Thursday, February 5
7:05 pm
Montana State University
vs
Idaho
Michael Dison and the Bobcats face Eastern Washington Saturday
Photo by: Ruth Shellenberg
Bobcats Host Eastern Washington Saturday Afternoon
2/6/2015 3:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MSU faces red-hot Eagles, a juggernaut with or without their leading scorer
Most observers look at Eastern Washington and see a basketball team with an already-impressive resume battling for a Big Sky Championship. Brian Fish sees a post-season nightmare waiting to happen.
"If Eastern Washington gets in the NCAA Tournament, they're going to be a really hard matchup for someone," Fish said of Montana State's next opponent, who brings a 17-5 overall mark and an 8-1 league record into Saturday's 2:35 pm matchup with his Bobcats in Worthington Arena. "They can really score, they have bench depth, they shoot it really well. They would cause (an NCAA Tournament opponent) nightmares."
Fish acknowledges that considerable work remains until that is a concern, but the facts bear him out. The Eagles handled Montana 75-69 in Missoula Thursday night without Tyler Harvey, who leads not only Eastern in scoring but the entire nation at 23.4 points a game. The status of Harvey, also the nation's top three-point shooter, is unknown for Saturday's game. In his absence Thursday, point guard Drew Brandon poured in 27 points.
Eastern rides the strength of an offense with multiple weapons. Venky Jois adds 17.1 points a game, and six players in all score at least eight per outing. While locked in a battle with Sacramento State for the top spot on the Big Sky, Easter also owns a non-league win over Indiana.
The Bobcats dropped another hard-fought decision Thursday at home against Idaho, leading by 11 at one point in the second half before enduring eight minutes without a field goal. Junior forward Danny Robison posted his first career double-double, logging 18 points and 10 rebounds.
"If Eastern Washington gets in the NCAA Tournament, they're going to be a really hard matchup for someone," Fish said of Montana State's next opponent, who brings a 17-5 overall mark and an 8-1 league record into Saturday's 2:35 pm matchup with his Bobcats in Worthington Arena. "They can really score, they have bench depth, they shoot it really well. They would cause (an NCAA Tournament opponent) nightmares."
Fish acknowledges that considerable work remains until that is a concern, but the facts bear him out. The Eagles handled Montana 75-69 in Missoula Thursday night without Tyler Harvey, who leads not only Eastern in scoring but the entire nation at 23.4 points a game. The status of Harvey, also the nation's top three-point shooter, is unknown for Saturday's game. In his absence Thursday, point guard Drew Brandon poured in 27 points.
Eastern rides the strength of an offense with multiple weapons. Venky Jois adds 17.1 points a game, and six players in all score at least eight per outing. While locked in a battle with Sacramento State for the top spot on the Big Sky, Easter also owns a non-league win over Indiana.
The Bobcats dropped another hard-fought decision Thursday at home against Idaho, leading by 11 at one point in the second half before enduring eight minutes without a field goal. Junior forward Danny Robison posted his first career double-double, logging 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballBobcat Insider TV Show
Thursday, March 03
Inside The Brick (Amin Adamu)
Friday, November 05
Inside The Brick (Nick Gazelas)
Monday, November 01
Inside The Brick (Abdul Mohamed)
Sunday, October 31
