Thursday, February 1
Grand Forks, ND
6 pm
Montana State University
at
North Dakota
Brian Fish (left) and Harald Frey
Photo by: Andrew Pedersen
GAME #23: Bobcats Visit North Dakota for League Showdown on Thursday
1/30/2018 4:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MSU looks to continue 'how we need to play' on weekend road trip
BOZEMAN, Montana – Any win for a college basketball team in the heart of conference play is a good one, but Montana State's victory against Southern Utah Saturday held added meaning for Bobcat coach Brian Fish.
"I thought it was important that it wasn't a win that was misleading," Fish said of his team's method for lifting its record to 12-10, 5-4 in conference play, as it reached the halfway point of the Big Sky Conference season. "We didn't shoot 70% from the field or anything like that. We won it in a way we need to play. We won it with defense and rebounding and scoring at opportunity times. It wasn't like we blistered the nets. I like that we won playing how we have to play."
Montana State's next test comes Thursday in Grand Forks on the team's last regular season game against UND as a conference rival. The Fighting Hawks enter Thursday's game 7-14 overall, 2-7 in the Big Sky, but a strong core from last year's league title team remains. Geno Crandall is one of the Big Sky's top guards, averaging 15.6 points a game, and scored 25 points in leading North Dakota to a win over Weber State in its last home contest. In fact, all five Fighting Hawks starters crack the scoring column at 10+ points a game.
"They're a really talented team," Fish said of North Dakota. "When you play a team for the second time you get to see (on video) what they did against you and what you did against them. I think it improves (players') intensity and they get locked in on what's got to happen to find a way to win. We're going to have to play very well."
The Bobcats continue to thrive when the team rebounds and takes care of the ball. The Cats have been at least even on the boards in each of their league games in Worthington Arena, but have out-rebounded only one Big Sky foe on the road. MSU is 3-2 in Big Sky home games, 2-2 on the road.
Regardless of the results, Fish is pleased with his team's approach and effort right now. "The most important thing is to get back to playing the way we need to play to win basketball games," he said. "I thought if we do that it will result in wins, and we did that on Saturday. We played the way we need to play to get wins."
Tipoff at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Thursday is 6 pm MT/7 pm CT, and the game is available across the state on the Bobcat Radio Network and on msubobcats.com with Jay Sanderson on the call. Video is available on Pluto.TV and WatchBigSky.com.
"I thought it was important that it wasn't a win that was misleading," Fish said of his team's method for lifting its record to 12-10, 5-4 in conference play, as it reached the halfway point of the Big Sky Conference season. "We didn't shoot 70% from the field or anything like that. We won it in a way we need to play. We won it with defense and rebounding and scoring at opportunity times. It wasn't like we blistered the nets. I like that we won playing how we have to play."
Montana State's next test comes Thursday in Grand Forks on the team's last regular season game against UND as a conference rival. The Fighting Hawks enter Thursday's game 7-14 overall, 2-7 in the Big Sky, but a strong core from last year's league title team remains. Geno Crandall is one of the Big Sky's top guards, averaging 15.6 points a game, and scored 25 points in leading North Dakota to a win over Weber State in its last home contest. In fact, all five Fighting Hawks starters crack the scoring column at 10+ points a game.
"They're a really talented team," Fish said of North Dakota. "When you play a team for the second time you get to see (on video) what they did against you and what you did against them. I think it improves (players') intensity and they get locked in on what's got to happen to find a way to win. We're going to have to play very well."
The Bobcats continue to thrive when the team rebounds and takes care of the ball. The Cats have been at least even on the boards in each of their league games in Worthington Arena, but have out-rebounded only one Big Sky foe on the road. MSU is 3-2 in Big Sky home games, 2-2 on the road.
Regardless of the results, Fish is pleased with his team's approach and effort right now. "The most important thing is to get back to playing the way we need to play to win basketball games," he said. "I thought if we do that it will result in wins, and we did that on Saturday. We played the way we need to play to get wins."
Tipoff at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Thursday is 6 pm MT/7 pm CT, and the game is available across the state on the Bobcat Radio Network and on msubobcats.com with Jay Sanderson on the call. Video is available on Pluto.TV and WatchBigSky.com.
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