Saturday, February 25
BOZEMAN
4 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
Portland State
Caleb Fuller
Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services
Men’s Basketball Honors Seniors Jubrile Belo and Caleb Fuller on Saturday
2/24/2023 9:11:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Bobcats play their final regular-season home game in Worthington Arena against the Portland State Vikings on Saturday at 4 p.m.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Concluding its 2022-23 home slate, the Montana State men's basketball team hosts Portland State on Senior Night for the regular-season home finale this Saturday at 4 p.m.
Prior to the game, Montana State will honor Caleb Fuller and Jubrile Belo on Senior Night with an on-court ceremony involving head coach Danny Sprinkle and MSU Director of Athletics Leon Costello. The game 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 Eastern Washington's win over the Weber State Wildcats on Thursday, the Bobcats are locked into the 2-seed in the Big Sky Conference Championships. Yet the Bobcats have two games left to play — and could still spoil EWU's perfect Big Sky record in the season finale next Monday in Cheney, Wash. The Vikings have much more to play for, as they are in a logjam in the conference's middle class with Idaho State and Sacramento State. PSU has a 6-9 record — good for sixth — in conference play with potentially three games remaining.
Portland State was supposed to travel to Missoula to square off with the Grizzlies on Thursday, yet 10 inches of snowfall in the Portland area prohibited the Vikings from flying out of town. With so many conference seeding implications hinging on the game, both schools and the conference are working to get the game re-scheduled. A makeup time has not been announced as of press time.
Meanwhile, Montana State is coming off a gutty, 60-56 home win over the Sacramento State Hornets on Thursday night. Jubrile Belo led the team with 17 points, a season-high four blocks and three steals, while his younger counterpart Great Osobor chipped in 15 points, three rebounds and three blocks off the bench. Osobor's transition scoring would spark the Bobcat offense on multiple occasions in the low-scoring game, as his plays helped the team overcome several long stretches without a made field goal. He also drew a flagrant foul on a breakaway layup attempt with 3.8 seconds to play and split a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Thursday's win gave the Bobcats their first back-to-back 20-win seasons since Mick Durham's squads won 23 games in 1994-95 and 1995-96 — the latter of which featured freshman point guard Danny Sprinkle. MSU has gone 76-42 over the past four seasons, which is the fourth-best four-year stretch in program history.
Yet prior to Saturday's action, the Bobcats will honor Fuller and Belo. While both hail from England, the veteran big men took different paths leading to Bozeman throughout their college basketball careers. Belo came to Bozeman after playing junior college ball at Lamar Community College from 2017-19. Once arriving at MSU, Belo thrived into one of the best big men the Bobcats have ever seen, amassing 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and breaking the school record with 157 blocks and counting over four productive seasons. Last season, Belo was the third player in Big Sky history to win Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. He currently ranks 8th all-time in scoring (1,523 points) and fifth in rebounding (733) at MSU.
Fuller, meanwhile, came to Bozeman after playing four seasons for UC Davis in the Big West Conference. During his time as an Aggie, he averaged 7.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 92 games, but set career-highs in points per game (12.1), rebounds per game (5.5), and assists per game (2.2) as a senior. A native of Ipswich, England, Fuller has been a mainstay on Great Britain's teams in international play by winning a national title in the 2018 U19 championships and earning a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Montana State managed to pull away from the Vikings in a 75-66 win — despite playing without Jubrile Belo, who was saddled with a hand injury sustained in the first half. Great Osobor stepped up in his absence with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench, while RaeQuan Battle led the way with 19 points and Caleb Fuller had an MSU-career-best 18 points. MSU's balanced scoring offset a game-high 23 points from Cameron Parker, who went 9-for-16 from the field, yet turned the ball over three times.
PSU guard Cameron Parker is the first name on the scouting report, as the former Sacred Heart and Montana floor general has averaged 17.5 points and 6.2 assists per game in his first year in a Portland State uniform. With 792 assists, Parker ranks 36th all-time in assists among all Division I players. He has also won back-to-back Big Sky's Player of the Week awards over the past two weeks.
Following Saturday's game, the Bobcats have a quick turnaround to Cheney, Wash. to play the Big Sky regular season champion Eastern Washington Eagles on Monday at 8 p.m. MT. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+ and a free radio broadcast will be provided through the Bobcat Sports Radio Network.
Prior to the game, Montana State will honor Caleb Fuller and Jubrile Belo on Senior Night with an on-court ceremony involving head coach Danny Sprinkle and MSU Director of Athletics Leon Costello. The game 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 Eastern Washington's win over the Weber State Wildcats on Thursday, the Bobcats are locked into the 2-seed in the Big Sky Conference Championships. Yet the Bobcats have two games left to play — and could still spoil EWU's perfect Big Sky record in the season finale next Monday in Cheney, Wash. The Vikings have much more to play for, as they are in a logjam in the conference's middle class with Idaho State and Sacramento State. PSU has a 6-9 record — good for sixth — in conference play with potentially three games remaining.
Portland State was supposed to travel to Missoula to square off with the Grizzlies on Thursday, yet 10 inches of snowfall in the Portland area prohibited the Vikings from flying out of town. With so many conference seeding implications hinging on the game, both schools and the conference are working to get the game re-scheduled. A makeup time has not been announced as of press time.
Meanwhile, Montana State is coming off a gutty, 60-56 home win over the Sacramento State Hornets on Thursday night. Jubrile Belo led the team with 17 points, a season-high four blocks and three steals, while his younger counterpart Great Osobor chipped in 15 points, three rebounds and three blocks off the bench. Osobor's transition scoring would spark the Bobcat offense on multiple occasions in the low-scoring game, as his plays helped the team overcome several long stretches without a made field goal. He also drew a flagrant foul on a breakaway layup attempt with 3.8 seconds to play and split a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Thursday's win gave the Bobcats their first back-to-back 20-win seasons since Mick Durham's squads won 23 games in 1994-95 and 1995-96 — the latter of which featured freshman point guard Danny Sprinkle. MSU has gone 76-42 over the past four seasons, which is the fourth-best four-year stretch in program history.
Yet prior to Saturday's action, the Bobcats will honor Fuller and Belo. While both hail from England, the veteran big men took different paths leading to Bozeman throughout their college basketball careers. Belo came to Bozeman after playing junior college ball at Lamar Community College from 2017-19. Once arriving at MSU, Belo thrived into one of the best big men the Bobcats have ever seen, amassing 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and breaking the school record with 157 blocks and counting over four productive seasons. Last season, Belo was the third player in Big Sky history to win Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. He currently ranks 8th all-time in scoring (1,523 points) and fifth in rebounding (733) at MSU.
Fuller, meanwhile, came to Bozeman after playing four seasons for UC Davis in the Big West Conference. During his time as an Aggie, he averaged 7.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 92 games, but set career-highs in points per game (12.1), rebounds per game (5.5), and assists per game (2.2) as a senior. A native of Ipswich, England, Fuller has been a mainstay on Great Britain's teams in international play by winning a national title in the 2018 U19 championships and earning a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Montana State managed to pull away from the Vikings in a 75-66 win — despite playing without Jubrile Belo, who was saddled with a hand injury sustained in the first half. Great Osobor stepped up in his absence with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench, while RaeQuan Battle led the way with 19 points and Caleb Fuller had an MSU-career-best 18 points. MSU's balanced scoring offset a game-high 23 points from Cameron Parker, who went 9-for-16 from the field, yet turned the ball over three times.
PSU guard Cameron Parker is the first name on the scouting report, as the former Sacred Heart and Montana floor general has averaged 17.5 points and 6.2 assists per game in his first year in a Portland State uniform. With 792 assists, Parker ranks 36th all-time in assists among all Division I players. He has also won back-to-back Big Sky's Player of the Week awards over the past two weeks.
Following Saturday's game, the Bobcats have a quick turnaround to Cheney, Wash. to play the Big Sky regular season champion Eastern Washington Eagles on Monday at 8 p.m. MT. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+ and a free radio broadcast will be provided through the Bobcat Sports Radio Network.
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