Bobcats Topple Wyoming in Casper
12/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
It was a long time coming.
After 13 straight losses to Wyoming covering 15 years, several in heartbreaking fashion, Montana State rode Divaldo Mbunga’s considerable shoulders in the second half and the hot hand of Casey Durham to a 79-72 win over the Cowboys in the Casper Events Center on Saturday. Trailing 55-52 with eight-and-a-half minutes to play, Bobby Howard hit a short jumper and Divaldo Mbung hit a pair of inside shots to give the Bobcats a 58-55 lead.
The game see-sawed until Casey Durham nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give MSU a 65-64 leads with 3:40 left, a margin the team would not relinquish. Durham’s long-range bombs began a string of five straight possessions, and eight of MSU’s nine, on which the team scored to close the game.
“I’m not thinking so much about winning on the road, but more about continuing to evolve as a basketball team,” said Bobcat coach Brad Huse. “I thought we showed a lot of character fighting back and finding a way to win.”
For the eighth time in nine games, Montana State out-rebounded its opponent. Mbunga led that effort with eight boards, five on the offensive glass. Mbunga led all scorers with 23 points, nailing nine of his 10 charity tosses.
“We’ve rebounded the ball all season,” Huse said. “That’s what we’ve tried to do. We went through a dead spot in the second half, but we were able to go to the boards and get second second-chance points.”
Montana State started fast in the first half, and Adrian Zamora’s layup with 8:13 to play gave MSU a 20-12 lead, its biggest margin of the first 20 minutes. It would be over three minutes before MSU scored again, and nearly six minutes before the team’s next field goal.
In the interim, Wyoming used a 13-1 run to take a 25-21 lead. Mecklen Davis, who led the Bobcats with eight points at halftime, nailed a layup after Casey Durham extended a possession with an offensive board, then on MSU’s final possession of the half Davis scored again to cut Wyoming’s lead to 28-27.
The Bobcats were bit on the final possession of the half when Travis Nelson corralled an offensive board, and Ryan Dermody nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to give Wyoming a 31-27 edge. Nelson led all players with 11 points, while Eric Platt, playing in his hometown, added eight.
The Bobcats held Wyoming to 42% shooting, 40% in the second half, while shooting 53% from the floor after intermission themselves. MSU out-rebounded Wyoming 41-to-30, and forced 17 Cowboy turnovers while turning it over only 15 times.
After 13 straight losses to Wyoming covering 15 years, several in heartbreaking fashion, Montana State rode Divaldo Mbunga’s considerable shoulders in the second half and the hot hand of Casey Durham to a 79-72 win over the Cowboys in the Casper Events Center on Saturday. Trailing 55-52 with eight-and-a-half minutes to play, Bobby Howard hit a short jumper and Divaldo Mbung hit a pair of inside shots to give the Bobcats a 58-55 lead.
The game see-sawed until Casey Durham nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give MSU a 65-64 leads with 3:40 left, a margin the team would not relinquish. Durham’s long-range bombs began a string of five straight possessions, and eight of MSU’s nine, on which the team scored to close the game.
“I’m not thinking so much about winning on the road, but more about continuing to evolve as a basketball team,” said Bobcat coach Brad Huse. “I thought we showed a lot of character fighting back and finding a way to win.”
For the eighth time in nine games, Montana State out-rebounded its opponent. Mbunga led that effort with eight boards, five on the offensive glass. Mbunga led all scorers with 23 points, nailing nine of his 10 charity tosses.
“We’ve rebounded the ball all season,” Huse said. “That’s what we’ve tried to do. We went through a dead spot in the second half, but we were able to go to the boards and get second second-chance points.”
Montana State started fast in the first half, and Adrian Zamora’s layup with 8:13 to play gave MSU a 20-12 lead, its biggest margin of the first 20 minutes. It would be over three minutes before MSU scored again, and nearly six minutes before the team’s next field goal.
In the interim, Wyoming used a 13-1 run to take a 25-21 lead. Mecklen Davis, who led the Bobcats with eight points at halftime, nailed a layup after Casey Durham extended a possession with an offensive board, then on MSU’s final possession of the half Davis scored again to cut Wyoming’s lead to 28-27.
The Bobcats were bit on the final possession of the half when Travis Nelson corralled an offensive board, and Ryan Dermody nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to give Wyoming a 31-27 edge. Nelson led all players with 11 points, while Eric Platt, playing in his hometown, added eight.
The Bobcats held Wyoming to 42% shooting, 40% in the second half, while shooting 53% from the floor after intermission themselves. MSU out-rebounded Wyoming 41-to-30, and forced 17 Cowboy turnovers while turning it over only 15 times.
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