Bobcats Lose Big Lead, Fall in Holt Arena

Thursday, January 8

7:05 pm

Montana State University

3-12, 0-3

Idaho State

4-11, 1-2

Team	1	2	F
Montana State	40	21	61
Idaho State	28	42	70

Michael Dison's 17 points led the Cats on Thursday

Photo by: Ruth Shellenberg

1/8/2015 10:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Michael Dison's 17 points lead Bobcats

By: Bill Lamberty

Chris Hansen has made a career of tormenting Montana State. The Idaho State senior did so again Thursday.

Hansen scored 26 points, two more than his career average against the Cats, to lead ISU to a 70-61 win over MSU in Pocatello. Hansen scored 19 of his points after halftime, 17 from the free throw line.

"We knew he could score from the free throw line," Bobcat coach Brian Fish said of Hansen's performance. "We kept putting him there."

The loss is particularly stinging because the Bobcats roared to a 19-point first half lead, holding a 31-12 advantage at the 8:13 mark and holding a 40-28 lead at the intermission. Starting with six-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half, though, the Bengals cranked up the intensity. That led to an amazing run of offensive efficiency, during which ISU scored on 28 of its final 40 contested possessions.

"We didn't make shots (in the second half), and our defense let down tremendously," Fish said. "When we missed we allowed their defense to dig in, and we didn't fight through that."

After Idaho State scored the game's first points, the Bobcats got untracked. A three-pointer by Danny Robison, a trey by Dison, and one by Stephan Holm pushed MSU to a 9-6 lead, setting up the team's best offensive first half of the season to date. MSU's 53.3% shooting was the team's best mark at halftime other than Wyoming, and the 40 points trailed only the UT Arlington game.

While clicking offensively, the Cats proved effective at the other end limiting Idaho State's top two scoring threats. MSU held Chris Hansen to seven points on 2-for-6 shooting, and Jeffrey Solarin scored eight points but grabbed just two boards.

Hansen's 26 points led all scorers, but Jeffrey Solarin scored 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting. The Bengals forced 15 MSU turnovers, nine in the second half, while limiting the Cats to 25% shooting (8-for-32) in the second half.

Michael Dison led the Bobcats with 17 points, taking 19 shots to get there while endured some extremely physical play throughout the night. Stephan Holm added 14 points off the bench, while Danny Robison scored 13. Marcus Colbert dished out 10 assists for the Cats, while Eric Norman grabbed a career-high 12 boards.

Idaho State earned its first league win Thursday, raising its record to 4-11 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky play. The Bobcats are 3-12 overall, 0-3 in the Big Sky, and play at Weber State on Saturday at 7 pm.