Saturday, January 21
Bozeman, MT
7:00 PM
Montana State University
84
vs
72
NORTHERN COLORADO
Xavier Blount scored a dozen points against UNC Saturday
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Bobcats Hit Season-High 13 Treys, Hold Off Northern Colorado
1/21/2012 10:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MSU raises its record to 5-2 in Big Sky play
Montana State jumped out to a 20-7 lead and never looked back, rolling to an 84-72 home win over Northern Colorado on Saturday.
MSU-UNC box score MSU updated season stats
“It's important,” Bobcat coach Brad Huse said of his team's quick start. “We came out with good focus and energy, and you have to do that in conference games. “
Montana State took the action at the visiting Bears from the start, drawing five NC fouls in the game's first four minutes and reaching the double-bonus by the second media time out of the game. The Bobcats also defended well early, holding Northern Colorado without a basket for the game's first five-and-a-half minutes.
Even as the NC offense began heating up at that point the Bobcats did, as well. From the 14:11 mark MSU scored on nine of its next 11 possessions, stretching the 11-3 lead to 27-15 at the 9:23 mark. And after Northern Colorado fought back to within 29-23 at the 5:49 mark, guard Rod Singleton, Mike Dison and Christian Moon combined to score 14 points in the next three minutes to regain control.
Northern Colorado fought gamely in the second half, cutting MSU's lead to nine at 13:30 on the strength of a 9-0 run. But layups by Jourdain Allou sandwiched around a Mike Dison three-pointer helped push MSU's lead back to 18 with 9:32 to play, and the Bears wouldn't cut the lead to single digits again.
Huse was pleased with the way his team responded to Northern Colorado runs throughout the game. “I thought tonight we did better than on Thursday,” Huse said. “When it got to nine in the second half, we answered. We didn't look emotionally too high or too low tonight, and that's important in league (games). I thought we handled the lead better.”
Reserve guard Mike Dison scored a career-high 17 points to pace the Bobcats, with four of his teammates also reaching double-digits in scoring. Tre Johnson fell just short of his second straight double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Rod Singleton managed only four points, but dished out six assists with only one turnover.
In spite of shaving only three points off MSU's halftime lead, Northern Colorado shot 65.2% in the second half and 52% for the game. The Bears also turned the ball over only 11 times, and out-rebounded MSU 32-to-30. But the Bobcats turned the ball over only six times, a season-low, and MSU's 48 first-half points was the team's most since the Northern New Mexico game.
The Cats raised their record to 10-8 overall and 5-2 in Big Sky play, while Northern Colorado falls to 6-12 and 3-4.
MSU-UNC box score MSU updated season stats
“It's important,” Bobcat coach Brad Huse said of his team's quick start. “We came out with good focus and energy, and you have to do that in conference games. “
Montana State took the action at the visiting Bears from the start, drawing five NC fouls in the game's first four minutes and reaching the double-bonus by the second media time out of the game. The Bobcats also defended well early, holding Northern Colorado without a basket for the game's first five-and-a-half minutes.
Even as the NC offense began heating up at that point the Bobcats did, as well. From the 14:11 mark MSU scored on nine of its next 11 possessions, stretching the 11-3 lead to 27-15 at the 9:23 mark. And after Northern Colorado fought back to within 29-23 at the 5:49 mark, guard Rod Singleton, Mike Dison and Christian Moon combined to score 14 points in the next three minutes to regain control.
Northern Colorado fought gamely in the second half, cutting MSU's lead to nine at 13:30 on the strength of a 9-0 run. But layups by Jourdain Allou sandwiched around a Mike Dison three-pointer helped push MSU's lead back to 18 with 9:32 to play, and the Bears wouldn't cut the lead to single digits again.
Huse was pleased with the way his team responded to Northern Colorado runs throughout the game. “I thought tonight we did better than on Thursday,” Huse said. “When it got to nine in the second half, we answered. We didn't look emotionally too high or too low tonight, and that's important in league (games). I thought we handled the lead better.”
Reserve guard Mike Dison scored a career-high 17 points to pace the Bobcats, with four of his teammates also reaching double-digits in scoring. Tre Johnson fell just short of his second straight double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Rod Singleton managed only four points, but dished out six assists with only one turnover.
In spite of shaving only three points off MSU's halftime lead, Northern Colorado shot 65.2% in the second half and 52% for the game. The Bears also turned the ball over only 11 times, and out-rebounded MSU 32-to-30. But the Bobcats turned the ball over only six times, a season-low, and MSU's 48 first-half points was the team's most since the Northern New Mexico game.
The Cats raised their record to 10-8 overall and 5-2 in Big Sky play, while Northern Colorado falls to 6-12 and 3-4.
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