There's nothing like jumping right into the fray. Montana State opens Big Sky Conference play on Wednesday, Dec. 29, hosting defending Big Sky regular season champion Weber State, the team picked by many to win this year's league title. The Bobcats have endured an up-and-down pre-conference season, but no Big Sky squad suffered a more severe loss than Weber State, which lost reigning league MVP and All-America guard Damian Lillard to a foot injury. Lillard averaged 19.7 points per game before his injury, but Weber State brings a balanced and still-dangerous attack to Bozeman. Lindsey Hughey (11.3) and Scott Bamforth (10.9) lead the team offensively, with Darin Mahoney averaging a team-high 5.4 rebounds a game and shooting a team-best 52.3 percent from the floor.
NEXT UP...
Montana State vs. Weber State
DATE December 29, 2010
TIPOFF 7:05 pm
SITE Bozeman, MT
ARENA Worthington Arena
RADIO Bobcat Network (Jeff Lasky)
TV Big Sky TV
LAST TIME WSU 75-71, 2/6/10 at MSU
MISCELLANY...
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Erik Rush ranks seventh in the league in scoring (15.3), while
Bobby Howard is eighth (15.3), making MSU the only Big Sky team with two players among the league's top 10 scorers
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Erik Rush leads the Bobcats in scoring and steals, and is second in assists and rebounds
SERIES NOTES...
• Weber State won both meetings between the schools last year
• The Wildcats have won three straight games in Bozeman
ON THE OFFENSE...
• Montana State's 9.0 three-point field goals per game leads the Big Sky and is seventh in Division I
•
Erik Rush has scored or assisted 100 of the team's 294 FGs (34.0%)
•
Tre Johnson's career-high 12 points at UCLA eclipsed his total in MSU's six previous games
• Of MSU's 850 points, 38% (324) have been scored on three-point shots
ON THE DEFENSE...
• The Bobcats force 14.4 turnovers per game, averaging 10.2 points per game off opponent turnovers, after forcing 18 on Sunday at UC Riverside
• MSU opponents have shot over 50% in four halves this season, but two of them came Saturday at UCR
