Montana State University
Long Beach State
Cats Seek Battle at the Beach Title, Face Long Beach State on Friday
11/21/2025 8:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Montana State defeated Nobel, 92-55, to open the tournament on Thursday
GAME 7
MONTANA STATE (2-4) vs LONG BEACH STATE (1-4)
Date: Friday, Nov. 21
Time: 8 p.m. MT
Venue: Walter Pyramid
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
MSU Records: Home 1-1, Road 0-3, Neutral 1-0
LBSU Records: Home 1-1, Road 0-3, Neutral 0-0
Series: Series tied, 3-3
Last Meeting: L, 69-75 (11/26/23)
STORYLINES
BATTLE AT THE BEACH: The Bobcats look to capture the Battle at the Beach title on Friday when they face host Long Beach State in an 8 p.m. MT matchup at Walter Pyramid. Montana State opened the tournament with a 92-55 demolishing of Nobel on Thursday afternoon while Long Beach State captured an 87-54 victory over the Knights on Wednesday evening.
A FAMILIAR FOE: Montana State looks to take the lead in the all-time series with Long Beach State in Friday's game against the Beach. The series is tied at three games apiece, with the Bobcats winning three of the last four meetings overall and the last two games played in Long Beach. Friday's game marks the third meeting in four years between the two teams.
GOING BACK TO CALI: Three of the Bobcats' first seven games will be played in the Golden State. The Bobcats fell in a close battle with Stanford, 77-68, on Nov. 12 and topped Nobel in their opening game in the Battle at the Beach on Nov. 20, 92-55. The Cats conclude the tournament against Long Beach State at Walter Pyramid on Nov. 21. Montana State will return to California on Dec. 16 for a non-conference tilt at Cal Poly and on Jan. 29 for its Big Sky road game at Sacramento State.
ROAD TRIPPIN': Montana State plays the fourth game of its five-game tilt away from Bozeman on Friday as part of a stretch of games that features one ACC opponent (Stanford), two Mountain West challengers (Boise State and Utah State), and the Battle at the Beach against Nobel and Long Beach State. Montana State fell, 77-68, in a close battle with (RV) Stanford on Nov. 12 and 62-58 in a defensive showdown against Boise State on Nov. 15 before snapping its three-game losing streak, 92-55, against Nobel on Nov. 20.
DEFENSIVE CATS: The Bobcats rank second in the Big Sky in scoring defense (68.4), turnovers per game (11.0), and turnover margin (1.6) while playing tough competition in non-conference play. Montana State limited Boise State to a season-low 62 points on Nov. 15 while Jed Miller ranked third in the Big Sky and 57th nationally with 11 steals this season as of Nov. 19.
CHASING 2,000 POINTS: Graduate transfer Davian Brown needs just five points to reach the 2,000-point milestone for his collegiate career. The native of Pasadena, Calif., tallied 1,447 points during his four years at the NAIA level between The Master's University (2020-22) and Lewis-Clark State (2022-24) before pouring in 515 points in his lone season at Biola (2024-25). Brown has 1,995 career points and counting, including 80 over his first six games as a Bobcat.
SPEAKING OF DAVIAN BROWN...: Brown has had a stellar start to the 2025-26 season, leading the Cats in scoring in three of six games so far. The graduate student tallied a season-high 26 points in his lone start against Northwest Indian College (Nov. 5) and posted a pair of 16-point performances against Denver (Nov. 9) and Boise State (Nov. 15). Through Nov. 19, Brown led the Big Sky Conference with 13 three-point shots made and ranked second in three-point percentage (52.0%), second in field goal percentage (61.4%), sixth in field goals made (27), and eighth in points (71).
A LOOK AT THE BEACH: Long Beach State snapped a 19-game losing streak dating back to last season with their 87-54 win over Nobel to open the Battle at the Beach on Wednesday. The Beach has played tough competition to open the 2025-26 season, opening the year against back-to-back Mountain West opponents in San Diego State (L, 45-77) and Fresno State (L, 62-82) before dropping a pair of close contests to Pacific (L, 66-69) and Illinois State (L, 80-82). Petar Majstorovic leads the Beach with 11.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while Gavin Sykes (10.6) and Shaquil Bender (10.2) also average at least 10 points per game.
LOGIE CONTINUES HIS WINNING WAYS: Montana State head coach Matt Logie is no stranger to winning, owning a 310-98 (.760) career head coaching record across all NCAA divisions. Logie's 310 victories rank second among active Division I head coaches 45 years old or younger behind first-year Iowa head coach Ben McCollum with 430.
THE MATT LOGIE FILE: Third-year MSU head coach Matt Logie has taken his teams to the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 14 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 30th in NCAA men's basketball history in career winning percentage (.759) and is 13th 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.
CAT TRACKS
+ Montana State seeks to take the all-time series lead against the Beach on Friday and to capture the Battle at the Beach championship with a win over Long Beach State. Montana State has won the last two matchups between the two teams in Long Beach while the Beach won the most recent matchup overall with a 75-69 win over the Bobcats in Bozeman on Nov. 26, 2023.
+ Bobcat senior Jed Miller entered the Battle at the Beach with 11 steals through five games this season, ranking 49th in the nation and second in the Big Sky. Miller, who led the Cats in steals last season, recorded two swipes in MSU's season opener at Colorado before tallying four each against Northwest Indian College and Denver. He also added a steal in Montana State's two most recent games at Boise State and against Nobel.
+ The Bobcats continue to benefit from prolific production from multiple scorers, with four Cats scoring in double figures in five of Montana State's first six games to open the season. Jed Miller (11.7 ppg) and Christian King (10.7 ppg) tallied 10 or more points in five of six contests so far while Patrick McMahon (13.6 ppg) scored in double figures in four of the five games in which he competed. Davian Brown (13.3 ppg) has three double-digit scoring performances this season, led by his Bobcat-best 26-point outing against Northwest Indian College on Nov. 5. Chris Hodges, Cavin Holden, Waka Mbatch, and Jaden Steppe have each scored in double figures once this season.
+ Christian King and Waka Mbatch each tallied career highs in points against Nobel on Nov. 20. King matched his career high for the third time with 14 points to go with six rebounds, two steals, and two blocks to lead the team in each category against the Knights. Mbatch recorded his first double-digit scoring performance with 13 points while adding four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
+ Montana State limited Boise State to just 62 points on Nov. 15, the Broncos' lowest points total in a game so far this season. The Cats outrebounded the Broncos, 36-35, while holding Boise State to just 17-of-51 (33.3%) from the field and 8-of-28 (28.6%) from three-point range.
+ Three Bobcats reached career milestones in Montana State's 75-73 loss to Denver on Nov. 9. Junior Cavin Holden tallied the 700th point and 200th assist of his collegiate career, Patrick McMahon surpassed 500 career points with his opening bucket against the Pioneers, and Davian Brown played in his 150th career college basketball game.
+ The Bobcats rewrote the record books against Northwest Indian College on Nov. 5, posting the third-highest field goal percentage (64.7%) and third-most three-pointers made in a game in school history (21) while matching MSU's records for fifth-highest field goal total (44), eighth-highest scoring effort (114), and ninth-most steals (15) in a game.
+ Montana State's 21 three-pointers against Northwest Indian College marked the Cats' first time making 20 or more threes in a game since Dec. 16, 2023, when they drained 20 against SAGU American Indian College. It was also MSU's highest three-point total since the Bobcats made 23 against Northwest Indian College on Dec. 27, 2022 en route to a 144-59 win. 144 points is the program record for points in a game.
+ With the Bobcats' win over Northwest Indian College on Nov. 5, Montana State has now won seven-straight home openers dating back to the 2019-20 season. The Bobcats' last home-opening loss came against Utah State, 101-71, to open the 2018-19 campaign.
+ Three Bobcats made their first career starts in the season opener at Colorado on Nov. 3. Senior Jed Miller received the first starting nod of his 72-game Bobcat career while Christian King and Chris Hodges also started for the first time in their MSU debuts. Central Washington transfer Cavin Holden and Bobcat returner Patrick McMahon rounded out the Cats' new-look starting five against Colorado.
+ Montana State debuts a new-look lineup in 2025-26 with 10 newcomers joining five returning Bobcats on the 15-man roster. Redshirt senior Patrick McMahon and senior Jed Miller lead a crop of returners that also features redshirt junior Jeremiah Davis, who missed most of last season with an injury, redshirt sophomore Calum Rutherfurd, and redshirt freshman Grayson Gaddis. MSU's seven-member transfer class includes Davian Brown (Biola), Cavin Holden (Central Washington), Christian King (Washington), Seth Amunrud (Dawson CC), Chris Hodges (Wisconsin), Waka Mbatch (Florida State) and Jaden Steppe (Colorado State). Freshmen Howie Keene, CJ Purdie, and James Steward round out the 2025-26 Bobcat roster.
+ Montana State faces two teams coming off of NCAA Tournament appearances in 2024-25, including at-large selection Utah State (Nov. 29) and defending Big Sky Champion Montana (Jan. 17 & Feb. 14). Both teams fell to Big Ten opponents in the Round of 64 as the No. 10 Aggies were ousted by No. 7 UCLA, 72-47, and No. 14 Montana fell to current Bobcat Chris Hodges and the No. 3 Badgers, 85-66.
+ Three current Bobcats have played in at least one NCAA Tournament game, and two others were members of teams that reached the tournament while they were on the roster. Patrick McMahon scored seven points in eight minutes against Texas Tech during the 2022 Round of 64, Chris Hodges appeared in NCAA Tournament games for Wisconsin in three-straight years from 2023-25, and Jed Miller recorded an assist in MSU's First Four game against Grambling State in 2024. Jaden Steppe played in seven games a member of Colorado State's Mountain West Championship team in 2024-2025, and Calum Rutherfurd redshirted during Montana State's most recent Big Sky Championship year in 2023-24.
+ The Cats concluded the 2024-25 season with a 15-18 record, including a 9-9 mark in conference play. Montana State finished fifth in the Big Sky regular season standings and defeated No. 4 Idaho State in dominant fashion, 80-60, in the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinals before falling to top-seeded Northern Colorado in the semis, 72-45. The defeat ended the Bobcats' run of three-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament from 2022-24, which marked the longest tournament streak by a Big Sky team since Weber State appeared in three-straight NCAA Tournaments from 1978-80.
+ Redshirt senior Patrick McMahon enjoyed a breakout year last season, tallying 18 double-figure scoring performances in 2024-25. He posted four 20-point performances off the bench in conference play, including a then-career-high 23 points in the regular-season finale vs Idaho on March 3, 2025. The lone starter returning from last year's team, McMahon averaged 9.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game last season and owns an impressive .525 career field goal percentage in 77 games and counting as a Bobcat.
+ Jed Miller entered his fourth year in Bozeman with 71 games under his belt, one short of Patrick McMahon's 72 for the most among active players in a Bobcat uniform. Miller led MSU in steals last season with 43 while also dishing 74 assists in 33 games.
+ Junior guard Cavin Holden was a prolific scorer at the Division II level for Central Washington, averaging 15.1 points per game on 47.6% shooting during the 2024-25 season, including a 43.8% mark from deep. Holden tallied 674 points in just two seasons at CWU and earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year honors during his sophomore season.
+ Davian Brown joins the Bobcats for his final year of collegiate eligibility in 2025-26, following in the footsteps of his older brother Darius, who played on MSU's Big Sky Championship and NCAA Tournament team in 2022-23. Darius played in 33 of 34 games and averaged 9.1 points on 46.5% shooting, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game en route to Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year honors and a Third-Team All-Conference Selection. Davian averaged 15.6 points per game last season at Division II Biola and enters the 2025-26 season with a total of 1,915 points scored across his five-year collegiate career at Biola (D-II), Lewis-Clark State (NAIA), and The Master's University (NAIA).
+ Chris Hodges provides 40 games of Big Ten experience for the Bobcats as a graduate transfer from Wisconsin. He was the Badgers' 2024 recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award during his third year in Madison.
+ Washington transfer Christian King adds another 20 games of Power Four experience from his time in the Big Ten, tallying 50 points and 31 rebounds during his redshirt freshman season in 2024-25. His father, Rich King, was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 14th pick in the 1991 NBA Draft.
+ Jeremiah Davis rejoins the Bobcats' rotation after missing the final 20 games of the 2024-25 season due to injury. During his eight-game stint with the Cats last season, Davis scored in double figures twice (vs. Northwest Indian, Nov. 11; at USC, Dec. 15).
+ Bozeman native Seth Amunrud returns home for his junior season after two years at Dawson Community College, where he was an NJCAA Second-Team All-American this past season after averaging 21.1 points per game and shooting 55.2% from the field, 46.8% from three, and 88.7% from the line.
+ Montana State was picked for a share of fifth in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches' Poll and sixth in the Big Sky Preseason Media Poll.
+ Logie's 310-98 career mark in 14 seasons is good for a .760 winning percentage, 13th-best among active coaches at four-year schools and the 30th-highest winning percentage in the history of all NCAA men's college basketball coaches. Logie's teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 14 years as a head coach at three different institutions, and his teams have won at least 21 games in every season save two he has coached in his career.
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
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