Montana State University
10-13,5-5Big Sky
Portland State
13-9,5-4Big Sky
Cats Hold Off Portland State In Tough 74-73 Win
2/1/2025 10:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana State wins their fourth straight at home, collects fifth victory in last seven Big Sky tries
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Led by Patrick McMahon and the Bobcat bench, Montana State men's basketball made just enough plays in the final few minutes to hang on for a 74-73 win over Portland State on Saturday night in front of nearly 4,000 at Worthington Arena.
"Our crowd was phenomenal tonight," head coach Matt Logie said. "We've needed them all year. They've supported these guys, and these guys have stayed together. We needed that energy in the building tonight. It really keyed us for some big defensive stops and it takes a village. We said last spring it's time to circle the wagons, and we're in this together. Ten toes down."
Montana State (10-13, 5-5) had a seemingly comfortable 70-58 lead with 3:09 to play, but a frenetic Portland State (13-9, 5-4) rally cut it to just a four-point affair at 74-70 with 21 seconds left.
Erasing the woe of last year's late defeat on the road in Portland to the Vikings, the Bobcats were able to safely inbound the ball after a Jaylin Henderson 3-pointer made things tighter at 74-73 with 0.9 seconds left.
McMahon continued his elevated level of play that has helped carry MSU to now five wins in their last seven games, scoring a career-high 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting with nine rebounds in the victory.
It's the third consecutive game that the redshirt junior has reset a new career-high scoring output.
"You can't say enough good things about Pat McMahon," Logie said. "He just continues to play at the level and caliber that we know he can. When you've sat out for two years like he has, sometimes you've got to see it to believe it. As much as I tell him what I see in him, until you really do it, there's always that doubt, and I think he's broken through that. I couldn't be happier for him, and certainly we need that to continue."
Following up his 20-point game in Thursday's win over Sacramento State, McMahon kept his foot right on the gas pedal in attacking the lane and relying on a variety of post moves and quick footwork to create angles off the glass.
The Alaskan was once again part of an avalanche of production from the Montana State bench, which out-scored Portland State's bench 43-9.
With starters Bryce Zephir and Max Agbonkpolo hampered by early foul trouble, it was the Bobcat reserves who shouldered the load and helped build MSU's double-digit lead in the second half.
"We had some guys really step up tonight," Logie said. "In conference play, it takes the whole group. We had some guys in foul trouble early, some guys who couldn't get into a rhythm, and I thought Sam Lecholat really stepped up and gave us some huge minutes. Jed Miller stepped up and gave us a huge burst. It was great to have Brian Goracke out there to space the floor a little bit."
Jabe Mullins finished with eight points and five rebounds, while backcourt teammate Jed Miller added seven points, four assists, three rebounds, and three steals.
In the frontcourt, Sam Lecholat was a menace on the way to eight points, four rebounds, and four blocked shots.
Tyler Patterson joined McMahon as the only Bobcats in double figures, scoring 11 with a trio of 3-pointers.
Montana State and Portland State raced up the floor in an entertaining first half, trading buckets but not separation as the Cats took a 38-35 lead into the locker room following a fadeaway jumper from Terri Miller Jr.
Miller Jr. would lead the Vikings with 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting for the game, while Jaylin Henderson scored all 17 of his points in the second half.
Out of the locker room, the Vikings and Bobcats continued to lean into a physical style of play that prioritized collisions at the rim, hard screens, and tooth-and-nail rebounding.
Portland State created second chance after second chance, punishing Montana State with 17 offensive rebounds on the way to 21 points on additional opportunities.
On the other end, the Bobcats kept going to McMahon. Again and again the wing put his shoulder down to get in the lane and either finish through contact or kick out to a teammate to then create leverage on an unbalanced floor.
Holding just a 47-45 advantage with 13:10 remaining, the Cats started to slowly but surely create separation.
A deep 3-pointer from Mullins pushed the lead out to eight with 10:46 to play, and another deep three from Miller made it an 11-point game at 62-51 with 7:05 to go.
A no-look pass from Miller to Lecholat for a layup followed by a driving dunk from McMahon on the ensuing possession then allowed MSU to open up their largest lead of the night at 70-58 with 3:09 to play.
Yet, the game was far from over.
Full court pressure and loose ball security contributed to 13 second-half turnovers from the home side, with Portland State taking full advantage on fastbreak buckets to shave the deficit to an uncomfortably small margin for the 3,846 in attendance.
However, the Cats shot 11 of 12 from the free throw line in the second half and got key makes at the charity stripe down the stretch from Patterson, Lecholat, and McMahon to hang on for dear life and get their fourth straight win at home.
"Obviously there's some things to clean up there with the late game and press break and ball control, but we just have to be stronger with the basketball really," Logie said.
The win over the third place team in the Big Sky was the Cats' first over a squad in the top half of the Big Sky standings, lending legitimacy to a resurgence that now goes back three weeks.
UP NEXT
Montana State dips south next weekend, facing Northern Arizona on Thursday in Flagstaff and league-leading Northern Colorado on Saturday in Greeley.
Both games will be streamed on ESPN+, with live radio play-by-play carried on the Bobcat Sports Network.
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