Thursday, February 23
BOZEMAN
7 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
Sacramento State
Great Osobor
Photo by: Garrett Becker
Bobcats Finish Regular Season Home Slate Against Sacramento State, Portland State
2/20/2023 1:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State men’s basketball looks for its 20th win on Thursday when Sacramento State comes to town.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Wrapping up its final regular season home series this week, Montana State will look for win number 20 against the Sacramento State Hornets on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
Following Thursday's game, MSU will hold its Senior Night on Feb. 25 against Portland State. Both Thursday's and Saturday's games will be live streamed on ESPN+ and a free radio broadcast will be provided through the Bobcat Sports Radio Network. All live stream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball schedule page on msubobcats.com.
With three games remaining in Big Sky Conference play, Montana State still has an outside shot at winning a share of the regular-season crown with first place Eastern Washington, which is three games ahead of the Bobcats. MSU would need to win its last three games and EWU would have to lose three in a row for this to happen. With a Bobcat win on Thursday and a Weber State loss, MSU would clinch the 2-seed, as the Bobcats would be three games up on the Wildcats with two to play. Weber State hosts Eastern Washington on Thursday.
The Bobcats (19-9, 12-3 Big Sky Conference) are in the midst of a favorable, three-game home-stand late in the Big Sky Conference season. The team is coming off an emotional, 72-68 home win over Montana last Saturday, marking the first time since 2010 that the Bobcats have swept the Grizzlies in the Brawl of the Wild series. MSU's women's basketball team also beat the Grizzlies last weekend, giving the Bobcats a 4-0 sweep over their rivals for the first time since 1999.
Thursday's matchup against Sacramento State will pit two of the conference's best scoring defenses against each other, as MSU head coach Danny Sprinkle's unit ranks first in Big Sky play by allowing only 63.3 points per game, while Sacramento State has allowed 67.1 points per game (T-3rd). Yet Montana State has the edge in steals (league-leading 6.8 per game) and blocks (3.0 per game, second in the Big Sky).
Sacramento State, however, has struggled to score as of late; the Hornets rank last in points per game (64.9 points per game) and field goal percentage (42.8%), yet the numbers could be deceiving because of the team's deliberate pace. At 62.6 possessions per 40 minutes (per KenPom.com), Sacramento State plays at the 358th slowest tempo among 363 Division I teams.
Individually for MSU, RaeQuan Battle (17.0 points per game), Jubrile Belo (12.3 points, 5.9 rebounds per game) and Darius Brown II (8.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and a league-leading 1.9 steals per game) have solidified themselves as one of the best all-around trios in the Big Sky. Additionally, Great Osobor has established himself as one of the Big Sky's best sixth men throughout the month of February. Over the last five games, Osobor has averaged 12.0 points per game on 64.3% shooting, while contributing 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game off the bench.
Nevertheless, the Hornets are one of the more well-rounded teams Montana State has faced in conference play. Senior guard Zach Chappell leads the Hornets at 13.4 points per game, yet the team has five players who average at least eight points per game (the others are Callum McRae, Akolda Mawein, Cameron Wilbon and Austin Patterson). Sacramento State comes to Bozeman after snapping a six-game losing skid with a 70-65 home win against Idaho State last Saturday. Center Callum McRae had a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double to lead the Hornets, while Cameron Wilbon and Akol Mawein came off the bench to score 14 and 12 points, respectively.
In the teams' last meeting, MSU handed Sacramento State its first home loss of the season in a 72-65 win. The Bobcats led by 10 points at halftime and held off a furious comeback attempt spearheaded by Chappell's 19 points. RaeQuan Battle scored the Bobcats' final 10 points in 2 minutes and 20 seconds — including a layup around seven-footer McRae — to seal the win.
Later this week, Montana State will host Portland State for Senior Night on Saturday at 4 p.m. From there, the Bobcats have a quick turnaround to Cheney, Wash. to play the first-place Eastern Washington Eagles on Monday at 8 p.m. MT. Both games will be live streamed on ESPN+.
Following Thursday's game, MSU will hold its Senior Night on Feb. 25 against Portland State. Both Thursday's and Saturday's games will be live streamed on ESPN+ and a free radio broadcast will be provided through the Bobcat Sports Radio Network. All live stream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball schedule page on msubobcats.com.
With three games remaining in Big Sky Conference play, Montana State still has an outside shot at winning a share of the regular-season crown with first place Eastern Washington, which is three games ahead of the Bobcats. MSU would need to win its last three games and EWU would have to lose three in a row for this to happen. With a Bobcat win on Thursday and a Weber State loss, MSU would clinch the 2-seed, as the Bobcats would be three games up on the Wildcats with two to play. Weber State hosts Eastern Washington on Thursday.
The Bobcats (19-9, 12-3 Big Sky Conference) are in the midst of a favorable, three-game home-stand late in the Big Sky Conference season. The team is coming off an emotional, 72-68 home win over Montana last Saturday, marking the first time since 2010 that the Bobcats have swept the Grizzlies in the Brawl of the Wild series. MSU's women's basketball team also beat the Grizzlies last weekend, giving the Bobcats a 4-0 sweep over their rivals for the first time since 1999.
Thursday's matchup against Sacramento State will pit two of the conference's best scoring defenses against each other, as MSU head coach Danny Sprinkle's unit ranks first in Big Sky play by allowing only 63.3 points per game, while Sacramento State has allowed 67.1 points per game (T-3rd). Yet Montana State has the edge in steals (league-leading 6.8 per game) and blocks (3.0 per game, second in the Big Sky).
Sacramento State, however, has struggled to score as of late; the Hornets rank last in points per game (64.9 points per game) and field goal percentage (42.8%), yet the numbers could be deceiving because of the team's deliberate pace. At 62.6 possessions per 40 minutes (per KenPom.com), Sacramento State plays at the 358th slowest tempo among 363 Division I teams.
Individually for MSU, RaeQuan Battle (17.0 points per game), Jubrile Belo (12.3 points, 5.9 rebounds per game) and Darius Brown II (8.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and a league-leading 1.9 steals per game) have solidified themselves as one of the best all-around trios in the Big Sky. Additionally, Great Osobor has established himself as one of the Big Sky's best sixth men throughout the month of February. Over the last five games, Osobor has averaged 12.0 points per game on 64.3% shooting, while contributing 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game off the bench.
Nevertheless, the Hornets are one of the more well-rounded teams Montana State has faced in conference play. Senior guard Zach Chappell leads the Hornets at 13.4 points per game, yet the team has five players who average at least eight points per game (the others are Callum McRae, Akolda Mawein, Cameron Wilbon and Austin Patterson). Sacramento State comes to Bozeman after snapping a six-game losing skid with a 70-65 home win against Idaho State last Saturday. Center Callum McRae had a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double to lead the Hornets, while Cameron Wilbon and Akol Mawein came off the bench to score 14 and 12 points, respectively.
In the teams' last meeting, MSU handed Sacramento State its first home loss of the season in a 72-65 win. The Bobcats led by 10 points at halftime and held off a furious comeback attempt spearheaded by Chappell's 19 points. RaeQuan Battle scored the Bobcats' final 10 points in 2 minutes and 20 seconds — including a layup around seven-footer McRae — to seal the win.
Later this week, Montana State will host Portland State for Senior Night on Saturday at 4 p.m. From there, the Bobcats have a quick turnaround to Cheney, Wash. to play the first-place Eastern Washington Eagles on Monday at 8 p.m. MT. Both games will be live streamed on ESPN+.
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