Montana State University
Northwest Indian College
Matt Logie Era Begins Monday Night in Worthington Arena
11/5/2023 1:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball
New-look Bobcat men's basketball squad opens 2023-2024 season at home against Northwest Indian College
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- The wait is nearly over. Led by first-year head coach Matt Logie, Montana State men's basketball team returns to the court Monday night for their season opener at Worthington Arena against visiting Northwest Indian College.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.,with the unveiling of last season's Big Sky championship banner taking place shortly prior. Tickets are available here.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with the live radio play-by-play of Keaton Gillogly broadcast on the Bobcat Sports Radio Network.
It will be the second straight year that Montana State men's basketball will be unfurling a championship banner, with MSU now coming off consecutive Big Sky Championships and back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. Their 52 wins in each of the last two campaigns also marks the first time since 1927-1929 that the program has put together two straight 25-plus win seasons.
A new-look Bobcat team will aim to continue the championship tradition, with six returners joined by seven transfers and three freshmen.
Logie, who owns the third-highest winning percentage in NCAA men's basketball history (.826), leads a group that should be able to score with anybody.
"We have a team that can shoot the basketball and can share the basketball," Logie said on Friday. "I think we'll see a very connected group that plays the game 'the right way' whatever that means these days, but it fits our personnel—we've got great balance with our ability to attack the paint through penetration, through the post, while still stretching that floor and spacing the floor from the three-point line. It'll be a different style from what people saw from the Bobcats last year, but it fits this group well and they've taken to it seamlessly and I think they're excited about the opportunities that it gives them on the floor, both individually and as a group to be successful."
Junior guard Tyler Patterson represents the lone returning starter for the Bobcats, with the sharpshooter having started 82 games in a Montana State uniform over the last three years. The native of Snoqualmie, Wash., ranked second on the team last season in made three-pointers (50) and fifth in minutes (830).
Redshirt senior guard Robert Ford III was another important piece for Logie to bring back to Bozeman, and should start in the backcourt alongside fifth-year guard Eddie Turner III (Columbia). Those two will form an athletic, explosive duo that will facilitate MSU's spaced attack. According to Logie, Turner might be the fastest player in the Big Sky, and has impressed as the leading scorer in each of the Bobcats' two preseason scrimmages. At the other end of the floor, Ford is the second-best returning defender in the Big Sky by defensive rating behind only Weber State's Dillon Jones, according to College Basketball Reference.
Junior guard Patrick McMahon missed the last twenty games of last season with a broken foot but returns this winter after averaging 4.5 points and 2.0 rebounds across 17 minutes per game in 2022-2023. Sophomore guard Jed Miller will provide a shooting spark off the bench while competing for minutes in the rotation.
Sophomore forward Brandon Walker, a transfer from UT Arlington, was a big get for Logie's staff in the portal after he came on strong as a freshman last year for the Mavericks. Walker, a native of Oak Cliff, Texas, ranked second among freshmen in the WAC in rebounds, and has showcased a multi-faceted offensive skillset this preseason.
Returning junior Sam Lecholat, graduate transfer John Olmsted (Arizona State), and junior Chika Nduka (Portland) will play important roles, with all able to guard multiple positions.
"The thing that stands out the most early has been our depth," Logie said on Friday. "Because of the transfer portal, we were able to get guys that had college experience and still have their best basketball in front of them. I think we are going to be one of those teams that when we're clicking on all cylinders, the sum of our parts is our greatest strength."
Junior guard Brian Goracke followed Logie from Point Loma this summer, where he shot 38.5% from beyond the arc while averaging 12.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and freshman guard Jaqari Miles (Los Angeles, Calif.) had a decorated prep career at West Ranch High School, where he averaged 16.0 points per game as a senior.
"One of the things people will see about this group is that they've got a chip on their shoulder," Logie said on Friday. "It might not be perfect early, but they're going to be very gritty and tough and connected."
Monday night marks the first game as the head coach of the Bobcats for Logie, who has racked up a 276-58 career mark over 12 seasons as a head coach, including eight at Whitworth (Division III) and four at Point Loma (Division II).
CAT TRACKS
+ Montana State was picked fourth in the preseason Big Sky media poll and seventh in the coaches' poll
+ Montana State is 25-2 at Worthington Arena over the last two seasons
+ The Bobcats are the first repeat Big Sky champion since Montana in 2017-2019
+ The Bobcats' non-conference schedule features eight teams that finished with winning records in 2022-2023, including five that won 19 or more games (Oral Roberts, Southern Utah, South Dakota State, Seattle U, UC Riverside)
+ MSU head coach Matt Logie has won at least 21 games in every full season as a head coach, and has made the NCAA Tournament in 11 of 12 seasons
+ Montana State has played in three straight Big Sky Tournament championship games and gone 37-7 against Big Sky opponents over the last two seasons
SERIES HISTORY
Last season's matchup with Northwest Indian College on December 17, 2022, set all kinds of offensive records as the Bobcats rolled up a 144-59 win.
MSU made 53 field goals, including 23 threes, while shooting 67.1% from the floor.
Montana State leads the all-time series, 2-0, with the first win coming in 2012--a 101-70 victory in Bozeman.
#GoCatsGo
