Tyler Hall's Historic Night Not Enough, as Bobcats Fall at Southern Utah

Thursday, December 31

4:05 pm

Montana State University

5-8

Southern Utah

3-8

Montana State

Southern Utah

Tyler Hall scored 36 for the Cats on Thursday

Photo by: Schmitt Shoots Photography

Tyler Hall's Historic Night Not Enough, as Bobcats Fall at Southern Utah

12/31/2015 6:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Hall's 36 points stands as the most by a Bobcat freshman

By: Bill Lamberty

Tyler Hall scored 36 points but his historic performance wasn't enough, as Southern Utah used an 18-2 mid-game run to top Montana State 93-82 in Cedar City on Thursday.

Hall's scoring total is the most in Bobcat history by a freshman – tied for 14^th in school history by any player – and he netted MSU's final 15 points of the game. In fact, no other Bobcat scored in the game's final nine minutes. Hall finished 12-for-25 from the floor, 5-for-13 from the three-point arc, and 7-for-8 from the line. (MSU freshman records since 1960.)

"He's a really good player," said Bobcat coach Brian Fish, "but Tyler will be the first one to say he's more upset about losing the game. He could care less if he only scored two points and we won, and I know he'll be really upset that we lost even with him scoring a lot of points."

The Cats led for much of the first half, including a 32-25 margin when Stephan Holm hit a three-pointer with 8:31 before the intermission. But the Thunderbirds closed the half on a 26-15 run to take a 51-47 lead into the locker room. SUU scored the final seven points of the first half then opened the second half on a 11-2 run to seize control.

"I've got the two seniors sitting next to me with foul trouble" when Southern Utah's run began, Fish said. "That got us out of rotation, and we needed some guys to step up. In the second half they had us in a pickle on the foul situation and they were driving and attacking us. At the end of the day we didn't just lock in on what we wanted to get done (defensively)."

The Thunderbirds shot 54% on the night, including 46% from three-point range. MSU's foul trouble manifested on the Thunderbirds' 23 free throws (SUU made 15 of them). MSU turned the ball over only 10 times, but forced just eight Thunderbird giveaways. SUU scored 14 points on Bobcat turnovers, including three run-outs.

Zach Green logged his first double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 boards. Marcus Colbert added 15 points and dished out eight assists. Hall, Green and Colbert combined to score 66 of MSU's 82 points. James McGee poured in 26 points for Southern Utah, while Casey Oliverson and Trey Kennedy each added 18.

Montana State falls to 5-8 overall and 0-1 in Big Sky play, while Southern Utah is now 3-8 on the season, 1-0 in the league. The Cats play at Northern Arizona Saturday at 12 noon, while SUU hosts Montana on Saturday.