Bobcats Fall at Home to Utah Valley
12/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
"knock-down, drag-out" to Utah Valley State, 60-53, in Bozeman on Saturday.
Utah Valley's stifling defense forced 20 MSU turnovers and limited the Bobcats to 38% shooting. While the Wolverines shot just 36% from the floor, they scored 21 of their 60 points from the free throw line. That edge blunted Bobcat senior Nick Dissly's career-best 29 points.
With the death of former teammate Al Beye 24 hours earlier looming, the Bobcats faced double-digit deficits in each half, but managed to trim the Utah Valley lead to three points on two occasions in the last nine minutes. After a pair of Nick Dissly free throws with 7:51 to play cut the Wolverine lead to 43-40, Matt Peterson hit a three-pointer to trigger an 8-1 run that gave UVSC control.
Bobcat coach Brad Huse said the residue of Beye's death affected the game, but not the outcome, and that he was proud of his team's effort. "I thought our guys played hard and played focused," Huse said. "This day definitely had a different feel to it. The game was going to happen regardless, and I don't think the result had anything to do with (Beye's death). I thought our guys really responded to a difficult situation."
Dissly took the lead in that effort, scoring 19 of MSU's 25 first-half points to keep Montana State in the game. "Nick played inspired,"
Huse said. "The returners are taking (Beye's death) very hard, and I thought Nick was running on empty (emotionally) from the start. But, he absolutely carried us in the first half."
Dissly was at a loss to explain his performance in the face of such trying circumstances. "I just tried to play hard," MSU's senior said.
Huse singled out MSU's inability to consistently function against Utah Valley's aggressive man-to-man defense as a key factor. "We didn't execute well against their pressure," he said, "but they do that to you.
That is an experienced, smart basketball team, and smart is the functional word in that statement. They are very, very efficient, and I'm not just talking about offensively. They made it hard for us to do anything (offensively)."
Montana State plays again at home on Monday, hosting Great Falls.
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, June 10
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
