MBB Tourney Game Thread

[tetoncat]

Great win, Cats! Congratulations!

Would love, however, to see the Cats carry their momentum through all the way to the end of the game. This game and the last game of the season against Eastern, the Cats played aggressively until about the 7 minute mark of the game, then slowed it down. Both times they let the opposition get back into it. Anyway, just my opinion.

I don't mind slowing the game down offensively and using clock, but first half ball came back out of post second half it didn't. And we went from great defensive effort to none in last 7 minutes

[rivercat]

Cats slowed their offense way down with about 10 minutes left. It's a smart move by Sprinkle. He's counting possessions left and point differential. A by product is losing momentum and the game gets a little closer.

It's not as fun to watch but is good coaching.. MSU was never really in danger of letting UNC back in the game.

[BelgradeBobcat]

As was pointed out earlier. Big Sky tournament wins should never be taken for granted-especially for Bobcat fans. UNCU threw on that press and we didn't attack it downhill and the lead slowly started to melt away. A couple of missed free throws and them hitting threes had me nervous at about the 5 minute mark. We shouldn't just concede layups because we're way ahead, but that's what we were doing. Great game by Caleb Fuller who was also defending their best player for a lot of that first half. Love to see him hitting those threes-which they were giving him wide open. Battle started slow, but got going. He's a handful as always. Ford is just so tough, really came through to help hold them off. I expect we'll be playing Weber next. We'll see.

[grizzh8r]

Great win, Cats! Congratulations!

Would love, however, to see the Cats carry their momentum through all the way to the end of the game. This game and the last game of the season against Eastern, the Cats played aggressively until about the 7 minute mark of the game, then slowed it down. Both times they let the opposition get back into it. Anyway, just my opinion.

Go, Cats!

I second this!!
The boys are 32 games into the season at this point and have yet to put 2 consecutive halves of basketball together. If they play the same brand of basketball in the 2nd half as they did in the 1st were talking about potentially holding the record for biggest blowout in tournament history. I want to see that team. Hopefully we get to see soon. 23-9 and this team still hasn’t peaked…

Dunno what game you guys were watching, but UNC threw the kitchen sink at them with the full court press and backcourt traps from about the 10 minute mark on. A bit hard to run offense when breaking a pressing/trapping team. Personally, I thought the Cats handled that stretch very well, despite a handful of missed bunnies by MSU. And facing all of that pressure but only allowing a couple turnovers. And I think all of those turnovers were in the key after burning some time off the clock, not at half court (or backcourt) where UNC could get an easy score. Credit the bears, they fought back very hard and expended a ton of energy doing so.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Even though RaeQuan is dead cold, Fuller is on fire and the Cats are up by 17 with 3 to go in the first half. “Fuller is hotter than a cheap pistol today”!

Also “hotter than a Texas parking lot.”

[MSU01]

Whoever decided to hire the Weber State crew including Joe Cravens for this tournament is a genius.

MSU is in a great spot with EWU losing, they'll be the most rested team in the tournament going forward. Griz fans have to be happy that their path to the final is Idaho State and NAU.

[CatBot]

Great win. I'm struck by the ability to build a 24 point lead and not play particularly well on the offensive end. I lost track of the number of missed bunnies. The defense was stout again for the first 32 minutes or so. I'm not worried about the late run by UNC. Playing defense at an elite level is really effing hard and this is a long tournament. Save the legs.

Let's hope the Weber-Sac game is fast and competitive all the way to the end. If it's Weber, I'm hoping Jones has 30+ minutes.

[Catfanatic84]

Fella's looked really good last night. Hats off to Fuller...man that dude played a great game. Rest up gents for the semi's....Go Cats!

[catscat]

Whoever decided to hire the Weber State crew including Joe Cravens for this tournament is a genius.

I hope someone will post the Cravens "block-charge" video. Always good for a laugh.

[CelticCat]

Fuller had his best game as a Bobcat, he has played really well the last few games. If it's not scoring, he's playing really good defense.

Battle skying high to block an easy dunk at the highest point was a highlight.

The script for Cat games is in - get a big lead and then let the other team come storming back when they go into full panic mode. So far it's worked pretty much all year but it's a bit nerve wracking. I thought the Cats handled UNC's pressure pretty well, just missed a few easy shots when they were to be had, but didn't make many turnovers in that span. It's so nice having Brown and Ford in that situation, two excellent ball-handlers.

I hate to say this early but we could be looking at a Cat/Griz championship. But we are going to have a tough game tomorrow, especially if it's Weber.

One game at a time, let's go!

[Bobcat4Ever]

Whoever decided to hire the Weber State crew including Joe Cravens for this tournament is a genius.

No kidding! Alex had the play-by-play guy (Joe’s set-up man) on Courtside and he was interesting and very articulate.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Whoever decided to hire the Weber State crew including Joe Cravens for this tournament is a genius.

No kidding! Alex had the play-by-play guy (Joe’s set-up man) on Courtside and he was interesting and very articulate.

Wish we could say the same for the women’s crew. Krista has improved by not saying gris or Selvig every 30 seconds — but the play-by-play announcer was an embarrassment during MSU’s game. I thought ESPN+ demands neutrality. The play-by-play was absolutely shrieking with adulation when Portland St. was pulling ahead with those three-pointers. Then Darian made a crazy athletic shot on a fast break, and she basically said “nice shot.” Her desire to see Portland St. upset Montana St. came through loud (very loud) and clear.

[tetoncat]

Great win, Cats! Congratulations!

Would love, however, to see the Cats carry their momentum through all the way to the end of the game. This game and the last game of the season against Eastern, the Cats played aggressively until about the 7 minute mark of the game, then slowed it down. Both times they let the opposition get back into it. Anyway, just my opinion.

Go, Cats!

I second this!!
The boys are 32 games into the season at this point and have yet to put 2 consecutive halves of basketball together. If they play the same brand of basketball in the 2nd half as they did in the 1st were talking about potentially holding the record for biggest blowout in tournament history. I want to see that team. Hopefully we get to see soon. 23-9 and this team still hasn’t peaked…

Dunno what game you guys were watching, but UNC threw the kitchen sink at them with the full court press and backcourt traps from about the 10 minute mark on. A bit hard to run offense when breaking a pressing/trapping team. Personally, I thought the Cats handled that stretch very well, despite a handful of missed bunnies by MSU. And facing all of that pressure but only allowing a couple turnovers. And I think all of those turnovers were in the key after burning some time off the clock, not at half court (or backcourt) where UNC could get an easy score. Credit the bears, they fought back very hard and expended a ton of energy doing so.

My disappointment was in the defensive effort late. To many uncontested 3's and layups.

[Colter_Nuanez]

[aucat]

I am watching the EWU vs UM women's game and it really makes me appreciate the independent, objective and professional job that the two announcers for the men's games provide. It seems to me that these two ladies are so pro UM that this might as well be UM's own announcers. Whenever the MSU women are on TV, I have to mute the TV sound. I would rather watch the game in silence OR listen to the MSU announcer 30 seconds out of sync than to listen to the incredibly bias for UM that these two women exude. On the other hand, while I miss listening to the MSU announcer on the radio since it's out of sync, I enjoy the unbiased coverage these guys provide.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Use the Varsity App for the radio feed and you can pause it to sync the sound.

[catscat]

Whoever decided to hire the Weber State crew including Joe Cravens for this tournament is a genius.

I hope someone will post the Cravens "block-charge" video. Always good for a laugh.

Found it.

https://twitter.com/JJSportsBeat/status ... zLCKSXAkLg

[WalkOn79]

The Cats had this game in hand throughout, but UNC has some players and they fought hard in the 2nd half. A nice win, that though at times a bit sloppy ended up being a comfortable W. Onto the semi’s!

It wouldn't be a Bobcat basketball game if they didn't find a way to make us just a tiny bit nervous there towards the end! On to the semis nonetheless, happy that the fans who traveled to Boise didn't get stuck with two one-and-dones.

Danny Sprinkle is now 6-1 in the Big Sky tournament after MSU amassed a whopping 3 total tournament wins in the 20 seasons between his graduation and return as head coach.

This is such a great stat!!