Sunday, November 13
Long Beach, CA
5 p.m.
Montana State University
at
Long Beach State
Darius Brown II
Photo by: Kyle Cajero
Bobcats Begin West Coast Trip at Long Beach State
11/12/2022 6:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State’s men’s basketball season continues with a west coast swing against Long Beach State and Oregon this Sunday and Tuesday.
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Continuing its challenging non-conference schedule, the Montana State men's basketball team will travel to the West Coast for a two-game road trip that starts with a game at Long Beach State on Sunday.
The Bobcats (0-1) first travel to face Long Beach State (1-1) on Sunday at 5 p.m MT before heading to Eugene, Ore. to face the No. 21 Oregon Ducks (1-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT. Sunday's game will be livestreamed on ESPN+ and Tuesday's game will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Network.
Sunday's trip to The Walter Pyramid will be a Big West reunion of sorts for the Bobcats. Last season, Darius Brown II and Caleb Fuller attended fellow Big Sky schools in CSUN and UC Davis, respectively, and both Bobcats have a combined 12 games against Long Beach State under their belts. Additionally, Sprinkle has 17 years of experience coaching against LBSU in the Big West, most recently as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton from 2013-19.
"Long Beach State is a tremendous team," Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle said. "Not many coaches do a better job than what Dan Monson does on the West Coast. Long Beach State was a great team in the Big West last season, and they even have a chance to be even better this season."
Montana State's next two games will wrap up a three-game road trip in its challenging non-conference schedule. After facing Grand Canyon — the preseason pick to win the Western Athletic Conference — on Monday, the Bobcats will have face off against another talented mid-major opponent in Long Beach State.
Returning three of its six leading scorers from last year's Big West regular-season title team, the Beach are led by Preseason All-Big West selection Joel Murray, sophomore Jadon Jones and Saint Louis transfer Lassina Traore, who nearly averages a double-double with 13.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Head coach Dan Monson's squad plays at the 13th-fastest pace in the nation, per statistician Ken Pomeroy, which will be a stark difference from Grand Canyon's slow, deliberate offense.
"They're long, athletic and they fly up and down the court," Sprinkle said. "Long Beach State makes it hard to score on them. They have one of the best guards on the West Coast in Joel Murray, but they've also surrounded him with shooters and athletic post players. The game will have a completely different style of play than the Grand Canyon game, so we're going to have to have great awareness and urgency on defense to offset their athleticism."
MSU is coming off a tough 60-54 road loss at the hands of the Lopes on Monday, Nov. 7, in which the Bobcats led by as many as 19 points in the second half.
Despite the result, the Bobcats flashed promise on both ends. In the first half, MSU's defense held GCU without a field goal for 8 minutes and 2 seconds thanks to a bevy of blocks, deflections and two shot clock violations forced against GCU.
"I thought we did a great job guarding them in the first half, but I think our guards have to do a better job guarding the basketball," Sprinkle said. "If not, then it's going to be not only a long night for us on Sunday, but also a long season for us."
"I think our post players like Jubrile Belo, Great Osobor, Sam Lecholat and Caleb Fuller did a great job on ball-screen defense and boxing their guys out," Sprinkle added. "Grand Canyon was a big and strong team, yet I thought our guys did a great job."
Meanwhile on offense, reserves like Great Osobor — who came off the bench to lead MSU with 11 points — Patrick McMahon and Caleb Fuller contributed with key baskets off the bench that helped spark the team's 15-0 first-half run. All 10 Bobcats who logged minutes against the Lopes scored, giving MSU the blueprint for a balanced offensive attack once it starts taking advantage of its open looks.
"I thought we did a nice job on offense — there were probably only three or four bad shots we took all night against Grand Canyon," Sprinkle said. "But Grand Canyon made us pay on all of those. Even in the second half, we had great shots at the rim that our post players are going to make. Tyler Patterson, RaeQuan Battle and Patrick McMahon got great looks at the rim, yet it was one of those nights where there seemed to be a lid on the basket. We got the looks we wanted to get, but the shots didn't fall."
Following Sunday's game at Long Beach State, the Bobcats head north to play at No. 21 Oregon. Should the Ducks be ranked in the next AP Poll, they will be the first nationally ranked opponent Montana State has played during the regular season since facing No. 17 Utah State in 2019-20. Tuesday's matchup will also be the first time Montana State has played Oregon in over a decade; the teams last met on Nov. 28, 2009 in Eugene. Montana State is 2-5 all-time against the Ducks.
From here, the Bobcats host Warner Pacific as part of a doubleheader with the Montana State women's basketball team on Friday, Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m. Both teams' championship banners from last year's Big Sky titles will be unveiled during the doubleheader. Tickets to that game are $5 with a canned food donation to help Can the Griz.
Single-game and season tickets for all home games can be found at msubobcats.com/tickets.
The Bobcats (0-1) first travel to face Long Beach State (1-1) on Sunday at 5 p.m MT before heading to Eugene, Ore. to face the No. 21 Oregon Ducks (1-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT. Sunday's game will be livestreamed on ESPN+ and Tuesday's game will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Network.
Sunday's trip to The Walter Pyramid will be a Big West reunion of sorts for the Bobcats. Last season, Darius Brown II and Caleb Fuller attended fellow Big Sky schools in CSUN and UC Davis, respectively, and both Bobcats have a combined 12 games against Long Beach State under their belts. Additionally, Sprinkle has 17 years of experience coaching against LBSU in the Big West, most recently as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton from 2013-19.
"Long Beach State is a tremendous team," Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle said. "Not many coaches do a better job than what Dan Monson does on the West Coast. Long Beach State was a great team in the Big West last season, and they even have a chance to be even better this season."
Montana State's next two games will wrap up a three-game road trip in its challenging non-conference schedule. After facing Grand Canyon — the preseason pick to win the Western Athletic Conference — on Monday, the Bobcats will have face off against another talented mid-major opponent in Long Beach State.
Returning three of its six leading scorers from last year's Big West regular-season title team, the Beach are led by Preseason All-Big West selection Joel Murray, sophomore Jadon Jones and Saint Louis transfer Lassina Traore, who nearly averages a double-double with 13.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Head coach Dan Monson's squad plays at the 13th-fastest pace in the nation, per statistician Ken Pomeroy, which will be a stark difference from Grand Canyon's slow, deliberate offense.
"They're long, athletic and they fly up and down the court," Sprinkle said. "Long Beach State makes it hard to score on them. They have one of the best guards on the West Coast in Joel Murray, but they've also surrounded him with shooters and athletic post players. The game will have a completely different style of play than the Grand Canyon game, so we're going to have to have great awareness and urgency on defense to offset their athleticism."
MSU is coming off a tough 60-54 road loss at the hands of the Lopes on Monday, Nov. 7, in which the Bobcats led by as many as 19 points in the second half.
Despite the result, the Bobcats flashed promise on both ends. In the first half, MSU's defense held GCU without a field goal for 8 minutes and 2 seconds thanks to a bevy of blocks, deflections and two shot clock violations forced against GCU.
"I thought we did a great job guarding them in the first half, but I think our guards have to do a better job guarding the basketball," Sprinkle said. "If not, then it's going to be not only a long night for us on Sunday, but also a long season for us."
"I think our post players like Jubrile Belo, Great Osobor, Sam Lecholat and Caleb Fuller did a great job on ball-screen defense and boxing their guys out," Sprinkle added. "Grand Canyon was a big and strong team, yet I thought our guys did a great job."
Meanwhile on offense, reserves like Great Osobor — who came off the bench to lead MSU with 11 points — Patrick McMahon and Caleb Fuller contributed with key baskets off the bench that helped spark the team's 15-0 first-half run. All 10 Bobcats who logged minutes against the Lopes scored, giving MSU the blueprint for a balanced offensive attack once it starts taking advantage of its open looks.
"I thought we did a nice job on offense — there were probably only three or four bad shots we took all night against Grand Canyon," Sprinkle said. "But Grand Canyon made us pay on all of those. Even in the second half, we had great shots at the rim that our post players are going to make. Tyler Patterson, RaeQuan Battle and Patrick McMahon got great looks at the rim, yet it was one of those nights where there seemed to be a lid on the basket. We got the looks we wanted to get, but the shots didn't fall."
Following Sunday's game at Long Beach State, the Bobcats head north to play at No. 21 Oregon. Should the Ducks be ranked in the next AP Poll, they will be the first nationally ranked opponent Montana State has played during the regular season since facing No. 17 Utah State in 2019-20. Tuesday's matchup will also be the first time Montana State has played Oregon in over a decade; the teams last met on Nov. 28, 2009 in Eugene. Montana State is 2-5 all-time against the Ducks.
From here, the Bobcats host Warner Pacific as part of a doubleheader with the Montana State women's basketball team on Friday, Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m. Both teams' championship banners from last year's Big Sky titles will be unveiled during the doubleheader. Tickets to that game are $5 with a canned food donation to help Can the Griz.
Single-game and season tickets for all home games can be found at msubobcats.com/tickets.
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