Montana State University
Washington
Cats Travel to Emerald City for Tuesday Clash With Huskies
12/4/2023 3:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State looks for second Pac-12 win of the season taking on Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Montana State men's basketball will make its second trip to Seattle in three weeks on Tuesday, heading to the Emerald City to face off against the University of Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT. The game will air on Pac-12 Network, with Roxy Bernstein and P.J. Carlesimo on the call. Voice of the Bobcats Keaton Gillogly will have the call on the Bobcat Sports Radio Network.
Montana State (3-4) picked up their first signature win of the Matt Logie era in their first matchup with a Pac-12 school earlier this season, taking down California on the road, 63-60, back on Nov. 16.
The Bobcats are 54-101 all-time against schools currently making up the Pac-12, including 6-8 against Washington. In their last meeting in 2002, Montana State knocked off the Huskies, 56-53, in Seattle.
EMERALD CITY ROOTS
In addition to the return of Mercer Island native Matt Logie, three Bobcat impact players will also have their families in the stands on Tuesday. Graduate transfer Eddie Turner III was a standout at Garfield High School, where he graduated in 2019 after helping them to a state title in 2018 on the way to being named tournament MVP. Junior transfer Chika Nduka grew up in Seattle and spent the first three years of his high school career at Eastside Catholic, who he led to a third-place finish at the state tournament in both 2019 and 2020. Junior wing Tyler Patterson hails from nearby Snoqualmie, and led Mount Si High School to the 2020 4A state championship, their first title since 1977. Patterson was also a First Team All-State selection and three-time All-KingCo selection.
TYLER'S DIALED IN
Tyler Patterson, who grew up a big Washington Huskies fan, was named Big Sky Conference Co-Player of the Week on Monday, Nov. 27 after notching consecutive 20-point games.The junior from Snoqualmie, Wash., finished 7-of-9 from the floor and scored 18 points in the second half alone against UC Riverside on Wednesday, including going 4-of-4 from three-point range to lift the Cats to a huge non-conference win, then dropped 20 more points with seven rebounds while going 6-of-11 from three in a tight loss to Long Beach State on Sunday.
HIGHWAY ROB-BERY
Robert Ford III ranks fourth in the country in steals in per game (3.29) and tenth in total steals (31). On Nov. 20, Ford recorded a career-high seven steals against Green Bay, the second-most in a single game in program history and the most by a Bobcat since 2013. Among players 6-foot-2 or shorter, the Portland native ranks second in NCAA Division I in rebounds per game (8.0)
HOMECOMING
Tuesday's game will feature a large contingent of Bobcat fans filling the Alaskan Airlines Center due in large part to the return home for the Bobcats' head coach and three of his impact players. Matt Logie graduated from Mercer Island High School in 1999 and is the latest coach in a proud lineage of basketball tradition in his family—his grandfather, Ed Pepple, coached at Mercer Island for 42 years, winning nearly a thousand games and four state championships. Logie was a key player on two of those state championship teams, helping the Islanders win in 1997 and 1999.
A RETURN TO THE 206
In addition to Logie's homecoming, three Bobcat impact players will also have their families in the stands on Tuesday. Graduate transfer Eddie Turner III was a standout at Garfield High School, where he graduated in 2019 after helping them to a state title in 2018 on the way to being named tournament MVP. Junior transfer Chika Nduka grew up in Seattle and spent the first three years of his high school career at Eastside Catholic, who he led to a third-place finish at the state tournament in both 2019 and 2020. Junior wing Tyler Patterson hails from nearby Snoqualmie, and led Mount Si High School to the 2020 4A state championship, their first title since 1977. Patterson was also a First Team All-State selection and three-time All-KingCo selection.
REMEMBER WHEN
Before beating Cal on Nov. 16, Montana State had last taken down a Power Five opponent on December 9, 2018, defeating Washington State, 95-90 in a neutral site game in Kennewick, Wash. Montana State is 54-101 against schools currently making up the Pac-12 (including Colorado, Utah, etc.)
LAST TRIP TO SEATTLE
Montana State erased a nine-point deficit over the final five minutes and gave themselves two possessions to try to take the lead in the final minute at Seattle U on Nov. 11, but a Brian Goracke three and Robert Ford III's last second-layup both rimmed out as the Redhawks handed the Bobcats their first defeat of the season, 71-68
BALL SECURITY
Montana State ranks first in the Big Sky Conference in turnover margin (6.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.34), while also ranking first in steals per game (8.6) and turnovers forced per game (15.71)
BAD LUCK
After suffering an injury late in Montana State's win over California on Nov. 16, junior forward Patrick McMahon (Palmer, Alaska), will miss the rest of the 2023-2024 season. McMahon was averaging 13.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 26.0 minutes per game
GOLDEN AGE OF BOBCAT BASKETBALL
The Bobcats are coming off of their two best seasons in the modern era. In 2021-22, Montana State went 27-8, which included a 13-1 record at home and a program-record 16 wins in conference play. In 2022-2023, Montana State went 25-10, collected a 12-1 record at Worthington Arena, and went 15-3 in conference action. Montana State has played in three straight Big Sky Tournament championship games, gone 37-7 against Big Sky opponents over the last two seasons, won at least 25 games in two straight seasons for the first time since 1927-1929, and are coming off consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history.
BOBCAT BACKCOURT BUDDIES
Matt Logie's offense relies on efficient guard play to distribute the ball to shot-makers—redshirt senior Robert Ford III and graduate transfer Eddie Turner III have been excellent in that regard through the early going, helping the Bobcats lead the Big Sky in turnover margin. Ford and Turner are in their first year as teammates, but are not unfamiliar with one another—they met several times as opponents on the AAU circuit growing up, with Ford out of Portland and Turner from Seattle.
PNW SNIPERS
Tyler Patterson (Snoqualmie, Wash.) leads the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (41.7%) and is tied for fourth with teammate Brian Goracke (Monroe, Ore.) in made three-point field goals (15)
BALANCED ATTACK
Montana State has had four different players score at least 19 points in a game this season: Brian Goracke (19), Tyler Patterson (20), Brandon Walker (26), and Robert Ford III (26)
MORE ON EDDIE
Graduate transfer guard Eddie Turner III looks poised to make an immediate impact for the Bobcats after on and off the court obstacles slowed his basketball output at Columbia. Turner, a standout at Garfield HS in Seattle, played in just 18 games across four years in New York City while obtaining his Ivy League degree. Knee injuries and COVID-19 represented just some of the adversity Turner had to overcome, as he took his senior year off from basketball after his father suffered a health scare home in Washington. Turner earned his degree in architecture in May and worked an internship for Bank of America on Wall Street this summer that comes with a guaranteed job in investment banking once his two years of eligibility at Montana State are up.
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday marks the 15th meeting all-time between Montana State and Washington. The Huskies lead the series, 6-8. Montana State won the last matchup, taking down UW at Alaska Airlines Arena on Nov. 24, 2002, 56-53. Prior to that, the previous meeting came in 1987, with Washington defeating MSU in overtime in an NIT postseason contest in Bozeman, 98-90. The two teams first met in the 1926-1927 season.
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