Cats sweep ISU

[MSU01]

81-68 for the men, and a big 60-57 road win for the women. That's the first conference loss for each of the ISU teams. Some other interesting scores, the NAU women followed up their road sweep of the Montana schools by losing at home to Portland State (yes, the same team that went 0-20 last season) and the Weber men stole an inbounds pass and hit a 3 in Missoula to win by 2.

[BelgradeBobcat]

The Big Sky's gonna Big Sky I guess. That NAU women's loss is a big surprise. They looked really really good against the Montana schools last week.
Good win for the women on the road-not too many Big Sky teams will win in Pocatello so thats a big help after losing at home last week.

ISU coach Ryan Looney has done a really good job of retooling that ISU team. They're not an easy out anymore. Nice to see the Bobcats finally win one from the free throw line instead of losing it there. Darius Brown II is playing at such a high level-really good all around again tonight.

[TomCat88]

I listened to the men’s game. Sounded like Battle had 3-4 ridiculous dunks.

The women are crazy with how they lose unexpectedly and then come back and win huge games. Seems to have been going on for three years now. Darian White goes 1-11 and the Bobcats win anyway.

[DMMDCats]

The men played pretty even but put on a defensive show to start the second half to build a nice lead.
ISU kept it honest but MSU made some clutch free throws and won by a comfortable margin.

Belo, Osobar, Battle, Ford, et al
Nice game gentlemen.
First team to 50 won, good call Ian.


On the women’s side, ISU was a tough get for a big road win.
I thought for sure the ladies would find defeat at the bottom of the jar but I was wrong.
So glad to be wrong.

DW still takes some questionable shots but that is her game. Lots of days those shots will fall.

Beasley definitely has some quicks. She was running past the taller defenders and attacking the basket.
Kola seemed a step off but is a presence on the defensive end.
Dykstra plays better every game it seems.

Good team win, on the road. Hopefully this will get them going for a good stretch.


Good games for both teams.

Go CATS!!!

[MSU01]

The MSU women's team has long been rather enigmatic and unpredictable from week to week or even from game to game in terms of how they play, with the exception of the '19-'20 team that was so dominant. I find myself watching WBB games around the conference more than MBB games this year because of how many talented teams there are. Sac State looks really good despite losing last year's MVP Tillman.

[WolfPtCat]

I broke my own rule. Don't bet the points on a team that you want to root for...as a favorite. I was glad the Men had a sizeable lead ....which should have made me happy as a Cat fan. Instead, I'm watching the scorebard like a hawk to see if they will cover the -11.5 points. It made those final seconds needlessly stressfull. I'm glad everything fell perfectly the last 12 seconds (81-68, ISU fouled us, we made free throws, they missed 3 last second attempts)....or I would have had a semi-sour taste in my mouth after a very nice 10 point victory.

I'll stick to Over/Under if I see something that looks off....or Cats Moneyline.

[lv2hoop]

The men's team continues to impress. Year 4 of the Danny Sprinkle era is going exceptionally well. It's such a funny business, as I was reading some of the comments over on the Griz board and they are losing their minds after suffering another home loss last night. I think Decuire is one of the winningest coaches in their program history and some of the comments are trying to put him on the hot seat. Bottom line is that you have to win games to stay out of those kinds of debates, but it seems premature to be calling for his job with his track record.

It was only a few years back that Travis was a hot coaching candidate as far as coaches out West, and the chatter was that he wouldn't be in Missoula for an extended stay. D1 coaches in both football and men's basketball must always have a suitcase half packed.

[WolfPtCat]

I saw a comment on a previous thread (sorry for not giving proper credit) about DeCuire possibly being burned out, and simply needing a change of scenery. Oddly enough, I heard the exact same comments on Denver sports radio yesterday about David Shaw. He was an extremely successful football coach at Stanford, who recently resigned. He's one of 8 interviewing for the Broncos HC job. After Jim Harbaugh rebuilt the program, Shaw kept the momentum. He had many very successful teams, but Stanford had definitely slid the past couple years.

I think there is something to that. Everyone's energy levels vary. It is extremely difficult to keep it at peak for 10+years. We all get a boost of new energy by starting a new job. There is excitement, there's new challenges....it recharges the battery, or refills the ol' tank (EV vs. internal combustion).

[Joe Bobcat]

Nice win for both teams last night. I think the ladies are making some small steps each game toward better offensive play. One area in particular is passes into the paint. Early on in the season they were not looking enough or seeing the pass too late and or making poor and ill timed passes. Now it seems they are looking more, seeing and passing timely with good and even innovative passes. The same can be said for the players down low. They are making moves to get open more timely and finishing better. I hope that is what's happening and that it continues. I'm very encouraged by the continued improvement of the play of some freshmen and new players. If this continues no-one is going to want to play us at the end of season.

Having said all that, Sac state looks like they could be real trouble for every team including the Bobcats.