Thursday, January 9
Moscow, ID
7:30 p.m.
Montana State University
at
Idaho
Photo by: Andrew Pedersen
Montana State Wraps Road Swing at Idaho
1/7/2020 12:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bobcats end a stretch of three straight contests away from Bozeman when they take on the Vandals Thursday
| Montana State Bobcats (8-7, 2-2) at Idaho (5-9, 1-2) | |
| Date and Time | Thursday, Jan. 9 - 7:30 p.m. MDT |
| Location | Moscow, Idaho |
| Site | Cowan Spectrum (6,000) |
| Television | Pluto TV app |
| Radio | KMMS 1450 AM | Bobcat Sports Radio Network |
| Listen Live | msubobcats.com/watch | TuneIn app |
| Stream | Pluto TV | WatchBigSky.com |
| Live Stats | GoVandals.com |
| Tickets | GoVandals.com |
| Montana State | Game Notes | Men's Basketball Home Page |
| Idaho | Men's Basketball Home Page |
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State plays its third game of a three-game stretch of road contests when the Bobcats face the Idaho Vandals in the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 7:30 p.m. MDT.
The Bobcats dropped the first two games of the road swing, falling 68-59 to Northern Colorado Thursday and 59-53 to Southern Utah on Saturday. While the Bears held the advantage in most of Thursday's matchup, Montana State held a lead for more than 16 minutes against Southern Utah. The contest also featured nine ties and six lead changes.
What's stood out to Montana State's head coach Danny Sprinkle so far is the margin for error within the Big Sky Conference.
"I think just how close every game is going to be in conference," Sprinkle said of what he's recognized through four games. "The team that executes and defends in the last five minutes and kind of makes those game-winning plays, is the team that's going to win.
"We did that the first two games, and last week we were in both games until the last couple of minutes, but we didn't make the plays or get the stops. We had some critical errors that cost us, but credit to Southern Utah and Northern Colorado, they made those plays."
Despite two defeats, Montana State's defense continues to stand out. Northern Colorado and Southern Utah, ranked third and fourth in the Big Sky Conference in scoring offense, were held below their season averages in several categories.
The Bobcats held both teams in check from the 3-point line a weekend ago. The Bears went 6 of 23 (26.1%) from beyond the arc while the Thunderbirds shot 3 of 22 (13.6%) from long range. Those marks helped improve MSU's overall 3-point field goal percentage defense to 28.4%, which is the 31st best mark in Division I basketball.
Montana State has kept all four of its Big Sky opponents this season to less than 70 points. Through four games of the conference schedule, MSU is second among Big Sky schools in scoring defense (59.8), field goal percentage defense (38.4%), 3-point field goal percentage defense (26.1%) and defensive rebounds per game (29.0).
After this past Saturday's game at Southern Utah, the Bobcats are 7-3 when holding opponents to less than 70 points and are now 4-1 when keeping a foe under 60 points. A season ago, MSU held opponents to less than 70 only seven times and the lowest score against the Bobcats was 62 over the 32-game schedule.
Opponents have shot 39.8% from the field during the entire season, which ranks 74th in the nation. The Bobcats have held 13 of 15 opponents to under 50% shooting, with MSU 8-5 in those contests. Green Bay and CSU Bakersfield remain the only teams to shoot over 50% and both defeated MSU this season.
Harald Frey continues to move up Montana State's all-time charts during his senior season. The Olso, Norway, native is fifth all-time in scoring with 1,621 points and is nearing the second spots in career assists and 3-pointers made. He's just nine away from passing Marcus Colbert (2012) in program history in assists and 21 away from passing Danny Sprinkle in 3-point field goals made.
Junior Amin Adamu set a new career-high with 26 points in Greeley Thursday. Adamu's 26 points were tied for second most by a Bobcat this season, trailing Frey's 34-point outburst at Utah State Nov. 5 and matching Frey's 26 at CSU Bakersfield Dec. 19. Adamu's 11 field goals made are the most by a Bobcat in a game this season. He followed that performance with a near double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds at Southern Utah.
Idaho enters Thursday's game 5-9 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky play after defeating Portland State, 72-61, in Moscow on Jan. 2. Trevon Allen has surpassed 20 points in six games this season and leads the Vandals averaging 19.0 points per game. He's joined in double figures by BJ Simmons (10.7) and Scott Blakney (10.2), while Quinton Forrest paces the team on the boards with 7.5 rebounds per game. The Vandals are 4-2 at home this season.
"They're a very physical team," Sprinkle said. "Their post guys do a great job of getting position on the block. Our post guys have their work cut out for them. They do as good of job as anybody of getting position and getting the ball where they want to offensively. Trevon Allen is a tremendous talent, I think he's the leading scorer in the league."
Montana State is 64-50 all-time against Idaho including a streak of four straight wins over Idaho, which followed a four-game win streak in the series by the Vandals. The Bobcats won the teams' last matchup when the two met in the opening round of the 2019 Big Sky tournament in Boise, 75-71, on March 13.
"Playing out there in Idaho, they're a different team," Sprinkle said. "They average almost 10 more points per game at home, so we've got our work cut out for us."
Thursday's matchup will be streamed on the Pluto TV app and on WatchBigSky.com. All Bobcat basketball games are available to listen to as part of the Bobcat Sports Radio Network and airing locally on KMMS 1450 AM. All tickets for home games are available at msubobcats.com/tickets, by calling 406-994-CATS or by visiting the Bobcat Ticket Office.
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