When Thursday dawned, Montana State and Northern Colorado stood on solid ground as the second half of the Big Sky season loomed. One day later, the competitors in Sunday afternoon’s Altitude Big Sky Game of the Week each retained a share of second place, but barely. Northern Arizona coasted past the Bobcats in Flagstaff on Thursday, while Montana dealt Northern Colorado its first home loss of the season, creating a mad scramble behind 7-1 Weber State in the Big Sky standings. Thursday’s early going ruined Montana State’s chances, as the Bobcats shot 15% in the first half, while the Bears lost a six-point lead in the late minutes before falling to the Grizzlies. Sunday’s contest tips off at 2:05 pm in Greeley’s Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion and airs on Altitude Sports and Entertainment.
NEXT UP...
Montana State at Northern Colorado
DATE January 31, 2010
TIPOFF 2:05 pm MT
SITE Greeley, CO
ARENA Butler-Hancock Pavilion
RADIO Bobcat Network (Jeff Lasky)
TV Altitude (Blake Olson, Mark Randall)
LAST TIME MSU 87-63, 12/4/09 in Bozeman
MISCELLANY...
l Sophomore center Michel Swita has opted to leave the Bobcat program, and plans to transfer after the semester
l Montana State is 4-0 when out-rebounding Big Sky opponents
l MSU owns two Big Sky road wins and four wins away from home overall in 2009-10
SERIES NOTES...
l MSU’s December win snapped a three-game skein against NC
l Montana State dropped a 77-50 decision at Northern Colorado last season, snapping a five-game Bobcat winning streak in Greeley that dated to 1955 when the teams were Rocky Mountain Conference rivals
ON THE OFFENSE...
l Montana State has turned the ball over only 13 times in the last two games after committing 31 in the previous two, and the team’s average of 11.8 per game is 31st in Division I
l The Bobcats have committed fewer than 10 turnovers in five of their last six league games
l Since shooting 77% from the line at Sacramento State, MSU’s free throw percentage has decreased each time out to Thursday’s 50% effort
ON THE DEFENSE...
l In Big Sky games, MSU is second in the league in field goal, three-point and scoring defense
l The Bobcats hold opponents to 31% from the arc in MSU road games