Montana State rode a career night from Marquis Navarre and a staunch second half defense Friday night, knocking Northern Colorado from the ranks of college basketball's unbeaten with an 87-63 win over the Bears in Bozeman.
Navarre scored a career-high 22 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, leading all five Bobcat starters into double-digits in the scoring column. Bobby Howard added 21 points and led all players with nine rebounds, while Erik Rush scored 14 points. Branden Johnson added 11, and Will Bynum 10.
"It was a really good team effort tonight," said Bobcat coach Brad Huse. "It was important that we were able to pull away late, because they can score points in bunches. (Northern Colorado) is a good basketball team, they're off to a great start, and they're going to have a good season. We played well tonight."
Bears guard Will Figures proved a one-man wrecking crew, leading all players with 24 points. He also dished out three assists and recorded a steal.
"He's a great player," Huse said. "He's tough-minded and he makes shots."
The teams opened the game by trading baskets, and stood tied at 13 when Neal Kingman's jumper, two Figures free throws, and a Chris Kaba layup gave Northern Colorado a six-point lead. That proved to be the Bears' biggest lead of the game.
Will Bynum answered with a layup, then Navarre drained a three-pointer and Brown hit three free throws to give MSU a lead it would never relinquish. The Bobcat run reached 11-0, and Northern Colorado's drought 5:53 when Hauns Brereton hit a three-pointer at 7:01.
Northern Colorado cut MSU's lead to two heading into the intermission, but the Bobcats scored the first nine points of the second half to grab control. Bobby Howard and Branden Johnson converted layups, then Johnson nailed a triple and Bynum hit a short jumper to extend MSU's lead to 11. The Bears would get no closer than six.
In addition to getting MSU off to a 1-0 start in Big Sky play, the win avenges a pair of double-digit wins by the Bears against the Bobcats last season. Montana State evens its season record at 3-3 with the win, while Northern Colorado is now 7-1. The game was each team's conference opener.