Bobcats Fall in 75-73 Heartbreaker to Denver

Sunday, November 9

Bozeman, Mont.

1 p.m.

Montana State University

1-2,0-0Big Sky

Denver

1-2,0-0Summit League

Denver

Montana St.

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

11/9/2025 5:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Brown, Miller pace Montana State with 16 points each on Sunday

By: Pershelle Rohrer

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Davian Brown and Jed Miller tallied 16 points apiece for the Montana State men's basketball team on Sunday, but the Bobcats came up just short in a 75-73 loss to Denver to cap off the opening week of the 2025-26 season.

The Bobcats (1-2) and Pioneers (1-2) were tied at 73 points down the stretch, but a floater by Denver's Carson Johnson with 1.8 seconds remaining became the deciding basket that lifted the Pioneers to their first win of the season. Four Bobcats scored in double figures for the third-straight game to open the year, with Patrick McMahon (11) and Christian King (10) adding to Brown and Miller's 16 points each. Montana State also tallied 30 bench points to Denver's nine in a tight battle in Bozeman.

"I thought our bench was good tonight," Montana State head coach Matt Logie said. "Jaden Steppe had a real positive plus-minus. He was good today. Davian gave us good minutes. Jeremiah gave us really good minutes. We just couldn't find a group that could get enough stops together. That streak in the first half [Montana State's 17-0 run], we had two kills and three stops in a row during that stretch, and we just weren't able to get enough of those in the second half."

Sunday's contest began as a game of runs, with Denver making four of its first six shots out of the gate to take an early 9-5 lead. The Bobcats scored the next four points to tie the game at nine each before Denver scored eight of the next 12 points to regain the lead, 17-13, with 12:03 remaining in the first half. The Bobcats then went on a 17-0 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes, capped off by a Patrick McMahon fast-break layup at the 6:29 mark, to take their largest lead of the game, 30-17. The run featured baskets by six different players as the Bobcats shot 6-of-7 from the field and forced three Denver turnovers.

From that point, Denver got back in the game with a 12-2 run of its own to cut Montana State's lead to three points, 32-29, with 4:15 left in the half. All of the Pioneers' points in that run came off the hot hand of Jeremiah Burke, who tallied 19 of his team-high 23 points in the opening 20 minutes. Montana State maintained a three-point lead for the remainder of the half until the Pioneers hit a buzzer-beater to tie the game at 38 heading into the break. Denver shot 16-of-28 (57.1%) from the field in the first half to Montana State's 17-of-37 (45.9%) while Montana State contributed 19 bench points to go with seven steals and just two turnovers. Brown ended the first half with 11 points, Miller added eight, and McMahon contributed six.

Both teams came out of halftime firing on all cylinders in a back-and-forth second half, with Montana State shooting 50% from the floor in the first seven minutes of the half and Denver making six-straight baskets after missing its opening bucket in the same time frame. With the game tied at 50 with 12:52 to play, Waka Mbatch knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Bobcats a lead that they would hold until the closing minutes of the game.

Montana State's lead grew to as much as five late in the second half as Christian King knocked down a three to give the Cats a 69-64 lead with 4:43 left in regulation before Denver went on a 9-2 run over the next 3:10 to take its first lead of the half, 73-71, with 1:33 to play. Cavin Holden knotted the score at 73 apiece with a pair of free throws, but Johnson's bucket with just under two seconds remaining sealed the win for the Pioneers in Worthington Arena, 75-73.

The Bobcats shot 49.1% from the field in Sunday's contest but were limited to just 28.6% (8-of-28) from three by the Pioneers, who posted a 58.2% clip from the floor. The Cats forced 14 turnovers while committing just eight and tallied 11 steals to Denver's three.

Brown led the Bobcats in scoring for the second-straight game with his 16-point effort off the bench, making 7-of-12 shots, while Miller matched Brown's points total on an impressive 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from deep. The senior also added a team-high five rebounds and four steals.

Montana State opens its five-game road trip on Wednesday, Nov. 12, when it travels to California to face Stanford at Maples Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. MT, and the game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).

Follow the Bobcats
For the latest news, updates, and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Montana State men's basketball team, follow the Bobcats on Twitter and Instagram at @MSUBobcatsMBB and on Facebook at Montana State Men's Basketball. Information on the Montana State athletic program can be found online at msubobcats.com or by following the Bobcats on Twitter at @MSUBobcats, Instagram at @MontanaStateBobcats, and on Facebook at Montana State Bobcats.