Saturday, February 25
BOZEMAN
7 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
Montana
Tyler Hall
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Bobcats, Grizzlies Get Together in Bozeman Saturday
2/24/2017 4:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MSU and Montana look to break a fourth-place tie in the Big Sky
The math isn't literal, but the message is.
"In February wins count double," Montana State coach Brian Fish says, citing an ancient college basketball axiom, "and in March wins count triple."
The Bobcats carry a 14-14 overall mark, 9-6 in Big Sky play, into the season's final two regular season weekends. The next opportunity for a 'double' win comes Saturday at 7 pm against Montana, the Bobcats' Senior Night, and its importance is lost on no one.
"Just the support of the community, the fans," is what MSU's lone senior Quinton Everett says of the warm thoughts says he'll carry onto the Worthington Arena floor with him one last time. But he adds emphatically, "I haven't really thought about that stuff yet."
The task at hand is big enough, said Fish. Montana invades Worthington Arena locked in a fourth-place tie with the Cats and sporting identical 9-6 and 14-14 records into the game. They also bring something even more imposing. "What have they beaten us, (13) straight times?" Fish asked. "It isn't a rivalry when one team wins all the time. We need to make it a rivalry again."
UM is unquestionably talented, spurred by the three-pronged guard line of Ahmaad Rorie (17.1 points a game), Michael Oguine (11.6) and Walter Wright (10.4). Those three took turns tormenting the Bobcats in the last three meetings. Wright hit a dozen free throws on his way to a 24-point effort in Bozeman last January, Oguine scored 27 in Missoula a year ago (and has at least 20 in all three of his career Cat-Griz games), and Rorie's 26 points, most in the second half, was the tide changer three weeks ago.
The presence of those three, who can all score from long range but are doubly dangerous driving, focuses Fish's attention on the defensive end. "We've got to get better defensively," he said. "At times we play very, very well defensively, sometimes we don't. We've got to continue to keep people off the foul line because we're pretty good when we're even or ahead in free throws attempted."
The numbers bear Fish out. His team is 7-0 this season when attempting more free throws than its opponent.
"They're a very good team," Fish said. "They beat us at their place and definitely dominated the last seven, eight minutes of that game, so we have a lot of things (to improve on)."
Even while acknowledging the importance of Saturday's tilt, Fish knows that it won't end MSU's season. "A bigger scope (is that) we've got to get better. When you win games it makes the next game more important and gives you a chance to continue to advance. The small-scope (view) is that we've got to get ready for Saturday, but the big scope is that we've got to get better and continue to improve so we give ourselves a chance come two weeks from now when the tournament starts."
The Big Sky Tournament in Reno, which begins March 8, also factors into the importance of Saturday's game. The top five teams earn first-round byes (in the case of the fifth seed it comes at the expense of Northern Colorado, who is ineligible for this year's tournament), and Montana and Montana State are in a dog-fight with Idaho for fourth and fifth place.
But the focus always returns to the moment, and Saturday is momentous. "They're a winning program, they won the game there, they've certainly got very good guards, their big men play their role perfectly, they can shoot it, they're a well-put-together team, and they're well-coached."
Montana State counters with a terrific backcourt trio of its own. Tyler Hall's 22.8 points leads the way, and he averages 23 points a game against UM. Harald Frey scored 22 points in Missoula in his Cat-Griz debut on February 4. Devonte Klines, like Hall a sophomore, has sparked MSU on both ends of the floor in the last six weeks.
Saturday's game is televised around the state on SWX stations. On Charter Spectrum cable systems the game airs on channel 199 except in Billings, where it is on 503. Over the air, the game airs on digital channels 28.3 in Bozeman, 8.2 in Billings, 23.3 in Missoula, 5.3 in Great Falls, 21.3 in Helena, and 18.3 in Butte.
"In February wins count double," Montana State coach Brian Fish says, citing an ancient college basketball axiom, "and in March wins count triple."
The Bobcats carry a 14-14 overall mark, 9-6 in Big Sky play, into the season's final two regular season weekends. The next opportunity for a 'double' win comes Saturday at 7 pm against Montana, the Bobcats' Senior Night, and its importance is lost on no one.
"Just the support of the community, the fans," is what MSU's lone senior Quinton Everett says of the warm thoughts says he'll carry onto the Worthington Arena floor with him one last time. But he adds emphatically, "I haven't really thought about that stuff yet."
The task at hand is big enough, said Fish. Montana invades Worthington Arena locked in a fourth-place tie with the Cats and sporting identical 9-6 and 14-14 records into the game. They also bring something even more imposing. "What have they beaten us, (13) straight times?" Fish asked. "It isn't a rivalry when one team wins all the time. We need to make it a rivalry again."
UM is unquestionably talented, spurred by the three-pronged guard line of Ahmaad Rorie (17.1 points a game), Michael Oguine (11.6) and Walter Wright (10.4). Those three took turns tormenting the Bobcats in the last three meetings. Wright hit a dozen free throws on his way to a 24-point effort in Bozeman last January, Oguine scored 27 in Missoula a year ago (and has at least 20 in all three of his career Cat-Griz games), and Rorie's 26 points, most in the second half, was the tide changer three weeks ago.
The presence of those three, who can all score from long range but are doubly dangerous driving, focuses Fish's attention on the defensive end. "We've got to get better defensively," he said. "At times we play very, very well defensively, sometimes we don't. We've got to continue to keep people off the foul line because we're pretty good when we're even or ahead in free throws attempted."
The numbers bear Fish out. His team is 7-0 this season when attempting more free throws than its opponent.
"They're a very good team," Fish said. "They beat us at their place and definitely dominated the last seven, eight minutes of that game, so we have a lot of things (to improve on)."
Even while acknowledging the importance of Saturday's tilt, Fish knows that it won't end MSU's season. "A bigger scope (is that) we've got to get better. When you win games it makes the next game more important and gives you a chance to continue to advance. The small-scope (view) is that we've got to get ready for Saturday, but the big scope is that we've got to get better and continue to improve so we give ourselves a chance come two weeks from now when the tournament starts."
The Big Sky Tournament in Reno, which begins March 8, also factors into the importance of Saturday's game. The top five teams earn first-round byes (in the case of the fifth seed it comes at the expense of Northern Colorado, who is ineligible for this year's tournament), and Montana and Montana State are in a dog-fight with Idaho for fourth and fifth place.
But the focus always returns to the moment, and Saturday is momentous. "They're a winning program, they won the game there, they've certainly got very good guards, their big men play their role perfectly, they can shoot it, they're a well-put-together team, and they're well-coached."
Montana State counters with a terrific backcourt trio of its own. Tyler Hall's 22.8 points leads the way, and he averages 23 points a game against UM. Harald Frey scored 22 points in Missoula in his Cat-Griz debut on February 4. Devonte Klines, like Hall a sophomore, has sparked MSU on both ends of the floor in the last six weeks.
Saturday's game is televised around the state on SWX stations. On Charter Spectrum cable systems the game airs on channel 199 except in Billings, where it is on 503. Over the air, the game airs on digital channels 28.3 in Bozeman, 8.2 in Billings, 23.3 in Missoula, 5.3 in Great Falls, 21.3 in Helena, and 18.3 in Butte.
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