How the ‘Cats ended their basketball seasons

The men’s and women’s Bobcat basketball teams are searching for answers as they head into the offseason following blowout losses to the University of Northern Colorado (UNCO) and Ohio State University (OSU), respectively. These games ended each team’s campaign, with the men losing 72-45 against the UNCO Bears on March 11 and the women losing 71-51 against the OSU Buckeyes on March 21.

For the men’s team, losing in the semifinal round of the Big Sky Conference (BSC) tournament was an unfortunate end to a season that bore the lofty challenge of earning a fourth straight NCAA tournament berth. This is something that no team in BSC history has ever achieved.

According to the men’s basketball Head Coach Matt Logie, the ‘Cats faced additional difficulties arising from the coaching transition following the 2021-2022 season. However, it’s worth noting that the team still managed to win two consecutive BSC tournaments after Logie’s hiring.

“The way our leaders in our program, our seniors, embraced that change and embraced those expectations and hung together through the peaks and valleys of this journey, I’m very proud of that,” Logie said.

In contrast, the women’s team made it to the NCAA tournament after earning a tournament berth by defeating rival University of Montana 58-57 in the BSC tournament championship on March 12.

Even with senior guard Esmeralda Morales contributing 25 points on 10-16 from the field to lead all scorers, forward Marah Dykstra made the play of the game — a buzzer-beating layup to give the ‘Cats a decisive edge.

“Not exactly how we drew it up, but luckily I was able to follow my shot and there was enough time to just throw it back up there with a little bit of a prayer, and luckily I got it off in time,” Dykstra said. “Honestly, I kind of blacked out in that moment. I can’t really remember it right now, [but it’s] something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.”

After winning the BSC Championship, the ‘Cats drew the 13 seed in the Regional 3 bracket, meaning they would face 4th-seeded OSU in the first round.

The Bobcats carried the momentum of their previous victory into the first half against the Buckeyes, trailing by just five points at the half. Unfortunately, their offense ground to a halt in the third quarter, and the Buckeyes used a 23-10 scoring run to blow the game open. MSU never recovered from the deficit.

“All the credit goes to [OSU]. They came out of that third quarter, really jumped on us super fast and it was like a blink of the eye,” women’s basketball Head Coach Tricia Binford said. “If we could have that first few minutes back and we just trust our composure, trust our process, I think this game’s a little bit tighter.”

Despite the loss, the tournament appearance is still a milestone for MSU, as the team has only made the big dance three other times — most recently in 2022.

“I think right now, everyone would tell you we feel like we’re better than this end result here,” Binford said. “At the same time, it’s a step in that direction [of winning an NCAA tournament game] and nobody can take the fact away that [women’s basketball] won a conference, won a conference tournament and they have 30 wins. So that was really special.”

To learn more about MSU men’s basketball, visit its website at: https://msubobcats.com/sports/mens-basketball

To learn more about MSU women’s basketball, visit its website at: https://msubobcats.com/sports/womens-basketball