Strong Defensive Effort Propels Cats to First Road Win of Season

Thursday, January 19

Sacramento, CA

8 p.m. MT

Montana State University

8-12, 3-4BSC

Sacramento State

5-12, 2-4BSC

Montana State

Sacramento State

Tyler Hall

Strong Defensive Effort Propels Cats to First Road Win of Season

1/19/2017 11:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Harald Frey's career high paces offense

By: Bill Lamberty

Harald Frey scored a career-high 22 points, leading Montana State to a 74-65 win over Sacramento State in The Nest on Thursday.

"(Sacramento State) is a well-coached team and an experienced team," said Bobcat coach Brian Fish. "I thought we played hard, especially in the second half. I thought we showed some toughness, some poise."

Montana State's first road win of the season – in fact, its first since winning in Sacramento last February 2 – came on the strength of an outstanding defensive effort. Sacramento State's 42.6 percent shooting and marked MSU's second-best performance in a road game this season, and the Hornets' 65 points is the fewest the Cats have surrendered away from home this season.

"I thought we were packed in so tight (defensively) it forced them into some open looks," Fish said. "They shot more three-pointers than we thought they would."

Focusing on limiting Sac State's looks inside paid off. Forward Nick Hornsby (five points) and center Eric Stuteville (four) combined to average 21.8 points entering Thursday's game. The nine points they produced marked their second-lowest combine scoring production of the season (they combined for six against Northern Colorado in the league opener).

Montana State was particularly effective defensively in the first half, suffocating the Hornets' offense by doubling Sac State's talented low-post players. The result was a 38.5% shooting half by the Hornets with nine turnovers. Harald Frey's three first-half triples gave him 11 points at the break to lead all players.

Forced off the low blocks, the Hornets shot seven three-pointers more than they have averaged against Big Sky opponents. Sac State finished 8-for-21 from the arc, and used that weapon to good effect early in the second half. MSU held its biggest halftime lead away from home on the season, 35-24, and pushed that advantage to 15 early in the second half.

"The guys committed to the game plan, they executed it," Fish said. "They had 15 second-chance points but most of those were in the first half. We solved that in the second half. We got a lot of production from a lot of people."

The Hornets whittled away at that lead, aided by a four-and-a-half minute stretch in which MSU scored just two points. In fact, from the 19-minute mark to just under 13 minutes remaining, Sac State out-scored the Bobcats 11-5.

With seven-and-a-half minutes left and MSU leading 56-48, Frey hit a three-pointer to squelch a 5-0 Sac State run. Back-to-back Hornets three-pointers cut the Bobcat lead to five, but Frey hit a pair of free throws, then nailed a three-pointer to give the Bobcats a 64-55 lead. Sac State would get closer no than eight the rest of the game.

The last of those shots came after Tyler Hall found Sam Neumann in the paint. Neumann's ball fake preceded a reversal to Frey in the far corner, which led to a dagger triple. "That was a great play by Sam to ball fake and find Harry, and of course Harry hit the shot," Fish said.

Frey was quick to credit his teammates for his big night. "Tyler's always going to draw attention," he said. "And that was a really good play by Sam. My teammates found me for open shots."

Fish liked his freshman point guard's demeanor. "He was in the fight the whole game, he was never hiding," Fish said, noting that production came from up and down the lineup. "I thought Devonte (Klines) had some nice drives and finished, and created opportunities for other guys. When we missed a shot I thought we had a lot of guys went and fought for rebounds. It was a good team effort."

Quinton Everett's production and energy off the bench was a major boost for the Cats. The team's lone senior scored seven points with five rebounds, dished out three assists, blocked a shot, and snagged a steal. Klines scored eight points, and Green and Neumann each grabbed six boards to share team-high honors.

Montana State raised its record to 8-12 overall with the win, 3-4 in Big Sky play. Sacramento State falls to 5-12, 2-4. MSU finishes the weekend with a Saturday night contest at Portland State. Tipoff is 8 pm MT.