Saturday, February 4
BOZEMAN
4 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
Northern Colorado
Jubrile Belo
Photo by: Garrett Becker
Bobcats Clash with Northern Colorado on Saturday
2/3/2023 11:24:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Bobcats are looking for their 10th Big Sky Conference win this weekend.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Coming off a come-from-behind win against Northern Arizona on Thursday, the Montana State men's basketball team goes for its tenth win in Big Sky Conference play against the Northern Colorado Bears this Saturday at 4 p.m.
The game between the Bobcats (16-8, 9-2 Big Sky Conference) and the Bears (7-15, 2-8 Big Sky Conference) will be televised regionally on SWX Sports and live streamed on ESPN+. A free radio broadcast will be provided on the Bobcat Sports Radio Network. Live stream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball team's schedule page at msubobcats.com.
MSU is looking to extend its four-game win streak after Thursday night's 69-68 win over Northern Arizona, in which Great Osobor's go-ahead layup with 3.8 seconds to go sealed the victory. The win was memorable for the Bobcat frontcourt, as Jubrile Belo had his fifth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds, plus his two blocks set Montana State's new all-time career record at 150. He could go for another milestone soon: At 1,474 career points, Belo is 23 points away from tying current Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle at No. 7 on MSU's top-10 scoring rankings.
Thursday's win was MSU's fourth-straight in Big Sky Conference play and helped the Bobcats maintain second place in the conference standings behind Eastern Washington, which is still in the lead with a perfect 11-0 record.
Meanwhile, Northern Colorado is coming to Bozeman after a close 69-67 loss to Montana on Thursday night. The Bears cut the Grizzlies' lead to one point several times in the final minute, yet couldn't quite get over the hump. Daylen Kountz led the way with 18 points while Dalton Knecht finished with 17 points and six rebounds.
In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 5, Montana State cruised to a 77-56 win behind 17 points from Jubrile Belo and 15 from Great Osobor off the bench. The Bobcat defense held Northern Colorado's high-scoring duo of Dalton Knecht and Daylen Kountz to a combined 15 points while also holding the Bears to shooting 4-for-17 (23.5%) from three. MSU's 21-point margin of victory in that game is the team's highest in Big Sky play so far.
Despite boasting two of the Big Sky's top 10 scorers in Dalton Knecht (league-best 23.9 points per game) and Daylen Kountz (15.0 PPG), defense has been the Bears' Achilles' heel. Northern Colorado has allowed 76.8 points per game on 49.7% shooting in Big Sky play — both of which rank ninth or worse in the conference. However, the Bears play fast (69.4 possessions per game per KenPom, second-most in the league) and lead the conference in steals (6.7 per game).
Ever since the teams' first meeting, Northern Colorado has gone 2-5 in conference play with wins over Portland State and Idaho. Montana State leads the all-time series 48-26, but the series has had some memorable games lately, as three of the last five meetings have either gone to overtime or been decided by less than three points.
Following Saturday's game, the Bobcats will take their final two-game road trip of the regular season at Weber State and Idaho State next Thursday and Saturday, respectively. All Big Sky Conference games will be live streamed on ESPN+.
The game between the Bobcats (16-8, 9-2 Big Sky Conference) and the Bears (7-15, 2-8 Big Sky Conference) will be televised regionally on SWX Sports and live streamed on ESPN+. A free radio broadcast will be provided on the Bobcat Sports Radio Network. Live stream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball team's schedule page at msubobcats.com.
MSU is looking to extend its four-game win streak after Thursday night's 69-68 win over Northern Arizona, in which Great Osobor's go-ahead layup with 3.8 seconds to go sealed the victory. The win was memorable for the Bobcat frontcourt, as Jubrile Belo had his fifth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds, plus his two blocks set Montana State's new all-time career record at 150. He could go for another milestone soon: At 1,474 career points, Belo is 23 points away from tying current Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle at No. 7 on MSU's top-10 scoring rankings.
Thursday's win was MSU's fourth-straight in Big Sky Conference play and helped the Bobcats maintain second place in the conference standings behind Eastern Washington, which is still in the lead with a perfect 11-0 record.
Meanwhile, Northern Colorado is coming to Bozeman after a close 69-67 loss to Montana on Thursday night. The Bears cut the Grizzlies' lead to one point several times in the final minute, yet couldn't quite get over the hump. Daylen Kountz led the way with 18 points while Dalton Knecht finished with 17 points and six rebounds.
In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 5, Montana State cruised to a 77-56 win behind 17 points from Jubrile Belo and 15 from Great Osobor off the bench. The Bobcat defense held Northern Colorado's high-scoring duo of Dalton Knecht and Daylen Kountz to a combined 15 points while also holding the Bears to shooting 4-for-17 (23.5%) from three. MSU's 21-point margin of victory in that game is the team's highest in Big Sky play so far.
Despite boasting two of the Big Sky's top 10 scorers in Dalton Knecht (league-best 23.9 points per game) and Daylen Kountz (15.0 PPG), defense has been the Bears' Achilles' heel. Northern Colorado has allowed 76.8 points per game on 49.7% shooting in Big Sky play — both of which rank ninth or worse in the conference. However, the Bears play fast (69.4 possessions per game per KenPom, second-most in the league) and lead the conference in steals (6.7 per game).
Ever since the teams' first meeting, Northern Colorado has gone 2-5 in conference play with wins over Portland State and Idaho. Montana State leads the all-time series 48-26, but the series has had some memorable games lately, as three of the last five meetings have either gone to overtime or been decided by less than three points.
Following Saturday's game, the Bobcats will take their final two-game road trip of the regular season at Weber State and Idaho State next Thursday and Saturday, respectively. All Big Sky Conference games will be live streamed on ESPN+.
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