Bobcat Men Begin Final Road Trip of Regular Season

Thursday, February 27

Sacramento, CA

8 p.m.

Montana State University

Sacramento State

Photo by: Garrett Becker

2/26/2020 10:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Montana State takes on Sacramento State Thursday before traveling to Flagstaff to face Northern Arizona Saturday

By: Andrew Pedersen

Montana State Bobcats (14-13, 8-8) at Sacramento State Hornets (14-12, 7-10)
Date and Time	Thursday, Feb. 27 - 8 p.m. MST
Location	Sacramento, Calif.
Site	The Nest (1,012)
Television	Pluto TV
Radio	KMMS 1450 AM \| Bobcat Sports Radio Network
Listen Live	msubobcats.com/watch \| TuneIn app
Stream	Pluto TV \| WatchBigSky.com
Live Stats	HornetSports.com (Statbroadcast)
Tickets	HornetSports.com
Montana State	Game Notes \| Men's Basketball Home Page
Sacramento State	Men's Basketball Home Page

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State makes its final road trip of the 2019-20 regular season and opens by visiting Sacramento State to take on the Hornets at 8 p.m. MST on Thursday. The Bobcats follow that contest by traveling to Flagstaff to face Northern Arizona Saturday.

The Bobcats and Hornets meet for the second time this season Thursday. The two squads got the Big Sky scheduled started on Dec. 28 in Bozeman with Montana State earning a 66-51 victory over Sacramento State.

Harald Frey and Jubrile Belo each scored 18 points to pace MSU to a victory in the first matchup this season. The 'Cats outshot the Hornets 42-34%, out-rebounded them 37-34 and held a 36-18 edge in points in the paint.

Sacramento State enters Thursday's game with one of the best defenses in Division I basketball.

The Hornets have allowed opponents to score an average of 58.8 points over 26 games, the sixth best mark in the nation. They've maintained their play through 17 Big Sky games, leading the conference by giving up 62.4 points per contest.

Montana State's defensive efforts have also been among the best in the Big Sky this season. The Bobcats rank third during Big Sky play allowing 66.2 points per game and have the second-best field goal percentage defense at 42.1%. MSU and Southern Utah sit in a tie for first in rebounding margin through 16 Big Sky games with a plus-2.8 differential on the boards.

The Bobcats' 59-54 loss to Montana on Feb. 22 was just its fourth this season when holding an opponent to 70 points or less. The Bobcats are 14-4 overall this season when doing so. That matches an effort MSU has set three times since the 2002-03 season, a year which MSU held 19 opponents to 70 points or less.

Montana State won three straight games on the road when the Bobcats defeated Idaho (Jan. 9), Weber State (Jan. 23) and Idaho State (Jan. 25). The three-game true road winning streak was the most for the program since the 2004-05 season. MSU has lost its last three since on the road, falling to Montana (Feb. 1), Eastern Washington (Feb. 8) and Portland State (Feb. 20).

Montana State ranks among the top 100 programs this season in Division I basketball in four categories. The Bobcats are 42nd overall in defensive rebounds per game (27.7), 51st in free throw percentage (75%), 62nd in 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.6%) and 90th in field goal percentage defense (41.3%).

Senior Harald Frey recorded three assists in MSU's last outing to put him into rare territory. Frey completed his 500th career assist to go along with 1,825 points following the Feb. 22 game versus Montana. He's just the second player in Big Sky Conference history in men's basketball to surpass 1,800 points and 500 assists, joining Steve Connor of Boise State (1974-78). Frey is one of eight active players in Division I men's basketball to achieve both marks.

Amin Adamu and Jubrile Belo have made their marks in their debut seasons at Montana State with both surpassing 325 points. The last time the Bobcats had at least two newcomers score over 300 points in the same season was during the 2004-05 campaign (Ja'Ron Jefferson, Branden Miller, Marvin Moss).

Thursday's 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.