Photo by: Garrett Becker
Bobcats Earn 14-Seed, Will Face 3-Seed Kansas State in the NCAA Tournament
3/12/2023 6:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bobcats will travel to Greensboro to take on the Kansas State Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 17.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, the Montana State men's basketball team will be the 14-seed in the East Region and will play 3-seed Kansas State in Greensboro, N.C. on Friday, March 17 at 7:40 p.m. MT. The game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports with Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel and Evan Washburn on the call.
"It's exciting to hear our name get called — it never gets old," Head Coach Danny Sprinkle said. "It's also exciting to see the guys who have never been through it before experience this moment."
This year marks the second-straight time MSU has been a 14-seed facing a Big 12 opponent in the first round. Last season, the Bobcats were a 14-seed in the West Region; they fell 97-62 to 3-seed Texas Tech. The highest seed MSU has ever been was a 13-seed, which was in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
"We're excited that we play another Big 12 team this year," Sprinkle said. "While it would have been nice to stay out west, we went to Greensboro during my first year for a tournament. But we'll play anywhere."
Kansas State will be making its first tournament appearance under Head Coach Jerome Tang and its 32nd appearance overall. The Wildcats went 23-9 overall and 11-7 in Big 12 play to place third in the conference. They fell 80-67 to TCU in the Big 12 Quarterfinals.
Maintaining their success after a historic 2021-22 campaign, the Bobcats (25-9, 15-3 Big Sky Conference) won back-to-back Big Sky Conference Championship titles with an 85-78 win over Northern Arizona. The Big Sky Championship win marked many firsts for the program: the first time MSU has won back-to-back Big Sky Tournament titles, made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and the first time in nearly a century MSU has strung together consecutive 25-win seasons.
First-team All-Big Sky Conference selection RaeQuan Battle leads the Bobcats with 17.4 points per game and is coming off a 25-point outburst in the Big Sky title game to earn Tournament MVP honors. Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year and third-team All-Big Sky selection Darius Brown II joins Battle in the backcourt and will be playing in his first-ever NCAA Tournament game next week.
Down low, Second-Team All-Big Sky Conference selection Jubrile Belo became the first player in Big Sky history to earn four all-conference awards. Belo is also one of five active Division I players to amass 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and 150 blocks in his career. Big Sky Top Reserve Great Osobor rounds out MSU's frontcourt. The sophomore from Bradford, England averages 10.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in just 18.7 minutes per game.
NCAA Tournament tickets will go on sale to priority point members on Monday, March 13 at 10 a.m. MT at the following link, then the remaining seats will be available for the general public on Tuesday, March 14 at 10 a.m. Student tickets will be available for purchase on Monday, March 13 at 10 a.m. MT by calling the Montana State ticket office and providing a valid student ID. Tickets cost $115 per person for each session pass.
All NCAA Tournament games will be available online at the NCAA March Madness Live site with select cable subscriptions. A free radio broadcast with Keaton Gillogly on the mic will be available via the Bobcat Radio Network on KMMS 1450 AM, on the Varsity Network app as well as nationally on Westwood One. All live stream, live stats and game information can be found on the men's basketball team's schedule page on msubobcats.com.
"It's exciting to hear our name get called — it never gets old," Head Coach Danny Sprinkle said. "It's also exciting to see the guys who have never been through it before experience this moment."
This year marks the second-straight time MSU has been a 14-seed facing a Big 12 opponent in the first round. Last season, the Bobcats were a 14-seed in the West Region; they fell 97-62 to 3-seed Texas Tech. The highest seed MSU has ever been was a 13-seed, which was in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
"We're excited that we play another Big 12 team this year," Sprinkle said. "While it would have been nice to stay out west, we went to Greensboro during my first year for a tournament. But we'll play anywhere."
Kansas State will be making its first tournament appearance under Head Coach Jerome Tang and its 32nd appearance overall. The Wildcats went 23-9 overall and 11-7 in Big 12 play to place third in the conference. They fell 80-67 to TCU in the Big 12 Quarterfinals.
Maintaining their success after a historic 2021-22 campaign, the Bobcats (25-9, 15-3 Big Sky Conference) won back-to-back Big Sky Conference Championship titles with an 85-78 win over Northern Arizona. The Big Sky Championship win marked many firsts for the program: the first time MSU has won back-to-back Big Sky Tournament titles, made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and the first time in nearly a century MSU has strung together consecutive 25-win seasons.
First-team All-Big Sky Conference selection RaeQuan Battle leads the Bobcats with 17.4 points per game and is coming off a 25-point outburst in the Big Sky title game to earn Tournament MVP honors. Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year and third-team All-Big Sky selection Darius Brown II joins Battle in the backcourt and will be playing in his first-ever NCAA Tournament game next week.
Down low, Second-Team All-Big Sky Conference selection Jubrile Belo became the first player in Big Sky history to earn four all-conference awards. Belo is also one of five active Division I players to amass 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and 150 blocks in his career. Big Sky Top Reserve Great Osobor rounds out MSU's frontcourt. The sophomore from Bradford, England averages 10.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in just 18.7 minutes per game.
NCAA Tournament tickets will go on sale to priority point members on Monday, March 13 at 10 a.m. MT at the following link, then the remaining seats will be available for the general public on Tuesday, March 14 at 10 a.m. Student tickets will be available for purchase on Monday, March 13 at 10 a.m. MT by calling the Montana State ticket office and providing a valid student ID. Tickets cost $115 per person for each session pass.
All NCAA Tournament games will be available online at the NCAA March Madness Live site with select cable subscriptions. A free radio broadcast with Keaton Gillogly on the mic will be available via the Bobcat Radio Network on KMMS 1450 AM, on the Varsity Network app as well as nationally on Westwood One. All live stream, live stats and game information can be found on the men's basketball team's schedule page on msubobcats.com.
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