Bobcats Top Western State in Exhibition
11/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Freshman forward Branden Johnson scored 17 points off the bench and senior forward Nick Dissly added 16 to lead Montana State to a 78-55 exhibition win over Western (Colo.) State on Sunday in Bozeman.
The win closes MSU's two-game exhibition schedule, a pair of wins which saw the Bobcats encounter highs and lows. That fact was not lost on first-year head coach Brad Huse. "We kind of countered ourselves," he said. "We did some good things in both games. I thought we defended and rebounded well in the first game, but we didn't rebound well tonight."
Western State out-rebounded MSU 43-to-38, but the Bobcats offset that effort by limiting the Mountaineers to 31% shooting and forcing 21 turnovers.
"Defensively, I though the point guard position played well," Huse said. "Casey (Durham), in particular, worked very hard."
Johnson, who opened the second half with five points, scored a dozen in the second half on 4-for-6 shooting. He hit all four of his three-point attempts, and grabbed five rebounds. "That's a strong part of his game," Huse said of Johnson's three-point shooting. "That's a good weapon to have at that (power forward) position."
Western State played well early, jumping out to a 10-5 lead. The Bobcats rolled off a 20-5 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to take control of the game 25-15 at the 7:48 mark. Carleton Goggins' three-pointer with a minute-and-a-half left in the first half cut the Bobcat lead to seven at the intermission, but MSU opened the second half with a 7-0 run and Western never got within double-digits again.
"We got two wins (in the exhibition season)," Huse said. "I don't know if you can ask for much more."
Montana State opens the regular season on Friday, November 10, at Utah Valley, and hosts UC Santa Barbara on November 13.
The win closes MSU's two-game exhibition schedule, a pair of wins which saw the Bobcats encounter highs and lows. That fact was not lost on first-year head coach Brad Huse. "We kind of countered ourselves," he said. "We did some good things in both games. I thought we defended and rebounded well in the first game, but we didn't rebound well tonight."
Western State out-rebounded MSU 43-to-38, but the Bobcats offset that effort by limiting the Mountaineers to 31% shooting and forcing 21 turnovers.
"Defensively, I though the point guard position played well," Huse said. "Casey (Durham), in particular, worked very hard."
Johnson, who opened the second half with five points, scored a dozen in the second half on 4-for-6 shooting. He hit all four of his three-point attempts, and grabbed five rebounds. "That's a strong part of his game," Huse said of Johnson's three-point shooting. "That's a good weapon to have at that (power forward) position."
Western State played well early, jumping out to a 10-5 lead. The Bobcats rolled off a 20-5 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to take control of the game 25-15 at the 7:48 mark. Carleton Goggins' three-pointer with a minute-and-a-half left in the first half cut the Bobcat lead to seven at the intermission, but MSU opened the second half with a 7-0 run and Western never got within double-digits again.
"We got two wins (in the exhibition season)," Huse said. "I don't know if you can ask for much more."
Montana State opens the regular season on Friday, November 10, at Utah Valley, and hosts UC Santa Barbara on November 13.
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, June 10
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
