BOBCAT BASKETBALL SEASONS CONCLUE IN BOISE

The basketball season wrapped up in Boise, Idaho, for both the women’s and men’s basketball squads this past week with two impressive runs in the conference tournament. Both teams entered the tournament with first-round byes, with Tricia Binford’s women’s team entering the tournament as the third seed and Danny Sprinkle’s men’s team going to Boise as the fifth seed. 

In their first matchup, the Lady Cats defeated No. 11 Sacramento State, 66-55. The Cats got off to a slow start, finding themselves down early, 9-3, but the Bobcat bench created a spark for the offense, helping the Bobcats capture the lead after an 11-0 run."I thought it was exactly what we needed at the right moment. But that's how this team has rolled all season long," Binford said. "It has been different kids, it's been a lot of different situations, and I think our bench really came in and gave us a lift in that transition and really settled us in and ran some offense. We moved the ball and got some steals out in transition." After the 11-0 run, it was all Bobcats until the final horn blew. Senior guard Tori Martell led the team in scoring with 18 points and was five-of-16 from the field. 

In the semi-final nightcap, the Cats took on No. 2 Idaho where they fell to the Vandals, 80-64. The first two quarters were a back and forth affair that found the Bobcats leading at halftime by six after back-to-back threes by Martell. In the second half, however, the Vandals offense took control, opening the third period with an 11-0 run and vaulting Idaho into the lead. After that, the Vandals didn’t look back, winning the game and punching their ticket to the Big Sky Conference Championship. 

Though the result was disappointing, Binford has built a program here at Montana State that is bound to rebound. This year’s team only had two seniors, Martell and guard Sidney Zieske, making MSU one of the youngest teams in the nation.

“I’m proud of this team and all they accomplished. It just wasn’t our night,” Binford said. “But despite all the adversity we faced, this was a great group of kids that had a lot of fun doing what they love. It’s why we coach.” 

With a whole crop of returning players for Binford and the Lady Cats, redemption will be on everyone’s mind as the Cats look ahead to the 2021-22 season hungry to reclaim the Big Sky Conference title for the first time since the 2016-17 season. 

On the other hand, the men’s program just found themselves in the Big Sky Conference Championship for the first time in 12 years. On the way to the ‘ship, the Bobcats defeated No. 4 Idaho State in the quarterfinals, 71-63, advancing to play the Big Sky Conference regular-season champions and No. 1 overall seed, Southern Utah. This semi-final matchup proved to be an absolute thriller filled with a buzzer-beater and an overtime win by MSU. The first half was a game of runs. Early in the first half, the Bobcats opened up an 8-0 run and concluded the half with a 6-0 run that kept the Bobcats in the ball game. Entering the break, the Bobcats found themselves down by 10 points, 42-32. Things really started to favor the Cats with about five minutes left to play. The Cats pulled into the lead with only 4:16 left in regulation after senior guard Amin Adamu sank a jumper. After that, it was a battle for the lead. With seven seconds left in regulation and a two-point deficit, Sprinkle called a timeout to draw up a play that resulted in senior forward Jubrile Belo drilling a jumper from the elbow just as the horn blew, forcing an overtime period. In overtime, the Bobcats outlasted the Thunderbirds with five successful free throws handing the team an upset 80-77 victory. 

“What a 45 minutes of college basketball,” Sprinkle said after the game. “It was exciting to coach and I know it had to have been exciting to watch. Players all over both teams just making plays, making plays, making plays.”

After two upset wins in the tournament, the Bobcats looked to repeat their luck against the No. 2 Eastern Washington Eagles and win a berth to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. To start the game, the Eagles’ offense was churning. MSU never led the game and only came within three points early in the contest. In the first half, the Eagles went on a 15-1 run, resulting in a 20-3 lead, one that would prove to be insurmountable. The Bobcats handled adversity well, ending the first half on a 7-3 run which cut the EWU lead to 14, at 24-38. 

The lockdown defensive effort by the Eagles held the Cats to a mere 33% from the field and 0 for 10 from behind the arc in the first half. Sophomore guard Nick Gazelas created a spark for the Bobcats when he drilled the first three and cut the EWU lead to 10 points with only 10 minutes of play in regulation. The Cats then went on a 6-2 run and it felt like they might just claw their way back into the game. Unfortunately, a questionable technical foul on Belo swung the momentum back in favor of the Eagles, who went on to win 65-55. 

The Eagles dominated the paint behind Big Sky regular-season MVP Tanner Groves, who recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Groves, a junior forward, was later named the MVP of the Big Sky tournament for his continued dominance at the post position. 

Sprinkle praised his team for never giving up and fighting until the end of the game. "I don't think they get enough credit defensively," Sprinkle said. "They're physical, they protect the paint, they guard on the perimeter. They made it really hard on us. They jumped us early and I was proud of our guys [for] the way we fought back. That's a game a lot of teams get beat by 35 [points]. Especially when you're tired on the third night in a row, but [the] guys kept battling."

For their efforts throughout the tournament, MSU’s Belo and Adamu were named to the All-Tournament Team, the first time two Bobcats have been recognized with these honors in 12 years. 

"We believed all weekend," senior forward/guard Abdul Mohamed said. "We did it against Idaho State, we did it against Southern Utah, we just fell short today. The group of guys that we got in that room and the guys that are coming back to play for Danny Sprinkle, you're going to see them here [again].”

“They came to Montana State to play in a championship game to win the thing,” Sprinkle said in a post to the MSU men’s basketball Twitter page. “That’s what this program is going to be about from here on out. That’s the standard. I know I’m hard on our guys, I know I’m hard on our staff, but that’s what I expect. When you have expectations and the guys that to believe in them, these are the things that can happen. #UBUNTU #GOCATSGO.” 

The men’s team will graduate four seniors: guards Xavier Bishop, Mohamed, Adamu and forward Devin Kirby. Sophomore guard Caleb Bellach and junior guard Mike Hood will leave MSU, as both players recently announced their entrance into the transfer portal. With coach Sprinkle at the helm, the men’s basketball program seems to be on the up-and-up. Stay tuned as both the men’s and women’s squads gear up to avenge their losses in the 2021-22 season. 

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