Montana State University
Idaho
Cats Kickstart Big Sky Play at Idaho on Thursday
1/1/2025 12:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State men's basketball faces Idaho on Thursday, Eastern Washington on Saturday to begin conference play
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Montana State men's basketball continues their quest for a fourth straight Big Sky championship this weekend with the beginning of conference play on the road at Idaho on Thursday, followed by a trip to Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Tip from ICCU Arena in Moscow is set for 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT on Thursday.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with live radio play-by-play from Voice of the Bobcats Keaton Gillogly airing on the Bobcat Sports Network.
On Saturday, Montana State finishes the weekend road trip with a clash against Eastern Washington in Cheney, Washington.
Tip from Reese Court is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT.
The game will air on SWX stations and concurrently stream on ESPN+, with live radio play-by-play from Voice of the Bobcats Keaton Gillogly airing on the Bobcat Sports Network.
Montana State (5-8, 0-0 Big Sky) has gone 49-16 against Big Sky opponents over the last three seasons and made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history. The Bobcats are the Big Sky Conference's first three-peat champion since Idaho in 1981-83.
The Bobcats have won six Big Sky regular season titles, most recently in 2022.
Last season, the Bobcats went 9-9 in Big Sky play to finish fifth in the standings before embarking on an unforgettable run at the Big Sky Tournament in Boise, winning three games in three days capped by an 85-70 win over Montana in the championship game.
Montana State entered the 2024-25 season picked first in the Preseason Big Sky Media Poll and second in the Preseason Big Sky Coaches' Poll after adding touted transfers like Max Agbonkpolo (Utah State) and Jabe Mullins (Washington State) to a core that included impact players from the Cats' recent run like forward Brandon Walker, wing Tyler Patterson, and wing Brian Goracke.
The Cats' 2024-25 non-conference schedule featured three teams that were single-digit seeds in last year's NCAA Tournament, and was ranked the 81st most difficult non-conference schedule in the country.
"We knew what we were signing up for," head coach Matt Logie said of the non-conference slate that included Wisconsin, TCU, Northwestern, USC, and Wichita State. "The reason I felt confident they could absorb the challenge of this schedule was because of our age, our maturity, our experience, and our culture. I know our guys are extremely hungry. Now we're 0-0. Now the conference season begins and everything that we set out for is still right in front of us."
FRESH START
After a loaded non-conference schedule that featured road games against Wisconsin, Northwestern, USC, TCU, and Wichita State, Montana State now resets and will prepare to defend their three straight Big Sky championships. The Bobcats were picked first in the Big Sky Preseason Media Poll and second in the Coaches' Poll. Thursday, they face an Idaho team that was picked to finish ninth by the media and seventh by the coaches, while Saturday, they face an Eastern Washington squad that was picked sixth by the media and ninth by the coaches.
BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK
Montana State is one of the most experienced teams in the country in 2024-25, boasting five players in the rotation who have each played in at least 115 games (Jabe Mullins, Tyler Patterson, Brian Goracke, Max Agbonkpolo, Sam Lecholat), and nine players who have at least four years in college basketball. Tyler Patterson has started 130 games in a Montana State uniform entering Thursday, the most of any active player at one school in the country and the most in Montana State history.
AROUND THE ARC
Montana State is 63rd in the country in both made 3-pointers per game (9.4) and attempted 3-pointers per game (26.8). In addition to their reliance on the three-point line, Bobcats have been one of the best teams in the country at defending the arc--ranking 29th in NCAA Division I in three-point defense, with opponents shooting just 28.6% from deep.
DEADLY FROM DEEP
In an 85-59 win over Abilene Christian on November 26, Montana State connected on 17 of 26 attempts from three-point range (65.4%). The 17 made 3-pointers were tied for the fourth-most against a Division I opponent in program history. Seven different Bobcats made multiple three-point field goals.
SERIES HISTORY (IDAHO)
Montana State has won 11 of the last 14 matchups with Idaho dating back to 2017. The two teams first met in 2017, with MSU leading the all-time series 71-53 entering Thursday. Montana State has won five of the last seven games in Moscow, including last year's 62-48 victory at ICCU Arena, which featured a season-high 13 steals for the Cats and a defensive effort that held the Vandals to 34.0% shooting from the floor. Brandon Walker averaged 12.0 points in the two contests with the Vandals last year, while Tyler Patterson averaged 11.0 points and Sam Lecholat averaged 10.0 points per game.
ABOUT IDAHO
Idaho enters Thursday night's game with a 5-8 record that matches Montana State. The Vandals suffered losses to BYU, Oregon State, and Washington State, but have wins over UC Riverside, who Montana State narrowly lost to, and Kansas City, who MSU defeated 74-62 on December 7. Idaho has been efficient offensively, ranking 50th in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal percentage (37.2%) and 88th in effective field goal percentage. Idaho has been the worst defensive team in the Big Sky through the non-conference, ranking 349th out of 364 teams in the country in defensive rating. Billings native Julius Mims was a member of the Big Sky All-Defensive Team last year and ranks fifth in the Big Sky in blocks this year and eighth in rebounding.
SERIES HISTORY (EASTERN WASHINGTON)
Saturday marks the 100th meeting all-time between Eastern Washington and Montana State, with the Eagles leading the series, 50-49. Eastern Washington has won 11 of the last 12 meetings in Cheney, with the only Bobcat win since 2011 coming in 2023. The two teams are 3-3 in their last six meetings, including a split last year that saw both teams win their home games against the other. Montana State upset Eastern Washington on February 1, 70-60, to hand the Eagles their first Big Sky loss of the year and one of only three defeats suffered by EWU to conference opponents during the regular season. Robert Ford III was special, finishing with 21 points, seven rebounds, six steals, and five assists. Then, on March 2 in Cheney, Eastern Washington pulled out a 108-104 win in overtime over a shorthanded Montana State team.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON
Ahead of their Thursday night tilt against Montana, Eastern Washington enters Big Sky Play 4-9 overall. The Eagles had lost eight of nine games before picking up a pair of wins on Dec. 21 and Dec. 30 against non-NCAA Division I opponents. EWU is in their first year under former Gonzaga, Minnesota, and Long Beach State coach Dan Monson after a successful run under David Riley, who is now at Washington State. The Eagles are rebuilding after losing most of last year's Big Sky regular season championship team to the transfer portal. Eastern Washington's defense is ranked 332nd out of 364 teams by KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency rating, and ranked 358th in defensive effective field goal percentage (58.3%).
PRESEASON ALL-BIG SKY
Junior forward Brandon Walker and senior wing Brian Goracke were two of the six players named to the Preseason All-Big Sky team, and have lived up to the billing so far representing the only school with multiple selections to the team. Walker is seventh in the Big Sky in scoring (15.1 ppg) and sixth in field goal percentage (52.8%), while Goracke is third on the team in scoring averaging 7.9 points per game, ranking tenth in the Big Sky in 3-pointers (24) and shooting 41.4% from deep.
LAST TIME OUT
Montana State's 48 points in a loss to TCU in the non-conference finale on December 22 marked their lowest scoring output since putting up 49 against Eastern Washington in 2020.
TYLER THREE RINGS
Tyler Patterson will start his 131st game in a Bobcat uniform on Thursday, extending his school record. The graduate student from Snoqualmie, Washington, has the most starts of any active player at one school in NCAA Division I, and has played in 141 career games entering the weekend. Patterson has made 233 3-pointers in his career, fourth-most in program history. Patterson is 30 makes behind his former coach Danny Sprinkle, who hit 263 threes from 1995 to 1999. Patterson is the only player in program history to start for three Big Sky championship teams and the only player to start in three NCAA Tournament games.
THE MATT LOGIE FILE
Second-year MSU head coach Matt Logie has taken his teams to the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 13 seasons as a head coach, and is believed to be just the second men's coach in history to lead teams to the Big Dance at the Division I, Division II, and Division III levels (Tobin Anderson). Logie ranks 15th in NCAA men's basketball history in career winning percentage (.780) and is ninth among active head coaches. Logie came to Montana State after four seasons at Point Loma (Division II), where his teams rolled up an 82-23 record with three conference championships, and eight seasons at Whitworth (Division III), where his teams went 194-35.
GOLDEN AGE OF BOBCAT BASKETBALL
Montana State has played in four straight Big Sky Tournament championship games, gone 49-16 against Big Sky opponents over the last three seasons, and made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history. The Bobcats are the Big Sky Conference's first three-peat champion since Idaho from 1981-83. In 2021-22, Montana State went 27-8, which included a 13-1 record at home and a program-record 16 wins in conference play. In 2022-2023, Montana State went 25-10, collected a 12-1 record at Worthington Arena, and went 15-3 in conference action.
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