MSU Men’s Basketball Starts Four Matches Homestand Versus Portland Sunday

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State kicks off a run of four home games in a row on Sunday when the Bobcats welcome Portland to Worthington Arena for a 2pm tip off. The fight between the Bobcats and the Pilots will be the second of the 2021-22 season.

The Bobcats went 3-0 at the UIW Thanksgiving Invitational from November 26-28 with their first win in the regular season tournament coming in a 69-66 way over Portland. MSU avenged the previous season’s 62-59 loss at the hands of Portland by playing important future play. MSU beat Portland 43.6-41.5%. ‘Cats and Pilots also played evenly in rebounds (30-30) and turnover (12-12).

MSU is led in the contest by four double-digit scorers. Abdul Muhammad | paced Bobcats with a career-high 25 points. He scored seven field goals, four of which were three-pointers, and made 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. Amen Adam has the season’s highest 15 points temporarily Jubrile Belo scored his first double-double of the year.

Montana State completed a string of games against Summit League opponents last Saturday when MSU played St. Thomas at St. Paul. The Bobcats finished 2-1 against Summit League opposition.

The Bobcats lost the game 91–74 at South Dakota State on November 17. At their first home of the 2021–22 season against Division I opponents, MSU led nearly the entire game with a 68–49 win over North Dakota State on December 7 MSU held NDSU to just 33% from the field and was led offensively by RaeQuan Battle season high 16 points. The Bobcats trailed by 18 at half-time to the Tommies on 11 December, but season high on goalscoring Xavier Bishop (20) and Nick Gazalas (12) propelled MSU to a 72-65 win in the first Division I vs Division I clash of St. Thomas at the gym.

Portland will head into Sunday’s game against Montana State playing its fourth game in seven days. The Pilots narrowly missed Cal Poly at home on Monday when Mike Meadows hit a pair of free throws with 8 seconds remaining to give Portland a 78-77 win over the Mustang. Portland leads the scoring column with Kristian Sjolund’s career-high 20 points. On Wednesday, Portland dropped a 96-71 decision in Oregon. Chris Austin has a team-high 19 points.

Currently 8-4 overall, the Pilots host San Jose State on Friday before traveling to Bozeman. Portland, which scored 17 of 20 (85%) from the free-throw line versus MSU on Nov. 26, is the nation’s second-best free-throw shooting team with an 81.4% clip average.

MSU returns at Adamu, Belo and Bishop are each close to a high level of achievement. Bishop’s career of 1,494 points places him 54th among active Division I men’s basketball players. His 426 assists keep him 40th overall. Adamu and Belo are each on track to become the 1,000-point scorer at Montana State. Adamu heads into Sunday’s fight with 782 points. Belo, who is already among MSU’s top 10 in percentage and field goal blocks, sits at 875 points.

Montana State’s match against Portland will be broadcast on ESPN+. The game will also be broadcast on Bobcat Radio Network on KMMS 1450 AM as well as on the Varsity Network app. Links for live streams, live statistics and radio coverage are available on the men’s basketball schedule page at msubobcats.com.