Thursday, February 26
6:05 pm PT/7:05 pm MT
Montana State University
at
Eastern Washington
Michael Dison and the Cats scrap in the season's closing weeks
Photo by: Ruth Shellenberg
Bobcats Head West Fighting for Post-Season Lives
2/25/2015 8:04:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MSU faces powerful Eastern Washington with no margin for error
The stakes are different but the urgency level high for both teams when Montana State visits Eastern Washington Thursday.
While the Bobcats fight for their post-season lives, Eastern Washington remains locked in a three-team race to win the league's regular season title and host the Big Sky Conference Tournament. The Eagles, Sacramento State and Montana each have three league losses. Eastern has 11 conference wins, the other two 12.
The Bobcats, on the other hand, remain one loss from post-season elimination, but first-year MSU head coach Brian Fish said he's seen consistency and resilience from his squad. "I see a team that's more even keel all the time," he said. "They've handled the ups and the downs."
In Eastern Washington, Fish sees a finely-tuned machine churning toward a the possibility of a championship. "They are a well-coached, well-balanced team," he said. "They've won some big games on the road to put themselves in position to fight for a championship. Eastern Washington is a very good team."
The Eagles have survived losing two of their cornerstone players recently. Wing Tyler Harvey and post Venky Jois have each missed time with injuries recently. EWU has lost two of their last three, but appear fully healthy entering the season's final two weeks. Harvey, the nation's top scorer for much of the season, averages 22.8 points a game with 97 three-pointers on the season. Jois chips in 16.6 points with 6.8 boards. Drew Brandon snags a team-high 7.0 rebounds a game.
MSU's diminutive guard tandem continues to pace the team. Michael Dison, a 5-9 shooter, scores 14.6 points a game, 17.3 in conference play, while distributor Marcus Colbert averages 11.9 points while dishing out 4.9 assists a contest. Eric Norman has been productive on the defensive end, snapping down 7.2 rebounds a game while blocking 49 shots on the season.
After Thursday's game, which begins at 7:05 pm MT at Cheney's Reese Court, the Bobcats make their first trip back to Moscow's Kibbie Dome for a conference game to face the Vandals at 2:05 pm MT in the Cowan Spectrum.
While the Bobcats fight for their post-season lives, Eastern Washington remains locked in a three-team race to win the league's regular season title and host the Big Sky Conference Tournament. The Eagles, Sacramento State and Montana each have three league losses. Eastern has 11 conference wins, the other two 12.
The Bobcats, on the other hand, remain one loss from post-season elimination, but first-year MSU head coach Brian Fish said he's seen consistency and resilience from his squad. "I see a team that's more even keel all the time," he said. "They've handled the ups and the downs."
In Eastern Washington, Fish sees a finely-tuned machine churning toward a the possibility of a championship. "They are a well-coached, well-balanced team," he said. "They've won some big games on the road to put themselves in position to fight for a championship. Eastern Washington is a very good team."
The Eagles have survived losing two of their cornerstone players recently. Wing Tyler Harvey and post Venky Jois have each missed time with injuries recently. EWU has lost two of their last three, but appear fully healthy entering the season's final two weeks. Harvey, the nation's top scorer for much of the season, averages 22.8 points a game with 97 three-pointers on the season. Jois chips in 16.6 points with 6.8 boards. Drew Brandon snags a team-high 7.0 rebounds a game.
MSU's diminutive guard tandem continues to pace the team. Michael Dison, a 5-9 shooter, scores 14.6 points a game, 17.3 in conference play, while distributor Marcus Colbert averages 11.9 points while dishing out 4.9 assists a contest. Eric Norman has been productive on the defensive end, snapping down 7.2 rebounds a game while blocking 49 shots on the season.
After Thursday's game, which begins at 7:05 pm MT at Cheney's Reese Court, the Bobcats make their first trip back to Moscow's Kibbie Dome for a conference game to face the Vandals at 2:05 pm MT in the Cowan Spectrum.
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