Andrew Pedersen MONTANA STATE Athletics Communications MBB Contact Office: 406-994-5349 MEN’S BASKETBALL Cell: 701-730-6618 2020-21 GAME NOTES [email protected] GAME 1 MONTANA STATE (16-15) at UNLV (17-15) Non-Conference Schedule NEXT MSU: Home (9-5), Road (5-10), Neutral (2-0), Conf (10-10) Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2020 UNLV: Home (12-7), Road (5-7), Neutral (0-1), Conf (12-6) Time: 7:30 p.m. MT Series: UNLV, 1-0 Last Meeting: November 9, 2007 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada UP *2019-20 Totals* UNLV, 76-65 (Las Vegas, Nev.) Venue: Thomas & Mack Center STORYLINES Media Information TV: Mountain West Network • Montana State makes its return to the court for the start of the 2020-21 season by Talent: N/A taking on UNLV in the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, Nov. 25. The last time Stream: UNLVRebels.com/themw.com the Bobcats were preparing for a game was the morning of March 12 when MSU was Radio: Bobcat Radio Network | KMMS 1450 AM scheduled to face Portland State in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Big Sky Tournament. Talent: Zach Mackey (pxp) • The Bobcats come off a 16-15 record during the 2019-20 season. The overall winning Online: msubobcats.com/watch & TuneIn app margin was MSU’s first winning record in a decade. The Bobcats advanced to the Big Live Stats: UNLVRebels.com Sky quarterfinals for just the third time in 15 seasons and the 16 victories were tied Twitter: @MSUBobcatsMBB for the most for the program since the 2001-02 slate. Instagram: @msubobcatsmbb • The Big Sky Conference announced its preseason polls on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The Bobcats were voted by the Big Sky’s media to finish fourth in the 2020-21 season SCHEDULE /RESULTS while the coaches’ poll had MSU ranked sixth. November • Danny Sprinkle’s 16 victories in his first season as head coach were the most for a Wed. 25 at UNLV .................................. 7:30 p.m. first-year MSU coach since Hank Anderson guided the 1972-73 team to a 17-9 mark. The last Bobcat coach to open his first two seasons with winning records was Bruce December Haroldson who followed an opening 15-11 season with a second-year mark of 14-12 Wed. 2 at Pacific ......................................3 p.m. during the Bobcats’ 1979-80 schedule. Fri. 18 at Washington State .......................TBD • Jubrile Belo was named to the 2020-21 Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team Tue. 22 at Portland ...................................1 p.m. Thu. 31 Southern Utah* ............................7 p.m. following a standout sophomore season. Belo averaged 13.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while starting all 31 games a season ago. He ended the 2019-20 season January with three straight double-doubles, earning the league’s final Player of the Week Sat. 2 Southern Utah* ......................... 12 p.m. award. He was named Big Sky Newcomer of the Year and to the All-Big Sky Third Team. Thu. 7 at Northern Colorado* .......... 6:30 p.m. • MSU will be led by a variety of upperclassmen. Devin Kirby enters his fifth year in the Sat. 9 at Northern Colorado* ............. 12 p.m. program starting the previous two seasons. Amin Adamu started in 28 of 29 games a Thu. 14 Portland State* ...........................7 p.m. season ago and averaged 11.7 points. Xavier Bishop comes off a redshirt season and Sat. 16 Portland State* ........................ 12 p.m. Thu. 21 at Northern Arizona* ..................6 p.m. is already a 1,000 point scorer after three previous seasons at Kansas City. Abdul Sat. 23 at Northern Arizona* ............... 12 p.m. Mohamed joined the Bobcats as a graduate transfer from North Texas, a team that a Thu. 28 at Montana* ....................................TBD season ago won the 2019-20 Conference USA regular season title. Sat. 30 Montana* .........................................TBD • The Bobcats’ remaining returners are each rising sophomores in Caleb Bellach, Borja Fernandez and Finn Fleute. Junior college transfers Nick Gazelas, Mike Hood and Bi- February lal Shabazz are in their first Division I seasons. MSU has four freshmen on the roster Thu. 4 at Weber State* ..........................7 p.m. including Tyler Patterson, Kellen Tynes, Carter Ash and Jesse Owens. Sat. 6 at Weber State* ..............................TBD Thu. 11 Eastern Washington* ..................7 p.m. • UNLV and Montana State have met one prior time, a 76-65 Runnin’ Rebels victory Sat. 13 Eastern Washington* ............... 12 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2007, in Las Vegas for the 2007-08 season opener. UNLV was predicted Thu. 18 Idaho State* .................................7 p.m. to take fourth in the Mountain West 2020-21 Preseason Poll. Bryce Hamilton was Sat. 20 at Idaho State* ...........................7 p.m. selected to this year’s Preseason All-Mountain West Team, while David Jenkins Jr. Thu. 25 at Idaho* .....................................7 p.m. (Preseason Newcomer of the Year) and Nick Blake (Preseason Freshman of the Year) Sat. 27 at Idaho* .....................................1 p.m. were also individually recognized. March (STATS FROM LAST SEASON) Thu. 4 Sacramento State* .....................7 p.m. PROJECTED LINEUP Sat. 6 Sacramento State* .................. 12 p.m. Probable Starters Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG G-GS MPG 10-13 Big Sky Tournament $ ............................ 1 Xavier Bishop1 G 5-8 R-Sr. Springfield, Ill. 15.4 2.7 3.8 31-31 33.8 12 Mike Hood2 G 6-2 Jr. Kansas City, Mo. 22.7 3.4 1.9 31-31 32.7 Home games in bold 4 Amin Adamu G 6-5 Sr. London, England 11.7 5.2 1.4 29-28 27.3 *Big Sky Conference game 13 Jubrile Belo F 6-9 Jr. London, England 13.1 6.4 0.7 31-31 26.0 $ Big Sky Tournament quarterfinals 31 Devin Kirby F 6-11 Sr. Chandler, Ariz. 4.2 5.7 1.3 24-23 25.1 played at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho Off The Bench Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG G-GS MPG Times listed are in Mountain Time (MST) 0 Abdul Mohamed3 F/G 6-7 Sr. Ottawa, Ontario 0.9 0.9 0.3 15-0 4.8 2 Nick Gazelas4 G 6-4 So. Humble, Texas 17.4 2.8 1.8 28-24 31.3 All games are subject to change. 3 Finn Fleute F 6-10 So. Essen, Germany 1.7 1.3 0.1 23-0 7.5 4 Bilal Shabazz5 F 6-8 Jr. Milwaukee, Wis. 12.3 6.1 1.6 29-15 15.2 10 Caleb Bellach G 6-6 So. Manhattan, Mont. 1.2 1.1 0.1 25-0 6.7 11 Tyler Patterson6 G 6-8 Fr. Snoqualmie, Wash. 15.9 4.1 1.3 30-30 23.6 15 Carter Ash7 G 6-0 Fr. Bozeman, Mont. 14.7 6.4 3.0 24-24 - 20 Jesse Owens8 G 5-9 R-Fr. Billings, Mont. 17.4 - 4.7 26-26 - 23 Borja Fernandez F 6-7 So. Bilbao, Spain 5.4 3.3 0.8 30-3 17.2 24 Kellen Tynes9 G 6-3 Fr. Dartmouth, Nova Scotia 22.0 7.2 6.1 12-12 35.1 *1-UMKC (2018-19), 2-Southern Idaho (2019-20), 3-North Texas (2019-20), 4-Jacksonville College (2019-20), 5-Trinidad State (2019-20), 6-Mount Si HS (2019-20), 7-Bozeman HS (2019-20), 8-Billings West HS (2018-19), 9-Rothesay Netherwood (2019-20) FOLLOW THE BOBCATS @MSUBobcatsMBB @msubobcatsmbb @MSUCoachSprink /MSUBobcatsMBB QUICK FACTS 2020-21 MONTANA STATE ROSTER General Information No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (Previous Program) Name: Montana State University 0 Abdul Mohamed F/G 6-7 200 Sr. Ottawa, Ontario (North Texas) Founded: 1893 1 Xavier Bishop G 5-8 155 R-Sr. Springfield, Ill. (UMKC) Enrollment: 16,249 (Fall 2020) 2 Nick Gazelas G 6-4 190 So. Humble, Texas (Jacksonville College) Colors: Blue (PMS 281) and Gold (PMS 465) 3 Finn Fleute F 6-10 235 So. Essen, Germany (Uni Baskets Paderborn) Nickname: Bobcats Home Facility: Worthington Arena (6,772) 4 Bilal Shabazz F 6-8 210 Jr. Milwaukee, Wis. (Trinidad State) Opened: 1957 5 Amin Adamu G 6-5 190 Sr. London, England (Barking Abbey) Conference: Big Sky Conference (Since 1963-64) 10 Caleb Bellach G 6-6 195 So. Manhattan, Mont. (Manhattan Christian) Affiliation: NCAA Division I 11 Tyler Patterson G 6-6 180 Fr. Snoqualmie, Wash. (Mount Si HS) President: Dr. Waded Cruzado 12 Mike Hood G 6-2 185 Jr. Kansas City, Mo. (Southern Idaho) Director of Athletics: Leon Costello 13 Jubrile Belo F 6-9 240 Jr. London, England (Barking Abbey) Athletic Department Phone: 406-994-4221 15 Carter Ash G 6-0 165 Fr. Bozeman, Mont. (Bozeman HS) 20 Jesse Owens G 5-9 170 R-Fr. Billings, Mont. (Billings West HS) History 23 Borja Fernandez F 6-7 230 So. Bilbao, Spain (FC Barcelona) First Year of Basketball: 1901-02 (119th season) Record All-Time: 1,578-1,346 24 Kellen Tynes G 6-3 165 Fr. Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (Rothesay Netherwood) Regular Season Conference Championships: 14 31 Devin Kirby F 6-11 225 Sr. Chandler, Ariz. (Basha HS) Last: 2001-02 Season Big Sky Conference Tournament Championships: 2 Pronunciation Guide Last: 1995-96 Season Amin Adamu: awe-min ah-da-mu NCAA Division I Tournament Appearances: 3 Caleb Bellach: bell-etch Last: 1995-96 Season Jubrile Belo: juh-brill bell-oh Borja Fernandez: bore-ha Team Information Finn Fleute: floy-tay Head Coach: Danny Sprinkle (Montana State, 2000) Bilal Shabazz: bi-lal sha-baws Record at MSU: 16-15 (Second season) Assistant Coach: Chris Haslam (Eighth season) INSIDE THE MATCHUP Assistant Coach: Dan Russell (Second season) Montana State UNLV Assistant Coach: Ken Moses (First season) Strength Coach: John Sauer (Second season) Overall Record 16-15 17-15 Athletic Trainer: Brett Ritter (11th season) Conference Record 10-10 12-6 Basketball Contact: Andrew Pedersen (Second season) Scoring Average 66.6 72.1 Cell: 701-730-6618 Scoring Defense 67.0 70.1 Office: 406-994-5349 Scoring Margin -0.4 2.0 Email: [email protected] Field Goal Percentage .445 .433 Team Overview FG Percentage Defense .413 .421 Overall Record (2019-20): 16-15 3-Point FG % .329 .319 Big Sky Record (2019-20): 10-10 (Tied 5th) 3-Point FG % Defense .316 .335 Big Sky Tournament: Quarterfinals Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 6/5 Free Throw Percentage .741 .692 Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2 Rebounding Average 34.7 39.2 Newcomers: 8 Rebounding Margin 1.3 6.7 Assists Average 11.3 12.6 BIG SKY STANDINGS Turnover Average 14.1 13.3 School Overall Conf.