Men’s Basketball Kicks off Season with Blue & Gold Scrimmage, MSU Billings Exhibition

Sunday, October 30

BOZEMAN

2 p.m.

Montana State University

Montana State University Billings

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The 2022-23 Montana State men's basketball team.

Photo by: Garrett Becker

Men’s Basketball Kicks off Season with Blue & Gold Scrimmage, MSU Billings Exhibition

10/25/2022 6:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Thursday’s Blue & Gold Scrimmage and Sunday afternoon’s exhibition game against Montana State University Billings will kick off the 2022-23 men’s basketball season.

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Two home events for the Montana State men's basketball team will usher in the start of basketball season this week, as the Bobcats host the Blue & Gold Scrimmage on Thursday before welcoming Montana State University Billings to Brick Breeden Fieldhouse for the team's lone exhibition game on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m.

Hosted in conjunction with the Montana State women's basketball team, Thursday's Blue & Gold scrimmage on starts with the men's team scrimmaging at 5:50 p.m., followed by the women's team shortly thereafter.

"The Blue and Gold Scrimmage will be good for the community to get to see some of the new faces that we have," Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle said. "And it's good for our guys to get out and play in front of people — they haven't played in front of a crowd since last year. It'll be all about the community."

The Bobcats are expected to be led by reigning Big Sky MVP and Defensive Most Valuable Player Jubrile Belo, who enters his senior season with over 1,100 career points, 500 rebounds and 120 blocks in his MSU career. Fellow returners from last year's team, including co-Big Sky Top Reserve RaeQuan Battle, Tyler Patterson, Great Osobor, Nick Gazelas and Sam Lecholat are back from last year's squad that was outright Big Sky Champions and led the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 26 years.

They will be joined by a trio of Division I transfers in redshirt junior guard Darius Brown II (CSUN), senior wing Caleb Fuller (UC Davis) and redshirt junior guard Robert Ford III (Idaho State) — all of whom will be expected to play key roles on this year's team. The Blue & Gold Scrimmage will also be the public's first time to watch true freshman Jed Miller and Luca Colceag play. All told, MSU has five newcomers to the roster this season.

Following the Blue & Gold scrimmage, the Montana State men's basketball team will play its lone exhibition game on Sunday at 2 p.m., as they host the Division II Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets. The game will be a MSU basketball reunion, of sorts. MSUB is coached by Montana State Hall of Famer Mick Durham, and he is assisted by former Montana State assistant coach Luke Fennelly, who worked his way up the MSU coaching staff during a seven-year tenure in Bozeman.

"I'm fired up for Sunday," Sprinkle said. "Nobody has meant more to the basketball program than Mick Durham. To spend so much time as a player, assistant coach and as a head coach at one place is special. I know how much he cares, how much he bleeds blue and gold and how much this place means to him."

"I hope the place is packed," Sprinkle added. "He deserves it. His legacy is beyond that of anyone here, and nobody will probably ever top that."

Durham's MSU Billings Yellowjackets are coming off a season in which they defied expectations in the Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The 'Jackets rode a stifling defense and an all-conference caliber backcourt of Carrington Wiggins and former University of Idaho guard Damen Thacker to a fourth-place finish in conference play after being picked to finish dead last in the preseason polls.

Although Thacker has exhausted his eligibility, Wiggins — who averaged a 17.2 points per game en route to being named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year — returns with a backcourt reloaded through a slew of transfers. The Yellowjackets were picked to finish third in the GNAC Preseason Polls earlier this month.

"They're going to be good — this will probably be one of Mick's best teams he's had there," Sprinkle said. "It'll be a challenge and we're going to have to play well. I know MSUB is going to come in and want to compete for Mick, and it'll be a good test for us early in the year."

Montana State's season unofficially kicks off with the Blue and Gold scrimmage this Thursday at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at 5:50 p.m. On Oct. 30, the Bobcats welcome Mick Durham's Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets for an exhibition game at 2 p.m. Neither game will be livestreamed or have live radio broadcasts. Single-game and season tickets can be found on msubobcats.com/tickets.