Thursday, February 28
Cedar City, UT
7:05 p.m.
Montana State University
at
SOUTHERN UTAH
Christian Moon and the Bobcats play at Southern Utah Thursday
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcats Face Important and Difficult League Weekend
2/27/2013 3:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MSU visits Thunderbirds Thursday, hosts Grizzlies Saturday
The stats and the strategy and the Big Sky Conference bracketology takes a back seat to something much more basic for Montana State basketball coach Brad Huse this weekend.
MSU Game Notes vs. SUU
“Right now it takes some toughness,” Huse said of his team's approach to matchups at Southern Utah on Thursday and at home against league-leading Montana on Saturday. “We've got to move on and not worry about yesterday's news. We've got to worry about what's ahead of us.”
Yesterday's news, of course, is a five-game losing streak that South Dakota extended on Saturday. And what's ahead is occupying all of Huse's attention, not from a standpoint of who his team is playing but how his team plays.
“We've just got to take care of ourselves,” Huse said. “For us it's going back to the basics, the fundamentals, the mentality of how you play every possession. Right now we're too wrapped up in our own little spin here and worried about the last possession or the little run these teams are making at us. We've got to get back to putting focus and importance on preparing the right way and getting ourselves in the right frame of mind.”
The Bobcats play a pair of teams ahead of them in the standings this weekend. Southern Utah enters Thursday's game 8-8 in league play, a half-game behind North Dakota for third place. The Thunderbirds snapped a four-game losing streak against Cal State Northridge on Saturday, and have won six of its last nine. SUU is led by sensational guard Jackson Stevenett, who averages 17.8 points a game, while Damon Heuir adds 16.2.
Montana has dominated the Big Sky, leading the league with a 15-1 conference mark. The Grizzlies have been idle this week leading up to the weekend, as was MSU the week of this year's previous Cat-Griz matchup in Missoula. Unlike that game, MSU is forced to travel to Cedar City on Thursday, face a long layover in Salt Lake City on the way back Friday, and return in the evening, long after the well-rested Grizzlies have arrived in Bozeman.
While Montana may be without a pair of all-conference caliber players in Will Cherry and Mathias Ward, the Grizzlies have plenty left. League MVP candidate Kareem Jamar scores 13.9 points a game while leading the team with 6.2 rebounds and 105 assists, while Jordan Gregory (7.4 ppg) and Spencer Coleman (7.2 ppg) have each responded well to expanded roles.
Still, Huse's focus is on his own team. “Right now I'm focused on Montana State,” he said. “We've got to get our minds right and get ourselves situated in the right place. The Southern Utah game is a big one for us when you start looking at the standings and all those things. Obviously the Montana game has its own significance, but the Southern Utah game is important for us for a lot of reasons. We need to hit a stretch run where we play well and get some confidence. People aren't going to hand us confidence. We have to create that.”
MSU Game Notes vs. SUU
“Right now it takes some toughness,” Huse said of his team's approach to matchups at Southern Utah on Thursday and at home against league-leading Montana on Saturday. “We've got to move on and not worry about yesterday's news. We've got to worry about what's ahead of us.”
Yesterday's news, of course, is a five-game losing streak that South Dakota extended on Saturday. And what's ahead is occupying all of Huse's attention, not from a standpoint of who his team is playing but how his team plays.
“We've just got to take care of ourselves,” Huse said. “For us it's going back to the basics, the fundamentals, the mentality of how you play every possession. Right now we're too wrapped up in our own little spin here and worried about the last possession or the little run these teams are making at us. We've got to get back to putting focus and importance on preparing the right way and getting ourselves in the right frame of mind.”
The Bobcats play a pair of teams ahead of them in the standings this weekend. Southern Utah enters Thursday's game 8-8 in league play, a half-game behind North Dakota for third place. The Thunderbirds snapped a four-game losing streak against Cal State Northridge on Saturday, and have won six of its last nine. SUU is led by sensational guard Jackson Stevenett, who averages 17.8 points a game, while Damon Heuir adds 16.2.
Montana has dominated the Big Sky, leading the league with a 15-1 conference mark. The Grizzlies have been idle this week leading up to the weekend, as was MSU the week of this year's previous Cat-Griz matchup in Missoula. Unlike that game, MSU is forced to travel to Cedar City on Thursday, face a long layover in Salt Lake City on the way back Friday, and return in the evening, long after the well-rested Grizzlies have arrived in Bozeman.
While Montana may be without a pair of all-conference caliber players in Will Cherry and Mathias Ward, the Grizzlies have plenty left. League MVP candidate Kareem Jamar scores 13.9 points a game while leading the team with 6.2 rebounds and 105 assists, while Jordan Gregory (7.4 ppg) and Spencer Coleman (7.2 ppg) have each responded well to expanded roles.
Still, Huse's focus is on his own team. “Right now I'm focused on Montana State,” he said. “We've got to get our minds right and get ourselves situated in the right place. The Southern Utah game is a big one for us when you start looking at the standings and all those things. Obviously the Montana game has its own significance, but the Southern Utah game is important for us for a lot of reasons. We need to hit a stretch run where we play well and get some confidence. People aren't going to hand us confidence. We have to create that.”
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