Thursday, January 14
BOZEMAN
6 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
Portland State
Bobcats Return Home to Host Portland State
1/12/2021 4:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State looks ahead to its first Big Sky Conference games in Worthington Arena as the Bobcats are set to host Portland State beginning on Thursday. Tipoff time for the first matchup is set for 6 p.m., while the Saturday meeting tips off at 12 p.m.
| Montana State Bobcats (5-3, 2-0) vs. Portland State (2-5, 1-1) | |
| Date and Time | Game 1: Thursday, January 14 - 6 p.m. MDT Game 2: Saturday, January 16 - 12 p.m. MDT |
| Location | Bozeman, Montana |
| Site | Worthington Arena |
| Television | Pluto TV | Game 2 televised on SWX Montana |
| Radio | KMMS 1450 AM | Bobcat Sports Radio Network |
| Listen Live | TuneIn app |
| Stream | Pluto TV (Channel 1059) |
| Live Stats | MSUBobcats.com |
| Tickets | N/A |
| Montana State | Game Notes Game 1 | Game Notes Game 2 | Men's Basketball Home Page |
| Portland State | Game Notes | Men's Basketball Home Page |
BOZEMAN, Mont. - Montana State looks ahead to its first Big Sky Conference games in Worthington Arena as the Bobcats are set to host Portland State beginning on Thursday. Tip-off time for the first matchup is set for 6 p.m., while the Saturday meeting tips off at 12 p.m.
The Bobcats return to Bozeman following back-to-back victories over Northern Colorado in Greeley to open conference action. MSU's regular season sweep of UNC was its first over the Bears since the 2006-07 season.
MSU came back from a second half nine-point deficit in its Jan. 7 matchup, using a 17-2 run, to eventually defeat Northern Colorado 79-67. The Bobcats trailed by 13 in the second half in their second meeting on Jan. 9 and forced overtime in the contest. Amin Adamu hit the eventual game-winning shot with 1:58 to go in overtime, and after two empty possessions each, MSU withstood three UNC opportunities to pull ahead with second remaining to complete a 76-74 victory Saturday.
Xavier Bishop went a combined 19 of 30 shooting and scored 50 points against Northern Colorado to help lead the Bobcats to a road sweep. He earned his second Big Sky Player of the Week award for his performances in Greeley. Over the course of two games, Bishop also had a combined 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
Amin Adamu scored nearly half of MSU's points in the Jan. 9 win over the Bears as he poured in a career-high 36 on 13 of 23 shooting. His point output was among the 20 most ever in a single game by a Bobcat. His points per game average increased from 13.8 to 17.0 following the contest. He currently ranks among the top five in the Big Sky in scoring, field goal percentage (51.1%) and free throw percentage (82.1%).
Montana State won its fourth straight Big Sky opener and improved to 2-0 to open conference play for the third time in the previous four seasons with its sweep of Northern Colorado. In the past decade, MSU has started Big Sky play 3-0 four times. The Bobcats opened their 2010-11, 2012-13 and 2013-14 league schedules 3-0, while they began their 2017-18 Big Sky slate with four consecutive victories.
MSU ranks among the league's best in several categories. The Bobcats' field goal defense ranks first (40.0%) among Big Sky members, their scoring offense (79.9) is second and both their free throw percentage (77.0%) and rebounds per game (36.9) marks are third. MSU slots 26th nationally in free throw percentage, 53rd in scoring offense and 54th in field goal defense.
MSU and Portland State have met 61 prior times with the Bobcats holding an all-time series lead of 34-27. The Vikings have had the upper hand recently, winning three straight matchups and five of the last six meetings.
The Vikings have had two consecutive weeks of Big Sky games canceled due to positive COVID tests from their opposition. Portland State is led through seven games by double-digit scorers James Scott (14.1) and Khalid Thomas (11.1). Portland State is 2-5 overall and split its opening Big Sky games against Weber State from Dec. 18-20.
Both of MSU's contests versus Northern Colorado will be streamed on the Pluto TV app (channel 1057) and on WatchBigSky.com. The Bobcats' Saturday matchup versus Portland State will also be televised by SWX Montana for fans that carry the channel. All Bobcat basketball games are available to listen to as part of the Bobcat Sports Radio Network and air locally on KMMS 1450 AM.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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