Big Sky Preseason MVP Tyler Hall
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
BOBCAT BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Tyler Hall Named Big Sky Preseason MVP
10/12/2017 4:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Tyler Hall and Harald Frey form one of top scoring duos in college hoops
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State junior Tyler Hall, the Big Sky Conference's top returning scorer, has been named the league's Preseason MVP by its head coaches.
Hall is one of four underclassmen among the six players honored on the Big Sky's Preseason All-Conference Team. The Rock Island, Illinois, product averaged 23.1 points a game last season, and his 1,317 points through two seasons is already 17th in school history. He set single-season records in 2017 with 739 points and 120 three-point field goals.
"You can look at this sort of thing in two ways," fourth-year Bobcat coach Brian Fish said. "Tyler has the respect of opposing coaches," Fish said, "so he's earned this. But the other side of it is there's no way I'd vote for an MVP candidate who I didn't think was on a good team. So this tells me that the players around Tyler also have respect, and that we're more than a one-player program."
Hall joins an impressive list of players on the Big Sky's preseason squad. Victor Sanders of Idaho (20.9 points a game last year) and Bodgan Bliznyuk (20.6) of Eastern Washington are the two seniors honored. Montana's Ahmaad Rorie (17.6), North Dakota's Geno Crandall (15.5), and Jordan Davis (19.3) of Northern Colorado are, like Hall, juniors. Hall and Sanders each earned First Team All-Big Sky honors last season, while Bliznyuk, Crandall and Rorie were second team choices. Davis earned third team honors.
BOBCAT BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
HIGH-SCORING DUOS: Tyler Hall's ability to score points is well-documented, but last season he had a worthy running mate in freshman guard Harald Frey. The two enter 2017-18 as the sixth-highest scoring tandem in Division I, and one of only two underclassman duos among the top six.
NCAA Division I Top Returning Scoring Duos, Points Per Game
1. 39.1 Jaylen Adams, sr. (20.6) and Matt Mobley, sr. (18.5), St. Bonaventure
2. 37.9 Jonathan Stark, sr. (21.9) and Terrell Miller, sr. (16.0), Murray State
3. 37.6 Tiwian Kendley, sr. (21.0) and Phillip Carr, sr. (16.6), Morgan State
4. 36.7 Ike Smith, jr. (19.6) and Tookie Brown, jr. (17.1), Georgia Southern
5. 36.2 Chris Clemons, jr. (25.1) and Shane Whitfield, sr. (11.1), Campbell
6. 35.8 Tyler Hall, jr. (23.1) and Harald Frey, so. (12.7), Montana State
7. 34.5 Cameron Morse (22.9) and Francisco Santiago (11.6), Youngstown State
8. 33.3 Shamorie Ponds (17.4) and Marcus LoVett (15.9), St. John's
9. 32.9 Trevon Bluiett (18.5) and J.P. Macura (14.4), Xavier
10. 32.8 Khadeen Carrington (17.1) and Desi Rodriguez (15.7), Seton Hall
PRACTICE PROGRESS: Fish said that his veterans continue to make progress as the team builds toward its November 1 exhibition game against MSU Northern. "This is a two-year offense (to learn)," he said. "You can just see players get comfortable, and after that second year they know exactly where everyone needs to be and it all makes sense. You can really see that with Tyler (Hall) right now, and Harry (Frey) is ahead of where a lot of players are because he plays the point and he has to know everyone's (responsibilities)."
HIGH-SCORING DUOS, PART II: Tyler Hall and Harald Frey became one of just seven Bobcat duos to combined for at least 1,000 points when they poured in 1,145 a season ago. They also became the only tandem to score 1,000 points and return the following season.
MSU 1,000-Point Scoring Duos, Total Points
1. 1,173 Tom Domake (667), Ray Willis Jr. (507) in 1988
2. 1,145 Tyler Hall (739), Harald Frey (406) in 2017
3. 1,102 Tyler Hall (578), Marcus Colbert (524) in 2016
4. 1,083 Nate Holmstadt (602), Danny Sprinkle (481) in 1999
5. 1,068 Tom Domako (589), Rayl Willis Jr. (479) in 1987
6. 1,000 Bill Brickhouse (502), Willie Weeks (498) in 1971
7. 1,146 Cat Thompson (629), Frank Ward (517) in 1928
Indicates both players underclassmen who returned the following season
Hall is one of four underclassmen among the six players honored on the Big Sky's Preseason All-Conference Team. The Rock Island, Illinois, product averaged 23.1 points a game last season, and his 1,317 points through two seasons is already 17th in school history. He set single-season records in 2017 with 739 points and 120 three-point field goals.
"You can look at this sort of thing in two ways," fourth-year Bobcat coach Brian Fish said. "Tyler has the respect of opposing coaches," Fish said, "so he's earned this. But the other side of it is there's no way I'd vote for an MVP candidate who I didn't think was on a good team. So this tells me that the players around Tyler also have respect, and that we're more than a one-player program."
Hall joins an impressive list of players on the Big Sky's preseason squad. Victor Sanders of Idaho (20.9 points a game last year) and Bodgan Bliznyuk (20.6) of Eastern Washington are the two seniors honored. Montana's Ahmaad Rorie (17.6), North Dakota's Geno Crandall (15.5), and Jordan Davis (19.3) of Northern Colorado are, like Hall, juniors. Hall and Sanders each earned First Team All-Big Sky honors last season, while Bliznyuk, Crandall and Rorie were second team choices. Davis earned third team honors.
BOBCAT BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
HIGH-SCORING DUOS: Tyler Hall's ability to score points is well-documented, but last season he had a worthy running mate in freshman guard Harald Frey. The two enter 2017-18 as the sixth-highest scoring tandem in Division I, and one of only two underclassman duos among the top six.
NCAA Division I Top Returning Scoring Duos, Points Per Game
1. 39.1 Jaylen Adams, sr. (20.6) and Matt Mobley, sr. (18.5), St. Bonaventure
2. 37.9 Jonathan Stark, sr. (21.9) and Terrell Miller, sr. (16.0), Murray State
3. 37.6 Tiwian Kendley, sr. (21.0) and Phillip Carr, sr. (16.6), Morgan State
4. 36.7 Ike Smith, jr. (19.6) and Tookie Brown, jr. (17.1), Georgia Southern
5. 36.2 Chris Clemons, jr. (25.1) and Shane Whitfield, sr. (11.1), Campbell
6. 35.8 Tyler Hall, jr. (23.1) and Harald Frey, so. (12.7), Montana State
7. 34.5 Cameron Morse (22.9) and Francisco Santiago (11.6), Youngstown State
8. 33.3 Shamorie Ponds (17.4) and Marcus LoVett (15.9), St. John's
9. 32.9 Trevon Bluiett (18.5) and J.P. Macura (14.4), Xavier
10. 32.8 Khadeen Carrington (17.1) and Desi Rodriguez (15.7), Seton Hall
PRACTICE PROGRESS: Fish said that his veterans continue to make progress as the team builds toward its November 1 exhibition game against MSU Northern. "This is a two-year offense (to learn)," he said. "You can just see players get comfortable, and after that second year they know exactly where everyone needs to be and it all makes sense. You can really see that with Tyler (Hall) right now, and Harry (Frey) is ahead of where a lot of players are because he plays the point and he has to know everyone's (responsibilities)."
HIGH-SCORING DUOS, PART II: Tyler Hall and Harald Frey became one of just seven Bobcat duos to combined for at least 1,000 points when they poured in 1,145 a season ago. They also became the only tandem to score 1,000 points and return the following season.
MSU 1,000-Point Scoring Duos, Total Points
1. 1,173 Tom Domake (667), Ray Willis Jr. (507) in 1988
2. 1,145 Tyler Hall (739), Harald Frey (406) in 2017
3. 1,102 Tyler Hall (578), Marcus Colbert (524) in 2016
4. 1,083 Nate Holmstadt (602), Danny Sprinkle (481) in 1999
5. 1,068 Tom Domako (589), Rayl Willis Jr. (479) in 1987
6. 1,000 Bill Brickhouse (502), Willie Weeks (498) in 1971
7. 1,146 Cat Thompson (629), Frank Ward (517) in 1928
Indicates both players underclassmen who returned the following season
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