Bobcats Meet Jacks in Flagstaff Saturday

Saturday, February 29

Flagstaff, AZ

4 p.m.

Montana State University

Northern Arizona

Photo by: Andrew Pedersen

2/28/2020 1:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

The Montana State men's basketball team takes on Northern Arizona in the Walkup Skydome as the Jacks celebrate their Senior Day game

By: Andrew Pedersen

Montana State Bobcats (14-14, 8-9) at Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (16-11, 10-8)
Date and Time	Saturday, Feb. 29 - 4 p.m. MST
Location	Flagstaff, Ariz.
Site	Walkup Skydome (7,300)
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	NAUAthletics.com (Statbroadcast)
Tickets	NAUAthletics.com
Montana State	Game Notes \| Men's Basketball Home Page
Northern Arizona	Men's Basketball Home Page

Montana State plays in its final road game of the 2019-20 regular season when the Bobcats take on Northern Arizona Saturday, Feb. 29, at 4 p.m. in the Walkup Skydome.

The Bobcats and Lumberjacks meet for the second time this season Saturday. MSU won the first matchup, 63-61, in Bozeman on Dec. 30. The Bobcats led for 30 minutes in the contest and were up by 10 with 14:08 remaining, but NAU eventually tied the game at 55 with 3:09 to play. A Ladan Ricketts 3-pointer broke the tie and the Bobcats held on to the lead the rest of the way.

MSU senior Harald Frey led all scorers with 18 points in the Dec. 30 contest and Jubrile Belo snagged a game-high nine rebounds. NAU made four more 3-pointers than MSU, but the difference came down to opportunities from the free throw line. The 'Cats went 25 of 28 (89.3%) from the stripe while the Jacks made 5 of 10 attempts.

Northern Arizona enters Saturday's contest having won three of its last four games, including a 57-56 victory over Montana Thursday who sat atop the Big Sky Conference standings heading into the matchup. The Lumberjacks snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Griz. They were led by a 20-point performance by Bernie Andre and a near double-double effort by Cameron Shelton, who sank two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining to lift NAU past Montana.

Montana State owns a 53-49 all-time record over Northern Arizona but the two squads have split their last 12 meetings. The Bobcats fell 74-68 to the Lumberjacks in their trip to Flagstaff last season. MSU's last two victories in the Walkup Skydome came in overtime, with the Bobcats claiming a 76-73 win on Dec. 30, 2018, and a 74-72 win on Jan. 2, 2016.

The Bobcats fell in their last time out as they dropped an 81-52 contest to Sacramento State in The Nest on Thursday. The defeat was MSU's fourth straight on the road and the third consecutive loss in Sacramento.

Frey led Montana State in scoring against the Hornets with 12 points but didn't register an assist in the contest. It was the first time in the previous two seasons -- and last time since a Dec. 5, 2017, at Central Michigan -- that MSU's point guard was held to no assists in a game.

The Oslo, Norway, native became just the second men's basketball player in Big Sky Conference history to eclipse 1,800 points and 500 assists during their collegiate career in MSU's Cat-Griz game in Bozeman on Feb. 22. He joined Steve Connor of Boise State who played for the Broncos from 1974-78. Frey is just five points away from MSU's fourth spot on its all-time scoring list and comfortably sits second in assists.

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).

The Bobcats under first-year head coach Danny Sprinkle enter Saturday with an overall record of 14-14. MSU's win total matches Stu Starner's opening season guiding the Bobcats in 1983-84. The next best output under a first-year coach is Bruce Haroldson's 1978-79 team that went 15-11.

Saturday'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.