Montana State University
4-5,0-0Big Sky
SAGU American Indian College
0-3
Cats Race Past Warriors, 106-81
12/16/2023 9:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Goracke drops 29, Ford adds 24 as Montana State coasts to holiday home win on Saturday
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- The Montana State men's basketball team knocked off some early rust from a ten-day break and cruised to a 106-81 win over SAGU American Indian College on Saturday night at Worthington Arena.
Montana State (4-5) never trailed in the contest and put up a season-high in points, while nailing 20 three-pointers, their third-most in a game since 2001.
Brian Goracke led the Cats with 29 points, adding four rebounds and three assists. The transfer from Division II Point Loma knocked down five triples and went 10-for-10 at the free throw line. Goracke, a junior from Monroe, Oregon, is now 26-of-27 at the charity stripe this year, and has scored in double figures in seven of nine games.
Robert Ford III turned in another eye-popping stat line, recording 24 points with nine rebounds, four rebounds, and three steals. The redshirt senior was lights out from the floor, shooting 8-of-11 and a career-best 7-of-9 from deep.
During one 54-second stretch starting at the 6:16 mark in the second half, Ford went on an 10-0 run by himself, knocking down three triples and adding a free throw to push the Cat lead from 88-73 to 98-73 with 5:22 left to play.
The Bobcats shot 46.5% from deep, connecting on 20 threes, their third-most in a game since 2001 and their most since hitting 23 last season against Northwest Indian College.
Eddie Turner III had his best night as a Bobcat, scoring 16 points and adding nine assists—both career-highs for the graduate transfer in his first year in Bozeman out of Columbia.
The Cats had not played since falling at Washington on December 5, and took a chunk of the first half to re-acclimate to game action. Ten first-half turnovers helped keep SAGU American Indian College close through the first ten minutes, with the Warriors trailing by just a point at 29-28 with 9:06 to play before the break.
However, MSU found their rhythm as Turner probed his way to the paint and knocked down open outside shots, putting up all 16 of his points in the opening stanza to help give MSU a 56-43 lead going into the locker room.
In the second half, Montana State never felt threatened, spreading the ball around the perimeter as four different Cats knocked down multiple 3-pointers. The Cats finished with 22 assists, their most in a game this season since the opener back on November 6.
Tyler Patterson converted on four of his eight attempts from beyond the arc, finishing with 12 points and three rebounds. Brandon Walker added eight points and Chika Nduka chipped in seven.
The Bobcats shot 20-of-23 from the free throw line (87.0%).
UP NEXT
Montana State will prepare for a big non-conference clash on Tuesday, Dec. 19, welcoming Southern Utah to Worthington Arena. The Thunderbirds finished 24-13 last season, with the Cats securing a thrilling 86-83 road win in Cedar City on a RaeQuan Battle game-winning steal and bucket with 3.6 seconds left.
Tip on Tuesday is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are available here.
#GoCatsGo
