bobcat State Farm Radio Network in Bozeman, Billings and Helena, and worldwide on the internet via SportsJuice.com. The game is not televised.
MSU vs. Sac State
Montana State is 15-7 all-time against Sacramento State, including a 5-5 mark in California’s Capital City. MSU has lost five straight road games to the Hornets. Mick Durham has never beaten current Hornets coach Jerome Jenkins in Sacramento, and has never won in Hornet Gym. Durham is 3-6 overall against Jerome Jenkins.
Streaks, Starts ‘n’ Stuff
The Bobcats have lost three straight road games, a skein which comes on the heels of a three-game road winning streak earlier in the conference season… Casey Durham made his second career start on Thursday, while Branden Miller started the game on the bench for the first time this season after starting 23 straight games… MSU remains two wins short of clinching its second straight winning season.
Playoff Palaver
The Bobcats and Portland State remain the only Big Sky teams guaranteed spots in the Big Sky Conference Post-Season Tournament, but both teams have bigger designs. The Vikings play at Middle Tennessee State on Saturday as part of ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday, and at 10-2 has only two more league games. PSU remains a game-and-a-half ahead of MSU, but can’t clinch the league this weekend no matter what happens with the MSU-Sac game on Saturday. Three straight Bobcat wins land the Bobcats the top seed in the Tourney, and one more win clinches a first-round bye in the tournament for MSU.
Team Miscellany
Montana State’s 38.3% shooting effort on Thursday was the team’s lowest in the last four games, but the Bobcats hit 42% of their three-point attempts, the best rate of the season and only the third time at or over 40% all year… the Bobcats haven’t shot better than 40% from the floor in the last four road games, and in spite of shooting 50% in wins at Weber State and Idaho State to open Big Sky play back in January are now hitting 41.5% of their shots in league games away from Worthington Arena… MSU continues to lead the Big Sky in field goal defense, but the 45% allowed at Northern Arizona was the highest total by an opponent since Eastern Washington shot 46% back on January 27, and the second-highest by a league foe this year… Montana State averages 19.3 turnovers a game in the last four outings… after blocking just two Grizzly shots last Sunday, MSU swatted six NAU attempts… Thursday’s loss was Montana State’s first in February this year… Montana State has attempted the fewest free throws in the Big Sky this year, but Thursday’s eight trips to the line was the fewest in Big Sky play, and the third-lowest total for the team this year.
Player Miscellany
After dropping six three-pointers on the Grizzlies, Casey Durham had three more Thursday… Durham’s last 14 baskets are all three-pointers, and 46 of his last 48 are from beyond the arc… Branden Miller failed to start for the first time this season on Thursday after missing some practice time during the week for personal reasons, but he came off the bench to provide an 11-point effort on 3-for-6 three-point shooting… Miller has only two turnovers in the last two games after a four-game stretch in which he averaged four a game… Dennis Woodall’s 10 minutes against NAU was his most in the last six games, two of which he didn’t reach the court… Ryan Holmes had two assists and two boards on Thursday, the two assists matching his career high, but his 0-for-3 shooting night was his worst against a Big Sky opponent… Carson Durr had a career-high two blocks, matching the total from his freshman season last year, and nailed his first three-pointer in six games… Durr has at least one board in the last eight games in a reserve role… Nick Dissly’s five field goal attempts Thursday matched his fewest in the last five games… Dissly has hit a three in five straight games… Dissly has 13 steals in the last six games… Ja’Ron Jefferson has 31 turnovers in the last six games… Jefferson is just 6-for-15 from the floor in the last two games… Jefferson has 19 boards in the last three games… aside from his 7-for-12 effort at Montana, shooting just 35% (20-for-54) in the last seven road games… blocked two NAU shots on Thursday, raising his season total to 25… averaging 8.2 boards in the last five games… Al Beye had only three boards Thursday after a three-game stretch of 22… blocked a shot against NAU after failing to do so against the Grizzlies.
Game Information
Saturday’s game tips off at 7:05 pm PST/8:05 pm MST in Sacramento’s Hornet Gym. The game is broadcast on the Bobcat State Farm Radio Network in Bozeman, Billings and Helena, and worldwide on the internet via SportsJuice.com. The game is not televised.
MSU vs. Sac State
Montana State is 15-7 all-time against Sacramento State, including a 5-5 mark in California’s Capital City. MSU has lost five straight road games to the Hornets. Mick Durham has never beaten current Hornets coach Jerome Jenkins in Sacramento, and has never won in Hornet Gym. Durham is 3-6 overall against Jerome Jenkins.
Streaks, Starts ‘n’ Stuff
The Bobcats have lost three straight road games, a skein which comes on the heels of a three-game road winning streak earlier in the conference season… Casey Durham made his second career start on Thursday, while Branden Miller started the game on the bench for the first time this season after starting 23 straight games… MSU remains two wins short of clinching its second straight winning season.
Playoff Palaver
The Bobcats and Portland State remain the only Big Sky teams guaranteed spots in the Big Sky Conference Post-Season Tournament, but both teams have bigger designs. The Vikings play at Middle Tennessee State on Saturday as part of ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday, and at 10-2 has only two more league games. PSU remains a game-and-a-half ahead of MSU, but can’t clinch the league this weekend no matter what happens with the MSU-Sac game on Saturday. Three straight Bobcat wins land the Bobcats the top seed in the Tourney, and one more win clinches a first-round bye in the tournament for MSU.
Team Miscellany
Montana State’s 38.3% shooting effort on Thursday was the team’s lowest in the last four games, but the Bobcats hit 42% of their three-point attempts, the best rate of the season and only the third time at or over 40% all year… the Bobcats haven’t shot better than 40% from the floor in the last four road games, and in spite of shooting 50% in wins at Weber State and Idaho State to open Big Sky play back in January are now hitting 41.5% of their shots in league games away from Worthington Arena… MSU continues to lead the Big Sky in field goal defense, but the 45% allowed at Northern Arizona was the highest total by an opponent since Eastern Washington shot 46% back on January 27, and the second-highest by a league foe this year… Montana State averages 19.3 turnovers a game in the last four outings… after blocking just two Grizzly shots last Sunday, MSU swatted six NAU attempts… Thursday’s loss was Montana State’s first in February this year… Montana State has attempted the fewest free throws in the Big Sky this year, but Thursday’s eight trips to the line was the fewest in Big Sky play, and the third-lowest total for the team this year.
Player Miscellany
After dropping six three-pointers on the Grizzlies, Casey Durham had three more Thursday… Durham’s last 14 baskets are all three-pointers, and 46 of his last 48 are from beyond the arc… Branden Miller failed to start for the first time this season on Thursday after missing some practice time during the week for personal reasons, but he came off the bench to provide an 11-point effort on 3-for-6 three-point shooting… Miller has only two turnovers in the last two games after a four-game stretch in which he averaged four a game… Dennis Woodall’s 10 minutes against NAU was his most in the last six games, two of which he didn’t reach the court… Ryan Holmes had two assists and two boards on Thursday, the two assists matching his career high, but his 0-for-3 shooting night was his worst against a Big Sky opponent… Carson Durr had a career-high two blocks, matching the total from his freshman season last year, and nailed his first three-pointer in six games… Durr has at least one board in the last eight games in a reserve role… Nick Dissly’s five field goal attempts Thursday matched his fewest in the last five games… Dissly has hit a three in five straight games… Dissly has 13 steals in the last six games… Ja’Ron Jefferson has 31 turnovers in the last six games… Jefferson is just 6-for-15 from the floor in the last two games… Jefferson has 19 boards in the last three games… aside from his 7-for-12 effort at Montana, shooting just 35% (20-for-54) in the last seven road games… blocked two NAU shots on Thursday, raising his season total to 25… averaging 8.2 boards in the last five games… Al Beye had only three boards Thursday after a three-game stretch of 22… blocked a shot against NAU after failing to do so against the Grizzlies.
Wednesday, June 10
Friday, March 27
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
