Montana State University
15-17,9-9Big Sky
Weber State
20-12,11-7Big Sky
Scorching Second Half Propels Cats to Big Sky Semis
3/11/2024 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State scores 66 points in second half to erase 13-point deficit and get past No. 4 seed Weber State in the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinals on Monday night in Boise
BOISE, Idaho -- Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid, on occasion, says, "When things look grim, be the grim reaper." On Monday night at Boise's ICCU Arena, Robert Ford III was the grim reaper.
The Big Sky's best point guard in 2024 led a furious second-half charge to erase a 13-point deficit and spur Montana State to a 91-80 win over Weber State in the Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinals. The triumph advances the Cats to a Tuesday semifinal matchup against Sacramento State, and nearly mirrored an MSU win over the Wildcats eight days ago.
"The first thing we said (to the team at halftime) was, we were down eight to these guys with 10 minutes left just a week ago," said Montana State coach Matt Logie. "So this is a better situation. I think that freed them to just go play."
Ford III may have carried the scythe, but he had many alongside. Brian Goracke poured in 25 points, including five three-pointers and one thunderous dunk. The All-Big Sky and Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year contributed far beyond his scoring output, dishing out four assists while shooting 9-for-15 from the field. He was also one of three Bobcats (with Sam Lecholat and John Olmsted) to share team honors with six rebounds.
"Coach talked about everyone being their best self and I feel like in that moment everyone was being their best self," Ford III said of the decisive second half. "Even our guys on the bench were up, talking to us, helping us out."
Goracke was among those playing his best basketball on Monday. The junior hit eight of his 12 shots, including five-for-nine from deep. He also blocked one of Jones' shots and grabbed a pair of boards. Tyler Patterson knocked down three three-pointers, all in the second half during MSU's game-clinching scoring run.
When WSU's Blaise Threatt hit a three-pointer with 18:55 to play, the Wildcats held a 40-27 lead. On the ensuing possession Tyler Patterson hit a three-pointer, and Weber's lead caromed between 10 and 12 points four about four minutes. But with 14:42 to play Patterson hit another triple to pull the Cats within 50-41, and less than a minute he drilled another after an offensive board by Olmsted.
At the 12:11 mark, Goracke stuck a turnaround jumper from the baseline, then Lecholat's pinpoint pass to Olmsted resulted in an alley-oop at 11:35 to cut Weber's lead to 50-48. On MSU's next possession Ford III hit a three-pointer and Montana State had its first lead since the game's first six minutes. Dillon Jones answered with an and-one on a spinner, but Goracke tied the game on a free throw then untied it on a three-pointer.
MSU's lead pinballed between one and four until the seven minute mark, but Threatt hit two free throws with 6:37 to play to tie the score. Then the Bobcats took off.
Eddie Turner III hit a triple and Ford III converted a fast break layup to push the Bobcats in front by five. Goracke hit a three-ball with 5:31 to play, then made another at 4:39 to give the Bobcats a 74-63 lead. Ford III made a layup, then hit a short jumper and made two free throws. Goracke converted an and-one three-point play, and when Lecholat snaked in a layup and added a free throw for a conventional three-point play at 2:17 the Bobcats led 86-69 and the game was all but finished.
The Bobcats engineered two different 13-0 scoring runs in the second half, and over an eight-minute stretch made all 14 of its field goal attempts. The Cats shot 21-28 from the floor, 10-14 from three-point range, and 14-16 from the free throw line in the second half. MSU scored 66 points in the second half.
"We put in the work, we try to prepare ourselves the best we can, so when those moments and opportunities present themselves we're playing the percentages," Goracke said of MSU's scorching second stanza. "We didn't have a great first half offensively, so in the second half things started clicking. Guys stepped up, shot with confidence, and shots went in."
Much of MSU's second half spurt was keyed by containing Jones, the Big Sky's Player of the Year. "Dillon is such an unselfish player and does such a great job making his teammates better," Logie said. "We wanted to limit those opportunities for him to playmake and unlock some of those guys. I thought in the first half he did a really good job of finding creases in our defense and hitting a few guys for threes, but we were able to turn him over a little bit, I think he had six turnovers on the night, and ultimately it was going to be a team effort defensively to stop all of their pieces. In the second half we were able to get our stops and key our offensive run through that."
Montana State plays Sacramento State at 6:30 pm Thursday in Boise. Logie feels good about his team's mindset and confidence level heading into the semifinal showdown.
"It should give our guys confidence and prove the concept of what we've been preaching all year," he said. "We've been pointing to March from the beginning. We knew that in the long run we were starting maybe a lap behind some of the other programs because of the transition phase we went through. We had to play catch-up throughout the year and ride that roller coaster a little bit, learn from those valleys, and prepare to play our best basketball in March. If you're playing your best basketball this week you can accomplish all your goals."
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