San Jose State Busts Bobcats in BracketBuster Contest

Saturday, February 20

Bozeman

7:05 p.m.

Montana State University

Bracketbuster San Jose State

Marquis Navarre scored 13 points with four assists on Senior Night

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

2/20/2010 10:15:17 PM | Men's Basketball

WAC foe uses hot first-half stretch to topple MSU

By: Bill Lamberty

San Jose State clamped down Montana State's offense in the last eight minutes of the first half then held the Bobcats at bay throughout the second half in a 77-66 Spartans win in Bozeman on Saturday.
Four Spartans scored in double-digits in the ESPN BracketBuster matchup, led by Adrian Oliver's 18 points, but the game turned on SJSU's defense. With 8:32 remaining in the first half, Will Bynum scored a basket and converted a free throw to give MSU a 28-23 lead. Chris Oakes hit a free throw on the ensuing possession to launch a 17-3 SJSU run to close the first half. Montana State shot just 1-for-12 in that stretch.

“We definitely didn't get back in transition the way we needed to,” MSU coach Brad Huse said of the last eight minutes of the first half. “We had some miscommunication in matchups. We also didn't convert on the offensive end. They had a big edge in rebounds at halftime, and that was a concern. They tipped some balls out, and we lost some momentum on those.”

The teams played essentially back-and-forth basketball through most of the second half. MSU never got closer than eight points, which happened for the final time on Danny Piepoli's three-pointer with 10:40 to play, but the Spartans couldn't expand the lead past 15 points, which it hit only once.

San Jose State's center Chris Oakes scored 16 points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds in helping the Spartans build a 46-to-33 rebounding advantage. Guard Mac Peterson also grabbed nine boards for the visitors, while scoring 14.

Piepoli led the Bobcats with a season-high 17 points, connecting on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, while Bobby Howard scored 15 points. Montana State's senior class proved productive on MSU's Senior Night. Marquis Navarre scored 13 points and dished out four assists, Will Bynum nabbed three steals, Branden Johnson grabbed seven rebounds, and Cameron Henderson matched a pair of boards with two blocked shots.

Montana State wraps up the regular season next Saturday, February 27, with a trip to Missoula to face the Grizzlies, then the Bobcats host a Big Sky Tournament First Round game on March 6.