Tuesday, March 8
5:35 pm PT/6:35 pm MT
Montana State University
vs
Sacramento State
Zach Green scored 23 points Saturday
Photo by: Todd Goodrich
Bobcats Face 'New-Look' Sacramento State Squad in Big Sky Tournament
3/7/2016 2:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MSU plays first tourney game in Reno since winning 1986 Tournament
RENO, Nev. -- Post-season basketball, conventional wisdom holds, is about matchups and adjustments.
The first of those factors is an unknown and the second will happen on the fly when Montana State battles Sacramento State in the first round of the 2016 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at 5:35 pm PT/6:35 pm MT.
"They're playing well right now," Bobcat coach Brian Fish says of a Hornets team that enters tourney play on a two-game win streak. Sacramento State beat Southern Utah 69-63 and Northern Arizona 64-51 at home last weekend.
The big news for Sacramento State is the reintroduction of Cody Demps into its lineup. The senior guard and team leader missed nine games with injury this year, including both of Sac State's outings against Montana State. He has scored in double-digits four times in the six games since his return, and averages 12.2 points and 3.8 boards on the season. His 129 assists leads the team.
"They're working Demps back into things so that will be an adjustment for us," Fish said. "They're a team with good sized that plays with the purpose of pounding the ball inside."
The Bobcats, meanwhile, ride their own two-game win streak into the Reno Events Center. Fish was pleased with how his team competed defensively last weekend. "I thought we really guarded well," he said of MSU's wins over Northern Colorado and North Dakota. "Some friends got on me about giving up 82 (points in the team's win Saturday), but I think if you watched the flow of the game you're impressed that we got some important stops and played really hard."
As always, the team is led by guards Marcus Colbert and Tyler Hall, both selected as Second Team All-Big Sky honorees Monday. But Zach Green scored a career-high 23 in the win Saturday, and Quinton Everett has emerged as a force defensively and on the boards.
If nothing else brings a sense of hope to Bobcat fans entering Tuesday's game, its location might. MSU's only other Big Sky Tournament appearance in Reno came in 1986, when Kral Ferch exploded for 82 points in three games to lead MSU to upset wins over Nevada, NAU and, in the championship game, Montana. Tipoff is 5:35 pm PT/6:35 pm MT on Tuesday, and the game is available at msubobcats.com and watchbigsky.com.
The first of those factors is an unknown and the second will happen on the fly when Montana State battles Sacramento State in the first round of the 2016 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at 5:35 pm PT/6:35 pm MT.
"They're playing well right now," Bobcat coach Brian Fish says of a Hornets team that enters tourney play on a two-game win streak. Sacramento State beat Southern Utah 69-63 and Northern Arizona 64-51 at home last weekend.
The big news for Sacramento State is the reintroduction of Cody Demps into its lineup. The senior guard and team leader missed nine games with injury this year, including both of Sac State's outings against Montana State. He has scored in double-digits four times in the six games since his return, and averages 12.2 points and 3.8 boards on the season. His 129 assists leads the team.
"They're working Demps back into things so that will be an adjustment for us," Fish said. "They're a team with good sized that plays with the purpose of pounding the ball inside."
The Bobcats, meanwhile, ride their own two-game win streak into the Reno Events Center. Fish was pleased with how his team competed defensively last weekend. "I thought we really guarded well," he said of MSU's wins over Northern Colorado and North Dakota. "Some friends got on me about giving up 82 (points in the team's win Saturday), but I think if you watched the flow of the game you're impressed that we got some important stops and played really hard."
As always, the team is led by guards Marcus Colbert and Tyler Hall, both selected as Second Team All-Big Sky honorees Monday. But Zach Green scored a career-high 23 in the win Saturday, and Quinton Everett has emerged as a force defensively and on the boards.
If nothing else brings a sense of hope to Bobcat fans entering Tuesday's game, its location might. MSU's only other Big Sky Tournament appearance in Reno came in 1986, when Kral Ferch exploded for 82 points in three games to lead MSU to upset wins over Nevada, NAU and, in the championship game, Montana. Tipoff is 5:35 pm PT/6:35 pm MT on Tuesday, and the game is available at msubobcats.com and watchbigsky.com.
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