Danny Robison leads the Cats against Idaho
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcats Welcome Idaho Back to Fieldhouse Thursday
2/4/2015 3:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MSU faces one-time and current league foe in Big Sky game
Idaho's last visit to Worthington Arena as a Big Sky Conference member was not memorable from a Vandals perspective.
It was 19 years and 10 non-conference matchups ago, when the Bobcats helped usher in UI's Big West era with a 91-66 league tournament semifinal victory in Bozeman. That game was a prelude to MSU's championship win 24 hours later, and in a way to the return of the University of Idaho to a conference it helped form as a charter member in 1963.
The Vandals return as a Big Sky foe on Thursday night, lodged in a log-jam in the middle of the Big Sky standings and facing a rebuilding Montana State team. Idaho is 3-5 in the Big Sky, tied for eighth with North Dakota, and 8-11 overall. MSU is 1-8 in the league, 4-17 overall, and Bobcat coach Brian Fish says that Idaho brings a talented offensive squad to Bozeman for Thursday's 7 pm contest.
"Idaho shoots it really well," he said. "They're in the 40%-plus range from three. They have three guys averaging in double-figures, and they can really score in transition."
The Vandals lead the Big Sky, shooting 42.2% from the arc, a potentially flammable matchup against a Bobcat defense that has allowed its last three opponents to 62.8% from deep. Three Vandals – Connor Hill (44%), Mike Scott (42%) and Perrion Callandret (42%) are among the Big Sky's top dozen three-point shooters, and pace an attack that is not only efficient from three-point range but prolific. Idaho is third in the league in triples made per game.
Seniors Scott and Hill and sophomore Sekou Wiggs form a talented and experienced three-man guard corps, while Callendret, also a sophomore, brings scoring punch off the bench. Bira Seck, a 6-6 forward, leads the way inside, shooting 54.9% from the floor and leading the team with 7.8 boards a game.
The Bobcats look to get back on the rails after a tough road trip last weekend. MSU lost at Sacramento State and Portland State, with each opponent shooting comfortably over 50% while forcing a combined 30 Bobcat turnovers. The bright spot for the Bobcats last weekend, and throughout the league season, has been an area Fish was concerned about entering the season.
"I really thought we might struggle to rebound this year," Fish said of his team that has out-worked five of its last seven opponents on the glass. "The guys have done a great job rebounding as a team, hitting guys (boxing out) and scrapping for all the loose ball rebounds they can get."
While the Bobcats have struggled to shoot the ball throughout the season, Thursday's venue offers reason for optimism. MSU shoots 42% inside the arc and the same from three-point land in Worthington Arena this year, while hitting shots at just a 37% rate overall, 30% from deep, away from home.
After Thursday's contest, the Bobcats welcome Eastern Washington, one of the league's prime title contenders, to town on Saturday afternoon at 2:35 pm.
It was 19 years and 10 non-conference matchups ago, when the Bobcats helped usher in UI's Big West era with a 91-66 league tournament semifinal victory in Bozeman. That game was a prelude to MSU's championship win 24 hours later, and in a way to the return of the University of Idaho to a conference it helped form as a charter member in 1963.
The Vandals return as a Big Sky foe on Thursday night, lodged in a log-jam in the middle of the Big Sky standings and facing a rebuilding Montana State team. Idaho is 3-5 in the Big Sky, tied for eighth with North Dakota, and 8-11 overall. MSU is 1-8 in the league, 4-17 overall, and Bobcat coach Brian Fish says that Idaho brings a talented offensive squad to Bozeman for Thursday's 7 pm contest.
"Idaho shoots it really well," he said. "They're in the 40%-plus range from three. They have three guys averaging in double-figures, and they can really score in transition."
The Vandals lead the Big Sky, shooting 42.2% from the arc, a potentially flammable matchup against a Bobcat defense that has allowed its last three opponents to 62.8% from deep. Three Vandals – Connor Hill (44%), Mike Scott (42%) and Perrion Callandret (42%) are among the Big Sky's top dozen three-point shooters, and pace an attack that is not only efficient from three-point range but prolific. Idaho is third in the league in triples made per game.
Seniors Scott and Hill and sophomore Sekou Wiggs form a talented and experienced three-man guard corps, while Callendret, also a sophomore, brings scoring punch off the bench. Bira Seck, a 6-6 forward, leads the way inside, shooting 54.9% from the floor and leading the team with 7.8 boards a game.
The Bobcats look to get back on the rails after a tough road trip last weekend. MSU lost at Sacramento State and Portland State, with each opponent shooting comfortably over 50% while forcing a combined 30 Bobcat turnovers. The bright spot for the Bobcats last weekend, and throughout the league season, has been an area Fish was concerned about entering the season.
"I really thought we might struggle to rebound this year," Fish said of his team that has out-worked five of its last seven opponents on the glass. "The guys have done a great job rebounding as a team, hitting guys (boxing out) and scrapping for all the loose ball rebounds they can get."
While the Bobcats have struggled to shoot the ball throughout the season, Thursday's venue offers reason for optimism. MSU shoots 42% inside the arc and the same from three-point land in Worthington Arena this year, while hitting shots at just a 37% rate overall, 30% from deep, away from home.
After Thursday's contest, the Bobcats welcome Eastern Washington, one of the league's prime title contenders, to town on Saturday afternoon at 2:35 pm.
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