Bobcats Fall to Utah State, 84-81, in Overtime Thriller in Logan

Saturday, November 29

Logan, Utah

2 p.m.

Montana State University

3-5,0-0Big Sky

Utah State

7-0,0-0Mountain West

OT 1

Montana St.

Utah St.

Photo by: Logan Randleas/Utah State Athletics

Bobcats Fall to Utah State, 84-81, in Overtime Thriller in Logan

11/29/2025 5:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Patrick McMahon scores career-high 26 points in tight battle with Aggies

By: Pershelle Rohrer

LOGAN, Utah – Patrick McMahon poured in a career-high 26 points and Davian Brown added 18, but the Bobcats came up just short in a tight overtime battle with (RV) Utah State, 84-81, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah, on Saturday.

The Bobcats (3-5) trailed by just one, 82-81, with three seconds remaining in overtime, but a pair of Kolby King free throws sealed the game for the Aggies (7-0), 84-81, as Montana State looked to spoil the Aggies' undefeated season. McMahon, Brown, Cavin Holden, and Jed Miller all scored in double figures as the Bobcats played the Aggies to their closest contest of the season.

"What stands out to me is the fight that our kids have, the quality of the team that we're building," head coach Matt Logie said. "[Utah State's] a top 25 team and program in the country with a top 10 atmosphere in the country, and we got nothing in our heads about today. Our guys came in here with an attack mentality. We knew that we're going to have to shoot our shot and be aggressive, and some of those things didn't fall, but we also knew there were other margins we could win – taking care of the basketball, getting second possessions on offensive rebounds – and we did all those things. I just encourage everybody back in Bozeman, please be there on Wednesday when we have St. Thomas at home. This is a team that is scrapping and clawing and climbing its way to the space that we expect this program to be in. We need everybody in the Brick on Wednesday night. This team deserves it, and that was a hell of a battle against a great team."

The Aggies jumped out to a 7-2 lead to open the contest before the Bobcats responded with a 10-0 run to force a Utah State timeout at the 12:57 mark in the first half. McMahon scored the first 10 Bobcat points of the game before Brown made a layup to force the USU timeout. The momentum then swung Utah State's way as they took a 23-16 lead at the 8:55 mark before Montana State slowly battled back as the first half came to a close. The Bobcats closed the half on an 8-3 run, capped off by Brown draining a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining as Montana State cut Utah State's lead to two points, 36-34, at halftime. MSU held USU scoreless in the final 2:41 of the half to put itself back in contention at the break. The Bobcats outrebounded the Aggies, 24-15, in the opening 20 minutes and tallied 10 second-chance points as McMahon tallied 15 points and Brown added eight in the frame.

The Aggies scored the first six points of the second half to extend their lead to 40-34 just over one minute into the frame, and the Bobcats looked to battle back as they traded buckets with Utah State in the half's opening minutes. The Bobcats trailed by as much as eight, 48-40, with 14:03 left in regulation before chipping away at Utah State's lead over the next four minutes, bringing the score to 53-50 on a Waka Mbatch layup at the 10:43 mark. Both teams went on a cold spell for the next three minutes before the Bobcats came back to tie the game at 55 apiece thanks to a McMahon layup with 6:58 to play. Utah State scored the next four points before Miller made a transition three following a Chris Hodges block to pull within one, 59-58. Utah State extended its lead back to six points with two minutes remaining, but five-straight points from McMahon and a go-ahead three by Holden gave Montana State the 69-67 advantage with 53 seconds to go. Utah State's MJ Collins made a pair of free throws with 40 seconds to play, tying the game at 69 apiece to force overtime in Logan.

Brown sunk the first bucket in overtime with 3:59 remaining to put the Bobcats up two, 71-69, and Collins responded with a three on the other end to put the Aggies back out in front. Brown then made a layup to give Montana State a one-point lead before Utah State scored the next six points to take a 78-73 advantage with 33 seconds remaining. Miller became the hot hand in the closing seconds, knocking down a pair of threes to help the Bobcats pull within one with six seconds remaining, but the Aggies won the free-throw battle in the final possessions to close out an 84-81 victory.

The Bobcats shot 31.9% from the field to the Aggies' 46.8% in the contest but won the rebounding battle 43-37, including 14-9 on the offensive glass. Montana State tallied five blocks to Utah State's three, three of which came from Hodges.

McMahon led Montana State with a career-high 26 points while adding eight rebounds, three assists, and one steal, all team highs. Brown tallied 18 points to go with six rebounds while Miller and Holden added 13 apiece. Miller also totaled seven rebounds while Holden posted five.

Montana State returns to Bozeman to take on St. Thomas in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 3. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Worthington Arena, with the game set to air live on ESPN+.

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