Bobcats Drop Season Opener to Colorado State, 84-74, in Fort Collins

Monday, November 2

Fort Collins, Colo.

8 p.m.

Montana State University

0-1,0-0Big Sky

Colorado State

1-0,0-0Pac-12

Team	1	2	F
Montana St.	38	36	74
Colorado St.	44	40	84

Box Score (PDF)

Photo by: Noah Syverson

11/2/2026 11:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Three Bobcats post double-digit scoring efforts in scrap with Rams

By: Pershelle Rohrer

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A trio of Bobcats led a balanced scoring effort for the Montana State men's basketball team at Colorado State on Monday night, but the Cats ultimately came up short to the Rams, 84-74, to open the 2026-27 season in Fort Collins, Colo.

Fifth year Jeremiah Davis led the Bobcats with 17 points, five rebounds, and four steals; sophomore Howie Keene posted a career-high 15 points; and senior Christian King contributed 13 points and seven rebounds as seven of Montana State's nine active Bobcats tallied six or more points against the Rams. The Cats' undersized lineup fought toe-to-toe with the Rams in a game that featured three ties and four lead changes as three Bobcats made their first appearances in Blue and Gold.

"We learned a lot today," Montana State head coach Matt Logie said. "Obviously, Colorado State's a very good program. In our matchup today, they had a lot more size, and that played out with points in the paint, but our scrap, our fight, our bounce-back, I'm really proud of, and we learned a lot about our group in that way. To absorb a 9-0 run to start the game and just stay steady and chip away, to be able to take the lead in the second half multiple times, there's going to be certainly many lessons that we can pull from this. But their togetherness, their fight, especially given the circumstances that we had size-wise, very proud of our effort. I think it's only up from here. This is a group that I think has a really high ceiling when we get everybody healthy and on the same page and playing well at the same time. We had a lot of guys do good things at different times today. It's a marathon, not a sprint, so it's only up from here."

The Bobcats overcame a sluggish start after the Rams scored the first nine points of the game and extended their advantage to 19-8 at the 13:50 mark in the first half. The Bobcats and Rams traded buckets over the next three minutes before Montana State began to chip away at Colorado State's lead. The Bobcats held the Rams without a field goal for nearly six and a half minutes, with five Bobcats combining to outscore the Rams, 16-7, during that stretch to cut the deficit to one point, 29-28, with 6:01 to play in the half. Davis tallied the final five points of that run, while Keene chipped in four to help the Bobcats close the first-half gap.

The Rams used a four-point run to push their lead back to five points, 36-31, with 2:52 remaining, and the Bobcats and Rams traded buckets for the remainder of the half as Montana State entered halftime trailing by six, 44-38. Montana State countered Colorado State's 56.0% clip from the field with eight made threes in the first half, shooting 44.4% from deep and 42.9% from the floor. The Bobcats scored 13 points off 10 Colorado State turnovers in the opening 20 minutes while only giving up four such points to the Rams. Keene (10), King (9), and Davis (8) combined for 27 of the Bobcats' 38 points in the first half to power the Bobcats' offense.

Montana State opened the second half on a game-best 6-0 run to tie the contest at 44 points apiece with 17:47 left on the clock. The run featured a Cavin Holden layup, a pair of free-throws by Jaden Steppe, and a layup by Darnez Slater to bring the Bobcats even with the Rams for the first time since the opening tip. Colorado State countered with a pair of layups before Montana State posted the next five points to take its first lead of the game, 49-48, at the 15:47 mark after a Davis three-pointer and two more free-throws from Steppe. The Bobcats and Rams continued the yo-yo scoring over the next minute, with Colorado State's Corey Booth posting a dunk on the next possession and Keene countering with a three-pointer to put the Cats up by two, 52-50, at the 14:58 mark. However, a 7-0 run by the Rams put Colorado State back up for good as the Rams retook the advantage, 57-52, with just over 13 minutes to go.

Montana State kept itself in the game with strong defensive play, forcing 15 turnovers in the first 30 minutes of play and tallying 21 points off turnovers in the contest to the Rams' 18, but the Rams committed just one turnover in the final 10 minutes and countered any Montana State buckets with short runs to slowly increase their lead to 11 points, 77-66, with 2:58 to play. Steppe and Holden combined for six-straight Bobcat points over the next minute to trim the Rams' lead to 77-72 with 2:06 to go, but that was all the closer Montana State would come as Colorado State tallied five of the last seven points of the game to seal an 84-74 victory.

Montana State shot 40.3% from the field to Colorado State's 53.7%, but the Bobcats used three-point volume to keep things close with the Rams. The Cats made 12 of 34 shots from three-point range (35.3%), while Colorado State shot 7-of-19 from deep (36.8%). The taller Colorado State squad dominated the boards, 39-27, and outscored Montana State, 44-16, in the paint, while the Bobcats held the advantage in steals (12-7), second-chance points (10-4), and turnovers forced (16-11).

Davis opened his season with a balanced performance in Fort Collins, leading the Bobcats in scoring with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-6 from deep, while collecting five rebounds and a career-high four steals. Keene added a career-high 15 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and knocking down four threes, while tallying four rebounds, one assist, and two steals. King posted 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Holden led the team in assists (4) to go with his seven points. Steppe (9 points), Isaiah Crane (7), and Darnez Slater (6) also scored points for the Cats on Monday night, with Crane and Slater joining freshman Hale Hansen (2 rebounds) in making their Bobcat debuts in Fort Collins. Senior Seth Amunrud grabbed three offensive rebounds and made one steal as all nine Bobcats who touched the floor accumulated stats against the Rams.

The Bobcats return to Bozeman for their home opener on Saturday, Nov. 7, against Long Beach State at 1 p.m. (ESPN+).

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