Thursday, March 10
BOISE, ID (Idaho Central Arena)
12 p.m. (Noon)
Montana State University
vs
Sacramento State
Photo by: Garrett Becker
Bobcat Men Open Big Sky Tournament Thursday Versus Hornets
3/9/2022 3:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State begins the 2022 Big Sky Conference Tournament on Thursday when the Bobcats take on No. 8 Sacramento State at noon in Idaho Central Arena
| Montana State Bobcats (24-7, 16-4) vs. Sacramento State Hornets (11-17, 6-14) | |
| Date and Time | Thursday, March 10 - 12 p.m. MT |
| Location | Boise, Idaho |
| Site | Idaho Central Arena |
| Stream | ESPN+ |
| Radio | KMMS 1450 AM | Bobcat Sports Radio Network |
| Listen Live | Varsity Network app |
| Live Stats | BigSkyStats.com (Statbroadcast) |
| Montana State | Game Notes | Postseason Guide | Men's Basketball Home Page |
| Sacramento State | Men's Basketball Home Page |
BOISE, Idaho – Montana State begins the 2022 Big Sky Conference Tournament on Thursday when the Bobcats take on No. 8 Sacramento State at noon in Idaho Central Arena.
The Bobcats will face Sacramento State exactly a week after claiming the Big Sky Conference regular season title outright with a 75-69 victory over the Hornets in Bozeman. MSU also defeated the Hornets in Sacramento on Dec. 4, 68-66, despite a 32-point effort from Bryce Fowler who had a final 3-point attempt for the win fall short.
MSU enters tournament play as the No. 1 seed for just the third time in its program history. The Bobcats are 2-2 all-time as the top seed. MSU fell in Big Sky tournament openers in 2002 and 1987, while the 'Cats won both their games in the 1996 edition held in Worthington Arena. That was the last time MSU won the Big Sky Championship.
Montana State was honored by the Big Sky Conference this week with several awards. Danny Sprinkle was named Big Sky's Men's Coach of the Year becoming the fourth individual to earn the honor. Jubrile Belo was chosen as the league's MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous choice for First Team All-Big Sky. Joining him on the First Team was Xavier Bishop. RaeQuan Battle was selected as the Big Sky Top Reserve while Amin Adamu was an honorable mention to the All-Big Sky squad.
The Bobcats enter the Big Sky Tournament at 24-7 overall. The 24 wins are the most ever for the program during its Big Sky era. The 24 victories match the 1950-51 team that advanced to the program's first ever NCAA Tournament trip. MSU's most wins ever was 36 achieved in back-to-back seasons of 1927-28 and 1928-29. The Bobcats' next best win totals came in 1926-27 (30-7) and in 1946-47 (25-11).
MSU claimed its fifth Big Sky Conference regular season championship and its first in 20 years. The Bobcats take the momentum into tournament play a year after pulling off an upset over top-seed Southern Utah. The Bobcats, who were making their first semifinals appearance in 12 years, advanced to the 2021 title game with an 80-77 overtime victory over the T-Birds.
Montana State has already advanced to the Big Sky quarterfinals for a fourth straight year. It's the first time the 'Cats have done so since 1996-99. The Bobcats look to advance to back-to-back semifinal showings for the first time in 22 years. MSU has never made consecutive appearances in the Big Sky championship game.
The Bobcats are 53-32 during Sprinkle's tenure as head coach. His .624 winning percentage is the second most among 12 coaches in program history that have won at least 40 games. Sprinkle only trails Ott Romney's .829 mark (145-30) that he accumulated over six seasons in the 1920s. His 53 victories within his third season at Montana State are the most for a Bobcat coach since Schubert Dyche won 66 contests in a span from 1928-31.
MSU has won 10 games at the Big Sky Conference Tournament since 1996 when Sprinkle was a freshman on the Bobcats' NCAA Tournament squad. During those 26 years, Sprinkle has been part of the program as either student-athlete, assistant or head coach for nine years. Seven of MSU's 10 wins have come with Sprinkle affiliated with the program in some way.
The Big Sky Conference Men's Tournament quarterfinal and semifinal games will be streamed on ESPN+. The championship game will be televised on ESPNU and streamed on WatchESPN.com and is available depending on cable package. The games will also be broadcast on the Bobcat Radio Network on KMMS 1450 AM as well as on the Varsity Network app. Links for live streams, live stats and radio coverage are available on the men's basketball schedule page on msubobcats.com.
Players Mentioned
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