Montana State University
Southern Utah
Bobcats Visit Southern Utah on Saturday Afternoon
2/10/2017 11:42:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MSU looks for road success in Cedar City
Montana State's longest league road stretch concludes Saturday in Cedar City when the Bobcats face Southern Utah. The Cats followed a five-game January win streak, the team's longest of the season, with back-to-back losses, including Thursday's defeat at NAU.
MSU gets its only regular season look at Thunderbirds star Randy Onwuasor on Saturday. The junior Texas Tech transfer averages 22.8 points a game is tied with Tyler Hall for the Big Sky's scoring lead. It shapes up as a potential showdown of players who dominate their teams' offensive landscapes. While Hall scores 28.6% of Montana State's points, the powerful 6-3, 210 lb guard from Inglewood, California, nets a tick under 30% of SUU's points.
While Onwuasor is Southern Utah's headliner, another Thunderbird caused problems for the Bobcats a season ago. James McGee scored 42 points against the Cats as the teams each won on their home court. He averaged 12.1 points a game a year ago, and is at 13.6 this season.
The Bobcats succumbed to a pair of old nemeses in Thursday's loss at Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks out-rebounded MSU 46-to-34, and out-scored the Bobcats 21-to-10 from the free throw line. "When we've been beaten on the boards and put the other team on the free throw line we haven't had much success this year," said Bobcat coach Brian Fish. The numbers back him up. MSU is 5-13 when the opponent shoots more free throws than the Cats, 4-10 when out-rebounded.
Southern Utah is 2-10 in Big Sky play, 4-21 overall, while the Bobcats are 6-6 in the league, 11-14 overall. Tipoff is 2 pm, and the game is available on the Bobcat Radio Network, www.msubobcats.com, and WatchBigSky.com.
