Men’s Hoops Travels to Greeley to Take on Northern Colorado

Thursday, January 7

Greeley, CO

6:30 p.m.

Montana State University

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Garrett Becker

Men’s Hoops Travels to Greeley to Take on Northern Colorado

1/6/2021 9:59:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Montana State looks ahead to its anticipated Big Sky Conference opener as the Bobcats are set to take on Northern Colorado in Greeley on Jan. 7 and Jan. 9

By: Andrew Pedersen

Montana State Bobcats (3-3) vs. Northern Colorado (5-4)
Date and Time	Game 1: Thursday, January 7 - 6:30 p.m. MDT Game 2: Saturday, January 9 - 12 p.m. MDT
Location	Greeley, Colorado
Site	Bank of Colorado Arena
Television	Pluto TV
Radio	KMMS 1450 AM \| Bobcat Sports Radio Network
Listen Live	TuneIn app
Stream	Pluto TV (Channel 1059)
Live Stats	UNCBears.com
Tickets	N/A
Montana State	Game Notes \| Men's Basketball Home Page
Northern Colorado	Men's Basketball Home Page

Montana State looks ahead to its anticipated Big Sky Conference opener as the Bobcats are set to take on Northern Colorado in Greeley on Jan. 7 and Jan. 9. Thursday's contest at Bank of Colorado Arena tips off at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday's matchup starts at 12 p.m.

The Bobcats' opening weekend of Big Sky games against Southern Utah, slated to begin on New Year's Eve, was canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test result amongst the Thunderbirds' Tier 1 individuals. MSU responded by scheduling a non-conference matchup versus Montana Western in Bozeman.

MSU defeated Montana Western 96-67 on Jan. 1 in Worthington Arena to improve to 3-3 overall. The Bobcats and Bulldogs played on even terms before Montana State pulled away. MSU went on a 24-2 run between the end of the first half and start of the second half, while a 51-27 rebounding edge helped pave the way to the victory.

Northern Colorado enters the back-to-back series against Montana State 5-4 overall and 2-2 in Big Sky play. The Bears have split matchups against Idaho State and Montana, with their latest two games against the Griz coming down to two-point margins. The Bears are led by Bodie Hume who averages 17 points and seven rebounds, while newcomer Daylen Kountz is averaging 13 points per game.

Montana State holds a 40-27 lead in the all-time series over Northern Colorado, but the Bears won both contests the two faced off in a season ago. MSU's Amin Adamu scored a career-high 26 points in the Bobcats' 68-59 defeat on Jan. 2 in Greeley. In the regular season finale on March 7, Jubrile Belo recorded a 24-point and 12-rebound double-double, but the Bears shot over 50% (16-31) from 3-point range en route to a 75-61 win.

Through six games the Bobcats rank among the top 100 in Division I men's basketball in assist/turnover ratio (1.15), assists per game (15.0), field goal percentage defense (39.5%), free throw percentage (76.4), scoring offense (80.7), 3-point field goals per game (8.5) and 3-point field goal percentage (37.5%). MSU's highest slot among men's programs is its spot at 32nd in free throw percentage.

Montana State continues to be led by a trio of upperclassmen who average double figures scoring through the program's first six games of the 2020-21 season. Amin Adamu leads the team with a 14.6 points per game scoring mark, while Xavier Bishop (14.4) and Jubrile Belo (13.0) follow. All three also rank among the Big Sky Conference's top 10 in free throw percentage.

Adamu registered a 17-point, 12-rebound effort versus Montana Western for his first double-double of the 2020-21 season. His 2.14 assist/turnover ratio this year leads the Big Sky and his three assists per game clip is the highest among MSU players.

Bishop is scoring at his second highest rate of his college career. His highest mark was his 15.4 points a contest average he had as a junior at Kansas City in 2018-19.

Belo went a season-best 8 of 10 from the field in MSU's last outing versus the Bulldogs. His 19 points were his second most after two straight games in single digits.

Both of MSU's contests versus Northern Colorado will be streamed on the Pluto TV app (channel 1059) 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.