Davis, Praytor Lead Strong Bobcat Fight as MSU Falls to No. 23 BYU, 86-71

Thursday, November 12

Provo, Utah

7 p.m.

Montana State University

1-2,0-0Big Sky

#23 BYU

4-0,0-0Big 12

Team	1	2	F
Montana St.	29	42	71
BYU	43	43	86

Box Score (PDF)

Photo by: BYU Athletics

11/12/2026 10:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

MSU holds BYU 14 points below its season average in Provo on Thursday

By: Pershelle Rohrer

PROVO, Utah – Jeremiah Davis and London Praytor tallied 14 points apiece, and the Montana State defense held No. 23 BYU 14 points below its season average at the Marriott Center, but the Bobcats were unable to overcome a sharp-shooting Cougar offense in an 86-71 loss in Provo, Utah, on Thursday.

Montana State held the Cougars, who entered Thursday's contest averaging 100 points per game, to a season-low 84 points on their home court. Christian King (12 points) joined Davis and Praytor in scoring in double figures as the Bobcats and Cougars faced off for the first time in 39 years.

"I thought our guys gave some great bump to BYU today," Montana State head coach Matt Logie said. "When you play teams that have their sights on top-three or top-four seeds in the NCAA Tournament, you have to be pretty tight and clean, and when you get open shots, you've got to knock them down. I thought the first-half execution was really strong. We just didn't see the ball go in enough to hang with their scoring ability. Rob Wright is just a tremendous player. He puts so much pressure on the rim, on transition defense, and ball screen defense. Ultimately, this is a game we'll draw a lot from and learn a lot from, but proud of our guys' effort and resiliency. This is as tough a place to play as you're going to find in the country, so onward and upward from here."

Montana State hung tight with BYU early, with Davis powering the Bobcats' early scoring with five points in the first five minutes as Montana State trailed, 11-9, with 15:00 on the clock. BYU then found its groove, going on a 10-2 run over the next five minutes to push their lead to 21-11 by the 10:16 mark in the first half. A Jed Miller four-point play broke up the Cougars' run, but BYU responded by pushing its lead to 17 points, its largest of the half, to go up 34-17 with 4:12 remaining in the opening frame. King tallied five-straight points to trim the deficit to 12 points, 34-22, with 3:16 remaining, and Montana State held steady for the remainder of the half, trailing by a 43-29 margin at halftime.

The Bobcats and Cougars played an evenly matched second half, with BYU outscoring Montana State, 43-42, in the final 20 minutes. Montana State and BYU traded buckets for the first four minutes of the second half before the Cougars used a 7-0 run to push their lead to 19 points, 60-41, with 15:23 left in regulation. That lead grew to 20 as BYU took a 63-43 advantage with 15:09 to go before Montana State chipped away at the Cougars' lead to cut the deficit to 68-54 thanks to a Praytor three with 10:07 remaining. The score ballooned back and forth throughout the second half, with BYU using a 9-2 run to push their lead to 21 points, 81-60, with 4:43 on the clock before Praytor tallied five-straight points to bring the Cats back within 16 points, 81-65, at the 3:24 mark. The Cougars went on one more five-point scoring run before the Bobcats tallied the final six points of the game, ultimately falling by an 86-71 margin.

Montana State was outshot by an efficient BYU squad, 58.2% to 43.5%, from the field and 40.9% to 29.4% from three-point range on Thursday. The Bobcats won the assist battle, 16-15, and tallied 31 points off the bench to BYU's 17. BYU was dominant in the paint (46-24) and in fast-break scoring (28-4) in Thursday's contest as the Cougars moved to 4-0 and the Bobcats fell to 1-2.

Davis was Montana State's leading scorer for the third-straight game to open the season, with Praytor matching Davis' mark with a season-high 14 points. Both players shot 5-of-7 from the field and added two rebounds, while Davis posted one assist and one steal and Praytor recorded one block. King tallied 12 points (5-of-11 FG), four rebounds, four assists, and one steal in a strong all-around effort, while Miller and Darnez Slater shared the team lead in rebounds (5). Cavin Holden led Montana State in assists with six, and Howie Keene posted a team-high two steals and one block to go with his six points.

The Bobcats return home on Sunday, Nov. 15, to take on Cal Poly in Worthington Arena at 4 p.m. MT on ESPN+.

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