Montana State University
Northwestern
Bobcats Hit Windy City for Date With Northwestern
11/18/2024 3:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Wildcats are second of three Big Ten teams that Montana State faces in a difficult non-conference slate
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Montana State continues their gauntlet of a non-conference schedule on Tuesday night, taking on Northwestern from Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois.
Tip is set for 7 p.m. MT/8 p.m. CT and will be televised on Big Ten Network. Voice of the Bobcats Keaton Gillogly will have the radio play-by-play call on the Bobcat Sports Network.
Northwestern is the second of three Big Ten teams that Montana State will face this season. The Cats gave Wisconsin a battle in the season opener on November 7 but fell 79-67 in Madison, and will take on first-year Big Ten member USC in Los Angeles on December 15. Montana State last defeated a squad from the Big Ten in 1930, when they took down Purdue.
Northwestern is also the second of three teams on Montana State's non-conference slate that were single-digit seeds in last year's NCAA Tournament (No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 9 Northwestern, No. 9 TCU).
Montana State is coming off a difficult loss to Denver on Sunday in the Mile High City. The Bobcats trailed 70-51 with less than nine minutes left and trailed by 12 with 2:30 to go before furiously rallying to cut the deficit to just a point inside of a minute.
The Bobcats forced a turnover with 0.2 seconds on the clock, but a tip-in attempt that would have won the game fell off the rim at the buzzer in a 79-78 loss.
Montana State is coming off three straight Big Sky Tournament championships and three straight NCAA Tournament bids. The Cats are the Big Sky's first three-peat champion since Weber State won three in a row from 1978-1980.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Northwestern is slotted No. 51 in KenPom, with Montana State at No. 213. Northwestern is coming off an overtime win over Eastern Illinois at home on Friday, 67-58. The Wildcats also own wins over Lehigh and UIC, with their only loss coming on the road to Dayton on November 9. Nick Martinelli stirs the drink for Northwestern, averaging 25.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game on 68.5% shooting.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR B-WALK
Bobcat big man Brandon Walker is coming off his first career double-double after recording 19 points and a career-high ten rebounds in the loss to Denver. Walker leads the team averaging 13.5 points per game while shooting 45.2% from the floor and adding 5.0 rebounds per game.
PRESEASON LOVE
Montana State was picked No. 1 in the Big Sky Preseason Media Poll and No. 2 in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches' Poll
BIG-TIME BRIAN
Senior wing Brian Goracke enters his second year as a Bobcat as a Preseason All-Big Sky selection after finishing tenth in the Big Sky last year in scoring (13.5 ppg), eighth in made 3-pointers (69), and third in free throw percentage (86.5%). Goracke started in 33 of 35 games for the Bobcats and was selected Big Sky All-Tournament Team after helping lead the Cats to three straight wins in Boise, averaging 12.3 points per game on 50.0% shooting from the floor and 46.7% from beyond the arc. A year after transferring from Division II Point Loma to follow his head coach, Matt Logie, Goracke hit multiple 3-pointers in 22 games and scored in double-figures in 24 games. The sweet-shooting wing propelled the Cats to a heroic comeback win over Weber State in the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal, scoring 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The Oregon native hit four 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the Cats' overtime loss to Grambling State in the NCAA Tournament.
WALK IT LIKE HE TALKS IT
Junior forward Brandon Walker was named Preseason All-Big Sky after earning Honorable Mention All-Big Sky honors last season. Last season, the native of Oak Cliff, Texas, finished third on the team and 12th in the Big Sky in scoring (13.1 ppg), while ranking third in the Big Sky and 39th in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage (56.3%). Walker played in all 35 games for the Bobcats, starting in 34, and tallied 12 games with at least 16 points. The Texas native led the Cats to their first road win over a Power Five opponent since 2011 with a career-high 26-point outburst against Cal on Nov. 16. In the Big Sky Tournament championship game, Walker scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, adding six rebounds in a title-clinching victory over arch-rival Montana, then scored 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting with six rebounds in an overtime loss to Grambling State in the NCAA Tournament.
NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN
Montana State will be one of the most experienced teams in the country entering 2024-25, with five players in the rotation who have played in at least 102 career games: Tyler Patterson (128), Jabe Mullins (116), Max Agbonkpolo (109), Brian Goracke (107), and Sam Lecholat (102).
TWO SNOQUALMIE SNIPERS?
Jabe Mullins and Tyler Patterson reunite on the 2024-25 Montana State men's basketball team after playing together growing up outside of Seattle in Snoqualmie, Washington. Patterson and Mullins have been teammates since they were third-graders, and will close out their college careers together in Bozeman this season. The duo led Mount Si to the 2020 WIAA state title, the school's first state championship since 1977, before Mullins accepted a scholarship as the No. 1 player in the state of Washington to play for Saint Mary's (2020-22) and then Washington State (2022-24). Patterson committed to Montana State out of high school, where he has played in four Big Sky Tournament Championship games and won three rings for the Bobcats.
NEW GUY ON THE BLOCK
Graduate guard Jabe Mullins comes to Bozeman to utilize his last year of college eligibility after playing in 107 games over four seasons at Saint Mary's (2020-22) and Washington State (2022-24). The guard brings plenty of postseason experience to the Cats, having been a part of two NCAA Tournament teams and two NIT teams. Mullins played sparingly for Washington State in 2023-24 after ranking third in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage (43.8%) and averaging 8.4 points per game in 2022-23.
TYLER THREE-RINGS
Entering the 2024-25 season, graduate guard Tyler Patterson has played in a school-record 128 games for Montana State, starting in 117. Patterson's 117 starts rank fourth of any active player in NCAA Division I and are the most by any active player at one school. The veteran's 211 made 3-pointers rank fourth in program history. Patterson trails his former coach Danny Sprinkle (1995-99) who is third with 263 made 3-pointers.
SLIM REAPER
Graduate forward Max Agbonkpolo is one of the most highly-touted players to ever don a Montana State uniform. The former top-60 recruit out of high school played three seasons at USC (2019-22), before stops at Wyoming (2022-23) and Utah State (2023-24). The 6-foot-9 sweet-shooting wing has played in 117 career games, including five NCAA Tournament games. In his last full healthy year, Agbonkpolo started 18 games and averaged 7.7 points for a USC team that earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22. This past year, playing for former Montana State player and coach Danny Sprinkle at Utah State, Agbonkpolo appeared in ten games with one start before missing the rest of the year due to injury.
THE ALASKAN ASSASSIN
Redshirt junior wing Patrick McMahon is poised to make a big impact for the Bobcats after missing the bulk of the last two seasons due to injury. The Alaska native scored in double figures in each of the first three games of the season last year before injuring his foot against Cal on November 16 and missing the rest of the year.
JUCO BANDITS
Junior guards Bryce Zephir and Jeremiah Davis bolster the Bobcat backcourt from the junior college ranks. Zephir was ranked the No. 34 junior college player in the country last season, leading Salt Lake CC (UT) to a 30-4 record as a team captain, averaging 10 points per game. Davis was a junior college All-American at Fullerton College (CA), averaging 13.9 points per game this past year. Over his two years at Fullerton, Davis helped the Hornets go 59-6.
SHERIDAN SAM
Senior forward Sam Lecholat played in all 35 games last year, starting in four for the Bobcats and averaging 5.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game. The man they call "Sheridan Sam" tied for 8th in the Big Sky in blocked shots (28), and came on strong at the end of the year, playing at least 20 minutes in 16 of the final 17 games of the year, and eclipsing 30 minutes on six occasions.
WINNERS WIN
Entering 2024-25, Matt Logie's 293-76 career mark in 13 seasons is good for a .794 winning percentage, eighth-best among active coaches at four-year schools and the 11th-highest winning percentage in the history of all NCAA men's college basketball coaches.
USED TO THE BIG DANCE
Logie's teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 13 years as a head coach at three different institutions, and his teams have won at least 21 games in every season save one he has coached in his career. Logie is believed to be only the second men's coach in college basketball history to lead a team to the NCAA Tournament at the Division I, Division II, and Division III levels (Tobin Anderson). In 2023-24, Logie was named a finalist for Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year, which is presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in Division I college basketball, after orchestrating the Bobcats' third straight Big Sky championship title and third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
#GoCatsGo
