Montana State University
1-3,0-0Big Sky
Denver
3-2,0-0Summit League
Cats’ Furious Comeback Falls Just Short in Denver
11/17/2024 5:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State nearly erases 19-point deficit in final nine minutes, but game-winning shot goes off the mark in final second
DENVER -- B.J. Kolly's potential buzzer-beating game-winner bounced twice on the rim before falling off at the horn, as a furious comeback from Montana State ended one-point shy in a 79-78 loss at Denver on Sunday.
The shot closed the door on a heroic comeback attempt from Montana State, who trailed by 19 points with 8:52 remaining in the second half at 70-51.
The game appeared over after Denver (3-2) prepared to throw the ball in from the baseline with 0.2 seconds left, but an errant Pioneers pass out-of-bounds gave possession back to the Bobcats (1-3) without any time coming off the clock.
A perfectly executed in-bounds play ended with a lob pass from Jabe Mullins to Kolly, who while in mid-air attempted to guide the ball in the cylinder but saw his shot roll off the basket as the buzzer sounded.
The Bobcats trailed by as much as 21 in the second half and were behind by 12 with 2:31 remaining.
"On the whole, my message to the team was pretty simple," head coach Matt Logie said. "I'm very disappointed in the way that we came out and competed for a large sector of the game today. We found a group that was successful at the end because of their energy and their spirit and their toughness, but ultimately as a group what I thought would translate today was our experience and our maturity, and it didn't happen. It's a very tough lesson to learn, but one that could be our most valuable lesson if it gets our edge where it needs to be moving forward."
After trailing 47-33 at halftime and 70-51 with just over 12 minutes left, Montana State found a groove thanks to their group from the bench.
A flurry of defensive stops helped power the comeback, with Montana State's motivated second unit providing energy and causing havoc to turn momentum back towards the Bobcats.
Montana State's full-court press helped force 13 second-half turnovers from Denver, leading to fastbreak points that chipped away at the Pioneers' lead.
Patrick McMahon scored ten of his 11 points in the second half, knocking down key buckets in the final minutes to pull Montana State closer. It was McMahon's pull-up jumper with 21 seconds left that cut the deficit to just a point at 77-76.
After Denver's Nicholas Shogbonyo hit a pair of free throws to push the Pioneer lead back to three points at 79-76, Montana State got it across half court and called timeout.
The Bobcats ran a play for Brian Goracke to take a game-tying 3-pointer, but the shot went off the mark and Sam Lecholat had to quickly put it up and in to make it 79-78 with 0.2 seconds left. Denver could not inbound the ball, giving possession back to the Cats. A perfectly drawn-up play gave Kolly a look inside of two-feet, but the big man couldn't convert and Denver survived the Cats' upset bid.
Montana State entered Sunday ranked second in the country in percentage of points coming from three-point range, but did not attempt a 3-pointer through the first 17 minutes of the game. The Bobcats finished 1-of-10 from beyond the arc for the contest.
Brandon Walker led Montana State with 19 points and ten rebounds, notching his first career double-double on the back of a career-high ten boards.
Bryce Zephir headlined the spirited second unit for the Cats off the bench that provided the bulk of the firepower during the comeback attempt. The junior guard finished with 14 points and three steals.
Jabe Mullins ended his day with 12 points and three steals, while McMahon added 11 points and Max Agbonkpolo tallied eight points before fouling out.
Denver and Montana State combined to shoot 68 free throws in a foul-heavy contest, with MSU going 27-for-37 at the line and Denver going 29-for-31.
"Winning on the road is a hard thing to do, and you have to play well to do it," Logie said. "You can't show up and just expect it to happen by accident. I'm certainly proud of our fight and our resolve to have a chance to win it at the end, but ultimately this was below our standard."
UP NEXT
Montana State flies east to face off with Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois, on Tuesday night.
Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT/8 p.m. CT.
The game will be televised on Big Ten Network.
#GoCatsGo
