Friday, November 15
Greensboro, NC
2:30 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
Appalachian State
Photo by: Andrew Pedersen
Montana State Ready to Open Play at Spartan Invitational
11/14/2019 2:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State travels for the second time this season for its longest road trip of the year when the Bobcats appear in the Spartan Invitational from Nov. 15-17
| Montana State Bobcats (1-1) at Spartan Invitational (Nov. 15-17) | |
| Date and Time | Friday, Nov. 15 - 4 p.m. MDT | Saturday, Nov. 16 - 2:30 p.m. MDT | Sunday, Nov. 17 - 10 a.m. MDT |
| Location | Greensboro, N.C. |
| Site | Fleming Gymnasium (1,833) |
| Radio | KMMS 1450 AM | KZMY 103.5 FM | KXLB 100.7 FM | Bobcat Sports Radio Network |
| Listen Live | msubobcats.com/watch | TuneIn app |
| Stream | ESPN3 | WatchESPN.com (Saturday, Nov. 16 Only) |
| Live Stats | UNCGSpartans StatBroadcast |
| Tickets | UNCGSpartans.com |
| Montana State | Game Notes | Men's Basketball Home Page |
| Opponents | Appalachian State | UNCG | Tennesee Tech |
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Montana State travels for the second time this season for its longest road trip of the year when the Bobcats appear in the Spartan Invitational from Nov. 15-17. The Bobcats open their four-game road stand with contests against Appalachian State, UNCG and Tennessee Tech in Fleming Gymnasium.
The MSU men's basketball team faces Appalachian State to open the tournament at 2:30 p.m. MDT on Friday. The Bobcats take on host UNCG at 4 p.m. on Saturday and close out the Invite with a 10 a.m. matchup against Tennessee Tech Sunday.
The Bobcats last appeared in a regular season tournament during the 2017-18 season when MSU played two games at the Cancun Challenge. The Bobcats won the Mayan Division trophy by defeating Binghamton 76-64 and Southeast Missouri 88-82. Tyler Hall was named the 2017 Cancun Challenge Mayan Division MVP while Harald Frey earned All-Tournament honors.
MSU has had a four-game road stand four times in the previous 10 seasons. The Bobcats played four games away from home consecutively a season ago and dropped all four. MSU's longest stretch of road games in the last 10 years was during the 2015-16 season when MSU played six straight away from Bozeman in a span from Dec. 13-January 2.
Montana State is set to face two new opponents at the Spartan Invitational when the Bobcats take on UNCG and Tennessee Tech. The third team, Appalachian State, MSU has met six times prior to this weekend's matchup. The foes have split the six meetings, with Montana State winning the last two. MSU defeated Appalachian State in Bozeman on Dec. 21, 1996, 96-71. The Bobcats earned another victory over App State the following year by narrowly edging the Mountaineers in Boone, N.C., 71-69.
Friday's contest follows MSU's first win of the season on Nov. 9 when the Bobcats beat Rocky Mountain, 93-60, in Worthington Arena. Danny Sprinkle earned his first head coaching victory as MSU never trailed in the contest. The Bobcats were boosted by four double digit scorers as the team shot over 52% from the field.
Montana State's defense has been a point of emphasis to begin the 2019-20 season. The Bobcats' 60 points allowed to Rocky Mountain were the least scored by an opponent since the 2016-17 season. Through two games a season ago, Utah State and Indiana shot 52.4% from the field against MSU. This season, opponents are shooting 38.6% against the Bobcats.
Despite the loss of Tyler Hall -- the program's all-time leading scorer to graduation -- MSU continues to find success from beyond the arc and is first among Big Sky members in 3-point field goals per game and 3-point field goal percentage. The Bobcats' 10.5 3-pointers per game rank 30th in Division I basketball, while their 46.7% clip from long range is 12th best in the nation.
MSU is dishing out assists among the best in the conference and two players are leading the charge. The Bobcats' 17 assists per game is second in the league and 65th nationally. Senior Harald Frey is currently averaging 6.5 assists per game, good for second in the Big Sky and 36th nationally. Junior Mychael Paulo follows with 4 assists per game which is sixth in the league and 201st nationally.
Harald Frey continues to move up Montana State's all-time charts. In the Bobcats' home 93-60 victory over Rocky Mountain, the senior guard surpassed former Bobcats in all-time points and assists. His 1,420 points placed him 10th in program history in scoring surpassing Kermit Young (1962-65). He also moved past Tony Hampton (1983-86) in assists and currently has 385 in his career.
Saturday's game versus UNCG can be streamed on ESPN3 (WatchESPN.com) and will be the lone contest that will be available to watch online. All three games will be broadcast on the Bobcat Sports Radio Network. Friday's game will air locally on KMMS 1450 AM, Saturday's game airs on KZMY 103.5 FM and Sunday's matchup will be on KXLB 100.7 FM. Links to live stats and all three radio broadcasts are available on the men's basketball schedule page on msubobcats.com.
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