Thursday, January 9
Portland, OR
7:05 pm PT
Montana State University
at
at PORTLAND STATE
Senior forward Flavien Davis
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Bobcats Head West for Thursday Matchup with Portland State
1/7/2014 3:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MSU looks for second win this season in Rose City
Brad Huse is more than happy with the two wins, don't get him wrong, but he's a little skeptical when it comes to momentum that might carry into this weekend's Big Sky Conference road trip to Portland State and Eastern Washington.
MSU Game Notes vs. Portland State
"It feels a lot better than losing, that's for sure," Huse said with a laugh. "But I think by Thursday the effects of (positive momentum) kind of go. But there is confidence that we can figure out ways to win games. I think that's the most important piece we can take out of this situation. That formula can change from game to game, but once you develop the confidence that we are going to figure out a way that really helps your team."
That pool of confidence will be tested by a pair of teams looking to defend their home courts while picking up their initial Big Sky wins of the season. PSU and the Eagles each dropped games at Idaho State and Weber State last weekend. MSU opens weekend play at Portland State's Peter W. Stott Center on Thursday at 8 pm MT, then visit Eastern Washington on Saturday at 3 pm MT.
Huse knows that life becomes more difficult in conference play when teams travel, and that league road games present both challenges and opportunities. "Starting at home always helps," he said, "but what defines teams that finish on the top of league play are the teams that go on the road and win."
As happy as Huse was that his team held serve at home last weekend, the way those games played out made him just as happy. "We protected the home court, and we won two different ways," he said. "We had to shoot a lot of threes to win the first night, the second night we just had to make one more play than Northern Arizona, and we were fortunate enough to do that. The guys fought it out, competed hard. It was just classic conference basketball, particularly the second night, a grind-it-out situation. We should take some confidence from that."
Huse is also pleased with his team's internal dynamic. "I continue to respect the way the guys are handling being a team," he said. "That's such an important piece as the season grinds forward, guys pulling for one another and accepting roles and playing that way. I saw different performances that were positive – different nights, different situations, different guys. We have a unique team right now, it could change as we go forward, but we have a lot of different guys contributing and giving us minutes."
To that point, the Bobcats have been very good about spreading the production around, especially in the scoring column. Montana State's leading scorer, Flavien Davis, barely sneaks into the Big Sky's top 30 in that category at 10.8 points a game. MSU currently stands eighth in the league in scoring, but are 1.3 points a game from fifth place.
"That kind of typifies our team," Huse said of its balance. "From night to night you're not always sure who it's going to be. It's going to be somebody, though, and that reflects when you look at us on paper."
Montana State's first opponent this weekend, Portland State, presents a major challenge for the Bobcats' perimeter defense, Huse said. "They have a lot of weapons. They've been led by the transfer (Tim) Douglas from the University of Portland. Their perimeter players are all dynamic guys that can shoot the three and drive the basketball. Moore's been highly effective, he gave us a lot of problems last year. They play well at home, and that's a big concern."
The biggest concern in the big picture is finding ways to pick off road wins after a productive weekend in Worthington Arena. "Home's fine," Huse said. "It worked out for us this year. Now we have to go on the road figure out how to do that."
MSU Game Notes vs. Portland State
"It feels a lot better than losing, that's for sure," Huse said with a laugh. "But I think by Thursday the effects of (positive momentum) kind of go. But there is confidence that we can figure out ways to win games. I think that's the most important piece we can take out of this situation. That formula can change from game to game, but once you develop the confidence that we are going to figure out a way that really helps your team."
That pool of confidence will be tested by a pair of teams looking to defend their home courts while picking up their initial Big Sky wins of the season. PSU and the Eagles each dropped games at Idaho State and Weber State last weekend. MSU opens weekend play at Portland State's Peter W. Stott Center on Thursday at 8 pm MT, then visit Eastern Washington on Saturday at 3 pm MT.
Huse knows that life becomes more difficult in conference play when teams travel, and that league road games present both challenges and opportunities. "Starting at home always helps," he said, "but what defines teams that finish on the top of league play are the teams that go on the road and win."
As happy as Huse was that his team held serve at home last weekend, the way those games played out made him just as happy. "We protected the home court, and we won two different ways," he said. "We had to shoot a lot of threes to win the first night, the second night we just had to make one more play than Northern Arizona, and we were fortunate enough to do that. The guys fought it out, competed hard. It was just classic conference basketball, particularly the second night, a grind-it-out situation. We should take some confidence from that."
Huse is also pleased with his team's internal dynamic. "I continue to respect the way the guys are handling being a team," he said. "That's such an important piece as the season grinds forward, guys pulling for one another and accepting roles and playing that way. I saw different performances that were positive – different nights, different situations, different guys. We have a unique team right now, it could change as we go forward, but we have a lot of different guys contributing and giving us minutes."
To that point, the Bobcats have been very good about spreading the production around, especially in the scoring column. Montana State's leading scorer, Flavien Davis, barely sneaks into the Big Sky's top 30 in that category at 10.8 points a game. MSU currently stands eighth in the league in scoring, but are 1.3 points a game from fifth place.
"That kind of typifies our team," Huse said of its balance. "From night to night you're not always sure who it's going to be. It's going to be somebody, though, and that reflects when you look at us on paper."
Montana State's first opponent this weekend, Portland State, presents a major challenge for the Bobcats' perimeter defense, Huse said. "They have a lot of weapons. They've been led by the transfer (Tim) Douglas from the University of Portland. Their perimeter players are all dynamic guys that can shoot the three and drive the basketball. Moore's been highly effective, he gave us a lot of problems last year. They play well at home, and that's a big concern."
The biggest concern in the big picture is finding ways to pick off road wins after a productive weekend in Worthington Arena. "Home's fine," Huse said. "It worked out for us this year. Now we have to go on the road figure out how to do that."
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