Sunday, March 5
Boise, ID
8 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
#8 Northern Colorado
Jubrile Belo (center)
Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services
Montana State’s Big Sky Tournament Title Defense Begins Sunday
3/4/2023 11:33:00 AM | Men's Basketball
If the Montana State men’s basketball team wants to make the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years, it’ll have to do so as the 2-seed in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
BOISE, Idaho – Thirty-one games, 18 conference matchups and countless miles logged on trips to Montreal, Eugene, Tucson and elsewhere around the Inland Northwest have all led up to four days in Boise for the Montana State men's basketball team.
Carrying a league-leading five-game win streak into the Big Sky Conference Tournament, the Montana State Bobcats aim to win back-to-back conference tournament titles and make the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year for the first time in program history. The Bobcats begin postseason play as the 2-seed in the Big Sky and will play the winner of the first-round game between No. 7 Portland State and No. 8 Northern Colorado at the Idaho Central Arena in Boise. All games will be live-streamed on ESPN+; additionally, Tuesday's semifinal and the championship game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
The Bobcats closed out their regular season with a 22-9 overall record, including a 15-3 record in Big Sky play. MSU is the 2-seed behind Eastern Washington, which also sports a 22-9 overall record but went 16-2 in league play. Both teams met on Monday, Feb. 27 and the Bobcats prevailed 79-74, giving them wins over all nine Big Sky teams this season.
Montana State claimed an automatic bye past the opening round of the Big Sky Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, which is a program best. The Bobcats have now made quarterfinal appearances at the Big Sky Tournament five straight years. In last year's title-winning campaign, MSU made the championship game in back-to-back years for the first time in program history. A third-straight championship game appearance this year would be the first time this has happened in MSU history.
Montana State has four-straight seasons of overall winning records with all of them coming under the direction of head coach Danny Sprinkle. It is the first time the Bobcats have had back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons — coincidentally, the latter of which was Sprinkle's freshman year. The Bobcats are 78-42 during Sprinkle's four-year tenure. His .650 winning percentage over the past four years is second in program history to the Bobcats' win percentage of .854 from 1926-30.
MSU's league-leading defense helped the Bobcats go 15-3 in conference play this season. The Bobcats ranked first in points per game allowed (64.3), first in turnover margin (+3.61), first in steals per game (6.94), second in blocks per game (3.11) and third in field goal percentage defense (43.9%). MSU's offense wasn't too shabby either, as the unit ranked second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (46.8%) and fourth in free throw percentage (76.0%).
As one of the deepest teams in the Big Sky Conference, Montana State had four individuals earn all-conference awards on Friday. RaeQuan Battle earned First Team All-Big Sky honors, Jubrile Belo earned all-conference honors for the fourth time in his highly decorated career by making the Second Team, plus Darius Brown II earned a spot on the Third Team while also earning Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year honors. Great Osobor rounded out the individual awards by being named the Big Sky's Top Reserve.
This year marks the second-straight season in which MSU has had a First Team All-Big Sky selection, the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and the Top Reserve. Additionally, Belo became the first player in Big Sky history to earn all-conference honors four times. Last season, he became the first Big Sky player in conference history to earn MVP, Defensive MVP and Newcomer of the Year honors in his career.
Earlier this season, the Bobcats picked up several notable road wins in conference play. MSU beat Montana in Missoula for the first time since 2010 with a 67-64 win on Jan. 21, then the Bobcats completed their first Brawl of the Wild series sweep since 2010 with a 72-68 home win on Feb. 18. With the women's team going 2-0 against the Lady Grizzlies, this year is the first time since 1999 that both Montana State basketball combined to go 4-0 against Montana. The season-finale win against Eastern Washington also marked the first time since 2011 that the Bobcats have beaten the Eagles in Cheney, Wash.
In non-conference play, MSU had a challenging, road-heavy slate. The schedule featured games at two Pac-12 schools for the first time since 2011, (Arizona, Oregon), two teams that have won 20 games this year (Arizona, UNC Greensboro) and MSU's first regular-season game against a nationally ranked opponent since 2019-20 (then-#5 Arizona on Dec. 20, 2022). Nine of MSU's 11 Division I opponents have winning records this year.
Should the Bobcats win on Sunday, they will play the winner of 3-seed Weber State and 6-seed Sacramento State on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and available on ESPN+.
Carrying a league-leading five-game win streak into the Big Sky Conference Tournament, the Montana State Bobcats aim to win back-to-back conference tournament titles and make the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year for the first time in program history. The Bobcats begin postseason play as the 2-seed in the Big Sky and will play the winner of the first-round game between No. 7 Portland State and No. 8 Northern Colorado at the Idaho Central Arena in Boise. All games will be live-streamed on ESPN+; additionally, Tuesday's semifinal and the championship game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
The Bobcats closed out their regular season with a 22-9 overall record, including a 15-3 record in Big Sky play. MSU is the 2-seed behind Eastern Washington, which also sports a 22-9 overall record but went 16-2 in league play. Both teams met on Monday, Feb. 27 and the Bobcats prevailed 79-74, giving them wins over all nine Big Sky teams this season.
Montana State claimed an automatic bye past the opening round of the Big Sky Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, which is a program best. The Bobcats have now made quarterfinal appearances at the Big Sky Tournament five straight years. In last year's title-winning campaign, MSU made the championship game in back-to-back years for the first time in program history. A third-straight championship game appearance this year would be the first time this has happened in MSU history.
Montana State has four-straight seasons of overall winning records with all of them coming under the direction of head coach Danny Sprinkle. It is the first time the Bobcats have had back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons — coincidentally, the latter of which was Sprinkle's freshman year. The Bobcats are 78-42 during Sprinkle's four-year tenure. His .650 winning percentage over the past four years is second in program history to the Bobcats' win percentage of .854 from 1926-30.
MSU's league-leading defense helped the Bobcats go 15-3 in conference play this season. The Bobcats ranked first in points per game allowed (64.3), first in turnover margin (+3.61), first in steals per game (6.94), second in blocks per game (3.11) and third in field goal percentage defense (43.9%). MSU's offense wasn't too shabby either, as the unit ranked second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (46.8%) and fourth in free throw percentage (76.0%).
As one of the deepest teams in the Big Sky Conference, Montana State had four individuals earn all-conference awards on Friday. RaeQuan Battle earned First Team All-Big Sky honors, Jubrile Belo earned all-conference honors for the fourth time in his highly decorated career by making the Second Team, plus Darius Brown II earned a spot on the Third Team while also earning Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year honors. Great Osobor rounded out the individual awards by being named the Big Sky's Top Reserve.
This year marks the second-straight season in which MSU has had a First Team All-Big Sky selection, the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and the Top Reserve. Additionally, Belo became the first player in Big Sky history to earn all-conference honors four times. Last season, he became the first Big Sky player in conference history to earn MVP, Defensive MVP and Newcomer of the Year honors in his career.
Earlier this season, the Bobcats picked up several notable road wins in conference play. MSU beat Montana in Missoula for the first time since 2010 with a 67-64 win on Jan. 21, then the Bobcats completed their first Brawl of the Wild series sweep since 2010 with a 72-68 home win on Feb. 18. With the women's team going 2-0 against the Lady Grizzlies, this year is the first time since 1999 that both Montana State basketball combined to go 4-0 against Montana. The season-finale win against Eastern Washington also marked the first time since 2011 that the Bobcats have beaten the Eagles in Cheney, Wash.
In non-conference play, MSU had a challenging, road-heavy slate. The schedule featured games at two Pac-12 schools for the first time since 2011, (Arizona, Oregon), two teams that have won 20 games this year (Arizona, UNC Greensboro) and MSU's first regular-season game against a nationally ranked opponent since 2019-20 (then-#5 Arizona on Dec. 20, 2022). Nine of MSU's 11 Division I opponents have winning records this year.
Should the Bobcats win on Sunday, they will play the winner of 3-seed Weber State and 6-seed Sacramento State on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and available on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
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