Bobcats Nip Weber State to Open Big Sky Play

Wednesday, December 29

7:05 PM

Montana State University

Weber State

Bobby Howard's double-double led MSU to a win over Weber State Wednesday.

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

12/29/2010 10:39:25 PM | Men's Basketball

Bobby Howard's double-double, Cody Anderson's career highs lead way

By: Bill Lamberty

A nearly-clean 39 minutes nearly turned into a mess for Montana State on Wednesday night, but the Bobcats held on for a Big Sky-opening 75-72 win over Weber State in Bozeman.

MSU-Weber State box score

After hitting the one-minute mark with just five turnovers, the Bobcats turned the ball over twice in the last minute, and Weber State cut an eight-point Bobcat cushion with 64 seconds remaining down to two with 10 seconds left. But, after Rod Singleton made one of two free throws to give MSU a 75-72 advantage, Scott Bamforth missed a contested three-pointer and MSU sealed a win.

“We obviously didn't execute great in the last 30 seconds, we made some mistakes,” said MSU coach Brad Huse. “But that's how we're going to get better. This was a good experience for us.”

Montana State matched a season low with the seven turnovers, and neither team reached peak efficiency on offense. The Wildcats shot 42.9% from the floor after a 40% second half, while MSU bounced back from shooting 39% in the first half to shoot 45% after the intermission.

The biggest lead of the first half was six points, snagged by Weber on Trevor Morris' jumper with 8:55 to play before halftime. The answered with a 9-2 run, and only Kyle Bullinger's three-pointer as the half ended catapulted the Wildcats to a 34-33 lead at the half.

Weber State jumped out to a six-point lead after halftime on Hughey's layup, but the Bobcats answered again. Shawn Reid's three-pointer at 14:06 gave MSU a 46-42 lead. MSU built the lead to 10 points, 67-57, at 4:35, and the Bobcat lead stood at nine with 1:43 to play.

But Trevor Morris hit two free throws to cut the lead to 71-64, and after a Bobby Howard charity shot Hughey hit a three to cut the lead to five. A pair of free throws jumped the Bobcat lead to 74-67, but Weber State scored five straight on a conventional three-point play by Hughey and a pair of Kyle Bullinger free throws. Singleton then converted one of his two free throws before Bamforth's miss.

Erik Rush led the Bobcats with 16 points, but Cody Anderson's career highs of 15 points and eight rebounds propelled MSU to the win. Four Bobcats finished in double digits, and Bobby Howard grabbed 13 rebounds, one short of a career high. Howard's 14 points gave him a double-double, and he also dished out a pair of assists and added two steals.

MSU snapped a three-game Weber State winning streak in Bozeman and a string of five losses in its last six 2010-11 games. Weber State falls to 6-6 overall. The Bobcats host Northern Arizona on Friday at 4:05 pm.