Saturday, December 29
Cedar City, UT
2 pm
Montana State University
at
Southern Utah
Harald Frey and the Bobcats aim for a win at Southern Utah on Saturday
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
GAME #11: Montana State Opens 2018-19 Big Sky Slate at Southern Utah on Saturday at 2 pm
12/28/2018 1:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Cats face challenging road trip to begin conference play
BOZEMAN, Montana – Montana State's task to open Big Sky play at Southern Utah and Northern Arizona isn't easy, but it is familiar. For the third time in the last four seasons, the Bobcats launch league play at Southern Utah on Saturday at 2 pm before visiting Flagstaff for a noon tipoff on New Year's Eve.
Southern Utah finished 2017-18 with a splash, beating Idaho State and Idaho in the Big Sky Tournament after a 5-13 league season. The Thunderbirds carried that conference into 2018-19, logging wins against San Jose State, Seattle and Pepperdine. SUU enters weekend play with a 5-4 record.
"This is a very talented team," said Bobcat head coach Brian Fish. "Dwayne Morgan is a tremendous player, and Todd (Simon, SUU's third-year head coach) has surrounded him with excellent players."
Morgan leads the team with 13.0 points and is third with 4.8 rebounds, but his availability for the weekend is unknown. He played in the season's first four games before suffering an injury at UNLV. He has not played in the last five weeks, but beyond the talented forward Southern Utah's cupboard is hardly bare. Junior forward Cameron Oluyitan is matches Morgan's scoring pace, getting 12.9 points a game, while senior guard Brandon Better, the team's top three-point threat, averages 11.9 a game.
Freshman wing Harrison Butler leads the team with 6.6 rebounds a game, while junior forward Andre Adams adds 5.8. Adams, an Arizona State transfer, is one of six Thunderbirds who have found their way to Cedar City after time at other Division I schools. He joins guard Jason Richardson (Cal State Northridge), guard Jakolby Long (Iowa State), center David N'Diaye (Illinois State), Oluyitan (Boise State), and Morgan (UNLV).
While Southern Utah rode an experienced roster into the 2018-19 season – 12 of the team's 15 players had Division I experience at the season's outset – the Bobcats continued growth provides hope after a 3-7 start to the 2018-19 season. While the team's third-year backcourt of senior Tyler Hall (19.1 points per game) and junior Harald Frey (12.7 ppg) pace the team, and junior college transfer Ladan Ricketts has provided perimeter punch. The Livingston, Montana, product averages 11.2 points a game, shooting 44.3% from deep and averaging nearly three triples per contest.
Beyond those three, though, November and December provided Fish and his staff development opportunities. Sophomore center Devin Kirby contributes 7.2 points a game while shooting 58.3% from the floor, leading the team with 5.4 rebounds a game. Freshman Zeke Quinlan averages 2.0 rebounds a game off the bench, but his 10.2 boards per 40 minutes is the best rate on the team, and classmate Quentin Guliford has chipped in a dozen points in the last five games.
Fish knows that this weekend opens the period when development must meet production. The Southern Utah contest begins a 20-game league schedule that leads to the Big Sky Tournament in Boise, Idaho, starting on March 13. Tipoff is at 2:05 pm Saturday, and the game is available on www.Pluto.tv and www.WatchBigSky.com.
#GoCatsGo
Southern Utah finished 2017-18 with a splash, beating Idaho State and Idaho in the Big Sky Tournament after a 5-13 league season. The Thunderbirds carried that conference into 2018-19, logging wins against San Jose State, Seattle and Pepperdine. SUU enters weekend play with a 5-4 record.
"This is a very talented team," said Bobcat head coach Brian Fish. "Dwayne Morgan is a tremendous player, and Todd (Simon, SUU's third-year head coach) has surrounded him with excellent players."
Morgan leads the team with 13.0 points and is third with 4.8 rebounds, but his availability for the weekend is unknown. He played in the season's first four games before suffering an injury at UNLV. He has not played in the last five weeks, but beyond the talented forward Southern Utah's cupboard is hardly bare. Junior forward Cameron Oluyitan is matches Morgan's scoring pace, getting 12.9 points a game, while senior guard Brandon Better, the team's top three-point threat, averages 11.9 a game.
Freshman wing Harrison Butler leads the team with 6.6 rebounds a game, while junior forward Andre Adams adds 5.8. Adams, an Arizona State transfer, is one of six Thunderbirds who have found their way to Cedar City after time at other Division I schools. He joins guard Jason Richardson (Cal State Northridge), guard Jakolby Long (Iowa State), center David N'Diaye (Illinois State), Oluyitan (Boise State), and Morgan (UNLV).
While Southern Utah rode an experienced roster into the 2018-19 season – 12 of the team's 15 players had Division I experience at the season's outset – the Bobcats continued growth provides hope after a 3-7 start to the 2018-19 season. While the team's third-year backcourt of senior Tyler Hall (19.1 points per game) and junior Harald Frey (12.7 ppg) pace the team, and junior college transfer Ladan Ricketts has provided perimeter punch. The Livingston, Montana, product averages 11.2 points a game, shooting 44.3% from deep and averaging nearly three triples per contest.
Beyond those three, though, November and December provided Fish and his staff development opportunities. Sophomore center Devin Kirby contributes 7.2 points a game while shooting 58.3% from the floor, leading the team with 5.4 rebounds a game. Freshman Zeke Quinlan averages 2.0 rebounds a game off the bench, but his 10.2 boards per 40 minutes is the best rate on the team, and classmate Quentin Guliford has chipped in a dozen points in the last five games.
Fish knows that this weekend opens the period when development must meet production. The Southern Utah contest begins a 20-game league schedule that leads to the Big Sky Tournament in Boise, Idaho, starting on March 13. Tipoff is at 2:05 pm Saturday, and the game is available on www.Pluto.tv and www.WatchBigSky.com.
#GoCatsGo
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