Erik Rush averages 16.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in his last three games against Portland State
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcats Host Big Sky Tourney First Round Game Against Portland State
3/4/2010 8:33:47 AM | Men's Basketball
MSU battles Portland State in Big Sky Tourney play for third time in four years
As March arrives on the college basketball landscape with a win-or-pack-the-sneakers-for-the-summer mandate for most of Division I, so, too, does suddenly-hot Portland State. In a rematch of last year's Big Sky Championship game, won in the last moments by PSU, the Vikings invade Worthington Arena Saturday night on the wings of a two-game conference win streak which includes a victory over Big Sky Champ Weber State. The high-flying Vikings scored 80.7 points to lead the Big Sky, and Dominic Waters leads PSU and the conference with 20.9 points per conference contest. He averages 28.5 points over his last four conference games. MSU continues to rely on a balanced approach. Will Bynum stepped to the front with 22 points at Montana on Saturday, but each Bobcat in the regular eight-man rotation provides steady production.
MSU vs. Portland State Game Notes
MSU vs. Portland State Game Notes
NEXT UP...
Montana State vs. Portland State
DATE March 6, 2010
TIPOFF 7:05 pm
SITE Bozeman, MT
ARENA Worthington Arena
RADIO Bobcat Network (Jeff Lasky)
TV BigSkyTV.org
LAST TIME MSU 79-71, 2/13/10 at PSU
MISCELLANY...
*
Montana State's 10 league wins is the program's most since 2002* The Cats have clinched a spot in their sixth straight Big Sky Tourney, hosting a first round game for the first time since 2006
SERIES NOTES...
* Montana State swept the Vikings in the regular season series for the first time since 2004, but PSU has still won five of its last eight agaisnt the Cats
* Portland State is 2-0 against the Bobcats in the Big Sky Tourney, including last year's championship game win
ON THE OFFENSE...
* MSU turned the ball over 14.0 times in two games against Sac State but just 9.3 per game vs. the rest of the Big Sky
* MSU is 2-2 in Big Sky games when committing 14 or more turnovers, 8-4 when committing less than 14
* The Bobcats shot 52% at Portland State and 53.5% against Sac State in back-to-back Big Sky games (Feb. 13/18), but shot below 50% in the team's other 14 conference contests
* MSU's 11.6 turnovers per game is 30th in Division I
* The Bobcats lead the Big Sky in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.1)
ON THE DEFENSE...
* MSU is second in the Big Sky in FG (.428) and three-point (.344) defense
* Will Bynum leads the Big Sky and is 30th in DI with 2.1 steals per game
Big-Shot Bobby
Bobby Howard has established himself as Montana State's go-to guy. Howard averages 15.2 points (9th) and 6.5 rebounds (4th) in league play, and in his last seven games has scored 121 points with 50 rebounds. Howard joins Portland State's Jamie Jones as the only Big Sky players in the top 10 in points and rebounds, and Howard enters weekend play 57th in Division I and eighth in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.517).
Swat Stuff
Saturday's win at Montana marked the first game this season in which Montana State failed to block a shot. MSU slipped to sixth in the league in blocks (2.9). The Bobcats blocked 18 shots (nine each) in two games each against Eastern Washington and NAU this season, but swatted just 24 in the team's other 12 games.
Three After Three
MSU has hit at least one three-pointer in its last 457 games. From 1986 to late '92-93 MSU rolled up a 197-game streak and has a three in 654 of the last 655.
Halfway There
Whatever defensive advice Brad Huse offers his team at halftime this season 2009-10 season seems to help. Montana State's defense has taken a marked upturn in the second half.
Shooting Pctg
1st Half 311-672 .464
2nd Half 300-721 .414
More on Halvesies
As good as MSU's second half defense has been, opponent shooting after halftime has improved in recent games. After holding opponents under 40% shooting for most of the season, Bobcat foes shoot 47.8% (99-207) in the last eight games.
Telling the Turnover Tale
Montana State is 2-7 in 2009-10 when turning the ball over more than 12 times.
Defense, Dot-Dot-Dot
MSU defended Big Sky foes with a high degree of proficiency this season:
Category Rank MSU (Leader)
Scoring Defense 2nd 66.8 (63.5)
FG Percentage D 1st .427 (---)
3FG Percentage D 1st .352 (---)
Marquee Marquis
Marquis Navarre is one of the league's most improved players this season.
PPG/BSC FG%/BSC 3FG%/BSC A-TO
'10 11.4/16th .489/12th .443/3rd 1.59
'09 5.4/NR .379/NR .279/NR 1.45
Tourney Trivia
MSU enters its sixth straight conference tourney in 2010, the Bobcats' sixth straight appearance... the six straight tourneys is the school's second-longest string, after Mick Durham's 10-year run from 1993-2002... last season's win over Montana snapped a 10-year Big Sky Tourney dry spell for the Bobcats... Saturday's game marks the third time in Brad Huse's four seasons that the Bobcats have faced Portland State in the Big Sky Tourney.
Cat-Griz Quips
Since 1971, when the Big Sky adopted its current home-and-home regular season format, the Cats have swept Montana in the teams' regular season series only seven times - 2010, '05, '02, 1999, '87, '86 and '73. In 1986 MSU beat the Grizzlies in the Big Sky Tournament to post a 3-0 mark against UM, while Montana avenged its two regular season losses in 2002 and '05.
In Triplicate
The Bobcats' last three-game winning streak against Montana came when MSU beat Montana in the 1998 Big Sky Tourney in Flagstaff, followed by a 1999 regular season sweep. MSU's long win streaks vs. UM in the Big Sky era follow...
3 2009-10
3 1998-88
4 1986-87
8 1967-69
7 1963-65
BIG SKY TOURNEY NOTEBOOK
* After ending the program's long conference tournament losing streak a year ago, MSU now looks to snap a two-game home skein in conference tourney play
* Branden Johnson has played in five BSC tourney games, three short of the school record
* Will Bynum registered four steals in MSU's three-game tournament run a year ago
* Marquis Navarre was 8-for-12 from the floor during last year's tournament, including a 4-for-6 effort beyond the arc
Bobcat Insider TV Show
Thursday, March 03
Inside The Brick (Amin Adamu)
Friday, November 05
Inside The Brick (Nick Gazelas)
Monday, November 01
Inside The Brick (Abdul Mohamed)
Sunday, October 31
