Montana State University
Southern Miss
Bobcats Return to Brick to Host Basketball Travelers Invitational Starting Sunday
11/22/2024 3:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State will face Southern Miss on Sunday, Abilene Christian on Tuesday
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- After playing four of their first games on the road, Montana State men's basketball returns to Worthington Arena on Sunday hosting Southern Miss to start the Basketball Travelers' Invitational.
Tip is set for 6 p.m.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Voice of the Bobcats Keaton Gillogly handling the radio call on the Bobcat Sports Network.
Sunday evening's game is the first of three games in three nights in Bozeman, with the Bobcats' contest against Southern Miss followed by a neutral site contest between Southern Miss and Abilene Christian on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before Wednesday night's game between Montana State and Abilene Christian at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available here.
Following their early road stretch, the Bobcats will now play four of their next five games at home, taking on Southern Miss (Nov. 24), Abilene Christian (Nov. 26), Cal State Northridge (Nov. 30) and Kansas City (Dec. 7) at Worthington Arena.
Montana State (1-4) is 36-9 at home dating back to the 2021-22 season.
Montana State is coming off a nail-biting 72-69 loss to Big Ten foe Northwestern on Tuesday night in Evanston, Illinois. The Cats battled back and forth with their fellow NCAA Tournament team, forcing 13 lead changes and 15 ties before the Wildcats won the final possession.
Jabe Mullins led MSU with 17 points and six assists, while Brandon Walker added 14 points and Max Agbonkpolo chipped in 13 points with ten rebounds.
Montana State has played two road games against Big Ten opponents this season, falling by a combined 15 points.
LAST TIME OUT
Montana State pushed Big Ten foe Northwestern to the brink on Tuesday night in Evanston, Illinois, falling 72-69 in the final seconds. In a contest that had 13 lead changes and 15 ties, Montana State led by five at the break and tied things at 67-67 with 46 seconds left in the second half on a Jabe Mullins 3-pointer. However, Northwestern took back the lead on the following possession and sank enough free throws to ice the game.
HOME SWEET HOME
After starting the season with four of their first five games on the road, Montana State returns to Worthington Arena to begin a stretch of three straight home games within the span of a week, beginning with the Basketball Travelers' Invitational against Southern Miss and Abilene Christian on Sunday and Tuesday and ending with a standalone Saturday afternoon tilt against Cal State Northridge.
BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK
Montana State will be one of the most experienced teams in the country in 2024-25, boasting five players in the projected rotation who have played in at least 102 games (Jabe Mullins, Tyler Patterson, Brian Goracke, Max Agbonkpolo, Sam Lecholat), and nine players who have at least four years in college basketball. Tyler Patterson has started 122 games in a Montana State uniform entering Sunday, the most of any active player at one school in the country and the most in Montana State history.
DIFFICULT NON-CONFERENCE
Entering Sunday, the Bobcats have played the 29th-hardest schedule in NCAA Division I according to KenPom rankings. Eight of the 12 teams that Montana State will face in the non-conference finished with records of at least .500 or played in the postseason last year. The Cats face three teams who were single-digit seeds in last season's NCAA Tournament (No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 9 Northwestern, No. 9 TCU), and three teams from the Big Ten (Wisconsin, Northwestern, USC).
ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Southern Miss is 2-2 with wins over Bowling Green and Loyola New Orleans and losses to UAB and South Dakota State. The Golden Eagles enter Sunday ranked 60th in NCAA Division I in scoring offense, averaging 85.3 points per game. Like Montana State, Southern Miss boasts offensive balance—with five Golden Eagles averaging between 10.5 and 13.3 points per game. Southern Miss was picked to finish fifth in the Preseason Sun Belt Coaches Poll after losing all five of their starters from last year.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Abilene Christian is 1-2 against NCAA Division I opponents this season, defeating Texas State in between losses to Middle Tennessee State and Kennesaw State. The Wildcats boast a stingy defense, holding opponents to just 25.7% shooting from beyond the arc (25th nationally) and forcing 17.0 turnovers per game (31st nationally). 6-foot-5 guard Quion Johnson leads the Wildcats averaging 15.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
TALL AND ATHLETIC
Montana State boasts a long and athletic lineup--the Cats' average on-court height of 78.5" ranks 17th in NCAA Division I, with their starting five through the first four games all at least 6-feet-6-inches.
EFFICIENT POINT GUARD PLAY
Used primarily off the ball in his first four years of college basketball at both Saint Mary's (2020-22) and Washington State (2022-24), graduate transfer Jabe Mullins is thriving at the point guard position for Montana State. The native of Snoqualmie, Washington, is coming off a 17-point, six-assist performance at Northwestern with just one turnover. Mullins is averaging 10.8 points and 4.0 assists per game, and is 14-of-15 at the free throw line (93.3%).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR B-WALK
Bobcat big man Brandon Walker is coming off his first career double-double against Denver last Sunday after recording 19 points and a career-high ten rebounds in the loss. Walker leads the team averaging 13.6 points per game while shooting 45.3% from the floor and adding 4.5 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 ranked 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. To start this season, McMahon is averaging 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and has scored in double-figures three times.
GOLDEN AGE OF BOBCAT BASKETBALL
The Bobcats are coming off of their three 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 four straight Big Sky Tournament championship games, gone 49-16 against Big Sky opponents over the last three seasons, and made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history.
THE MATT LOGIE FILE
Second-year MSU head coach Matt Logie Logie has taken his teams to the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 13 seasons as a head coach, and is believed to be just the second men's coach in history to lead teams to the Big Dance at the Division I, Division II, and Division III levels (Tobin Anderson). Logie came to Montana State after four seasons at Point Loma in California, where his teams rolled up an 82-23 record with three conference championships. His 13 seasons as a head basketball coach includes eight at Whitworth University in Spokane (2011-19), where his Pirates compiled a 194-35 record.
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