Bobcats Fall to Hot-Shooting Fighting Hawks in Frigid North Dakota

Thursday, January 14

7:05 pm CT

Montana State University

7-10 (2-3BSC)

North Dakota

8-8 (3-2BSC)

Montana State

North Dakota

Tyler Hall led the Cats with 15 points Thursday

Photo by: Schmitt Shoots Photography

Bobcats Fall to Hot-Shooting Fighting Hawks in Frigid North Dakota

1/14/2016 9:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MSU digs another early hole, can't escape

By: Bill Lamberty

With temperatures outside plunging below zero, Montana State fell into a big hole early and couldn't quite battle its way in an 85-68 loss at North Dakota on Thursday.

"I thought we were locked in and ready to play," said Bobcat coach Brian Fish. "But we missed some shots early. Their point guard made three or four shots. We just struggled to get something going."

The Bobcats trailed by as many as 25 points in the second half after Adam McDermott's three-pointer with 9:14 remaining. A layup by Shy Blake just under a minute later launched a 15-2 Bobcat run, and MSU scrapped to keep the margin manageable for a few more minutes.

"We showed some pride," Fish said. "The guys have some fight in them. We've done that this year. But we have to find a way to play better defensively early."

MSU allowed North Dakota to shoot 58% on the night, 64% after halftime. In fact, the Fighting Hawks hit 11 of their first 12 second half shots. UND shot 42% from the arc, as well.

The trouble began early for the Bobcats. Danny Robison's layup at 17:27 got the Cats off the schneid, and the team didn't score again until Tyson Kanseyo's layup nearly three minutes later. UND used a 9-2 run beginning at 15:55 to take command.

Neither team played particularly sharp basketball – at one point in the middle of the half the two squads combined for turnovers on seven straight possessions – but North Dakota shot the ball well. The Fighting Hawks finished the half on a 7-for-11 tear, pushing the lead to 14 at the 2:02 mark.

While Stephan Holm's three-pointer in MSU's final first-half possession trimmed UND's margin to 11 at 39-28, MSU's main issues glared. The Bobcats turned the ball over on 13 of their 37 first half possessions, and shot just 42%. North Dakota's 10 turnovers hindered the Fighting Hawks offensive effort, but the home team shot 54%.

Tyler Hall was the only Bobcat in double-figures, extending his string of scoring at least 10 to 16 of his first 17 games as a Bobcat. He tallied 15 points. Shy Blake scored nine points with five boards, all on the offensive end. Blake had scored just eight points in his previous four league games combined.

The Bobcats' downfall was 19 turnovers, 13 before the half. The Cats forced 15 UND turnovers, the most by an MSU opponent since San Jose State turned it over that many times on December 13, but UND's 58% shooting nullified its sloppy play, and then some. MSU posted its best free throw game of the season, converting 15 of 16 charity tosses.

Montana State falls to 7-10 overall, 2-3 in the Big Sky, with the loss. North Dakota is now 8-8, 3-2. The Bobcats travel to Northern Colorado for a 5 pm contest on Saturday. Watch the game at WatchBigSky.com.