Montana State Gearing up for Saturday Cat-Griz Showdown

Saturday, February 22

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

Montana

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Photo by: Montana State University

2/21/2020 5:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

The Bobcats return home from Portland to host Montana in the 301st edition of the Cat-Griz rivalry

By: Andrew Pedersen

Montana State Bobcats (14-12, 8-7) vs. Montana Grizzlies (16-10, 12-3)
Date and Time	Saturday, Feb. 22 - 7 p.m. MST
Location	Bozeman, Mont.
Site	Worthington Arena (6,772)
Television	SWX Montana (check local listings)
Radio	KMMS 1450 AM \| Bobcat Sports Radio Network
Listen Live	msubobcats.com/watch \| TuneIn app
Stream	Pluto TV \| WatchBigSky.com
Live Stats	MSUBobcats.com (Statbroadcast)
Tickets	MSUBobcats.com
Montana State	Game Notes \| Men's Basketball Home Page
Montana	Game Notes

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State returns home for its 301st all-time meeting against Montana when the Bobcats host the Griz on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. inside Worthington Arena. It will be the second Cat-Griz matchup of the season.

The Bobcats and Griz met in Montana's Dahlberg Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1. Montana connected on its current season high of 11 3-pointers, with 10 coming in the first half, en route to a 78-64 win over Montana State. The Grizzlies' 57.9% clip from deep is the highest mark by an MSU opponent this season.

Senior Harald Frey led Montana State in the first Cat-Griz matchup. The Bobcat guard poured in a career-high 37 points behind seven 3-pointers and 12 free throws made. Montana senior Sayeed Pridgett led four double-digit scorers with a Griz-high 24 points.

Montana State dropped its third consecutive road game on Thursday as Portland State topped the Bobcats, 87-77, in Viking Pavilion. The Vikings shot 51.8% from the field, the second highest mark against MSU this season. Amin Adamu led five Bobcat double-digit scorers with 21, while the Viks were led by Holland Woods's 22 points.

The matchup against Portland State on Feb. 20 marked just the fourth time an opponent has shot 50% or higher versus Montana State. The Bobcats are 0-4 this season when that occurs.

Montana State sits at 8-3 at home this season heading into Saturday's Cat-Griz matchup. The Bobcats have won two straight in Worthington Arena after earning a 77-63 win over Weber State on Feb. 15. The Bobcats completed a regular season sweep over the Wildcats for the first time since the 2004-05 season. It was also the first time MSU has picked up consecutive victories over Weber State since 2006.

Danny Sprinkle is MSU's first coach during the Big Sky era to earn wins in his opening two games against Idaho State and Weber State. Roger Craft was MSU's only prior coach to win both of his two head-to-head meetings against Idaho State since the Bobcats joined the Big Sky in 1963.

The Bobcats' win over the Wildcats improved their record to 14-3 when holding opponents to 70 points or less this season. The 17 foes under 70 points or less is a program best since MSU held 18 opponents to that mark during the 2008-09 season.

Montana State out-rebounded Portland State 33-26 to improve its rebound margin to 2.2 this season. MSU's highest rank on the NCAA statistical chart is its defensive rebounds per game mark of 27.9 which is 37th in Division I basketball. The Bobcats' 28.0 average in Big Sky play ranks at the top of the conference.

Harald Frey is nearing an unprecedented feat with five games remaining in the regular season. Frey surpassed 1,800 points against Weber State and currently sits at 497 assists. The only men's basketball player in Big Sky Conference history to achieve 1,800 career points and 500 assists is Steve Connor (1974-78) of Boise State.

Jubrile Belo's career-high 23-point effort versus Weber State pushed him over the 300-point barrier. Amin Adamu's 21 on Thursday put him and Belo at the same career point output of 318 through 26 college games apiece. Along with Frey (433), MSU extended a streak of three 300-point scorers over the course of a season to four straight years.

Saturday's matchup will be televised by SWX Montana. SWX Montana can be found on channel 199 or 503 for Charter Spectrum subscribers, while it can also be found through digital antenna offering which can be found here. The game 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.