MBB vs Grand Canyon University

[MSU01]

That sucked. If Belo and Osobor can hit a few bunnies in the second half it's a totally different result. MSU has a hell of a team but there's also a lot of work to do.

[BelgradeBobcat]

This is going to haunt this team. Really bad loss.

[WYCAT]

41-18 in the second half. That seems impossible but we did it

[mslacatfan]

Hmmmmmmm……. Wtf just happened?!?

[mslacatfan]

41-18 in the second half. That seems impossible but we did it

Not sure if I have ever seen a team 180 like that from the 1st half to the 2nd half….

The first half they looked like a top 25 team…. Ha. 2nd half….. wow, I’m at a loss for words.

[rivercat]

Didn't match GCUs intensity after the half, lost momentum, and lost the game.

[msu_agfan]

Bummer. Just gotta pick themselves up and regroup. We have some new faces and it seems to usually take a few games for everyone to gel. Any thoughts on all the moving screen calls?

[tetoncat]

Lot of new pieces so will need to figure out rotations. Big guys missed several backdowns when we needed a shot. Patterson couldn't hit open 3 in second half. They are picked to win their league. Did you notice they started 2 bench guys to give energy in 2nd. It worked, they got momentum, crowd back in it , and pretty much got all calls down stretch

[CatBlitz]

41-18 in the second half. That seems impossible but we did it

No matter how good this team is, we manage to do something absurd every year. It never changes.

[MSU01]

Bummer. Just gotta pick themselves up and regroup. We have some new faces and it seems to usually take a few games for everyone to gel. Any thoughts on all the moving screen calls?

Looked like correct calls to me, MSU just wasn't executing properly down the stretch.

[CatBlitz]

This team definitely has some talent. I believe in Sprinkle to build on this throughout the year.
Really tough loss but you just gotta move on and learn.

[Colter_Nuanez]

DISPATCH from Phoenix tonight by @TomCat88 from Montana State's season opener:

'Cats blow halftime lead, lose to WAC favorite Grand Canyon in season opener
https://skylinesportsmt.com/cats-blow-h ... on-opener/

[aucat]

First of all let's don't build up Grand Canyon to be some type of top 25 team. They aren't. They ended up with an RPI of about 92 last year and we weren't far behind that. I muted the GCU announcers and listened to our guy Keaton who I am really appreciating. Keaton made a great point that when a team makes a big comeback like GCU did, they usually run out of gas with about 5 or 10 minutes left. Great point. I kept waiting for our guys to turn it back on. It never happened. As Keaton said, this loss will really sting. No excuse for not showing up at all in the second half. Never once challenged their run.

By the way, GCU is sort of the "Liberty of the West." They have an enrollment of 20,000 on campus and 80,000 online. Tremendous home crowd support. Most games are sold out. I'm surprised they don't have a football team. Look at what Liberty is doing with their football program.

I don't understand why we keep playing GCU at their place. It's time they come to the Brick. We could get a good early season rivalry going. Very easy flight between Bozeman and Mesa on Allegiant, for example.

[nevadacat]

These may be a couple of the most annoying play by play announcers we’ve ever had.

Yea they are obnoxious.

Color guy is Marty Mornhinweg‘s long lost twin.

[CelticCat]

I know we were picked to win the league but I just wasn't sure what we were going to have this year, we lost some major experience. I came away thinking the Bobcats are going to be an absolute handful in the Big Sky. We should have won this game, sure but I feel like that will come with time as the team gels and gets more experience.

[nevadacat]

First of all let's don't build up Grand Canyon to be some type of top 25 team. They aren't. They ended up with an RPI of about 92 last year and we weren't far behind that. I muted the GCU announcers and listened to our guy Keaton who I am really appreciating. Keaton made a great point that when a team makes a big comeback like GCU did, they usually run out of gas with about 5 or 10 minutes left. Great point. I kept waiting for our guys to turn it back on. It never happened. As Keaton said, this loss will really sting. No excuse for not showing up at all in the second half. Never once challenged their run.

By the way, GCU is sort of the "Liberty of the West." They have an enrollment of 20,000 on campus and 80,000 online. Tremendous home crowd support. Most games are sold out. I'm surprised they don't have a football team. Look at what Liberty is doing with their football program.

I don't understand why we keep playing GCU at their place. It's time they come to the Brick. We could get a good early season rivalry going. Very easy flight between Bozeman and Mesa on Allegiant, for example.

First time I have seen “easy flight” and “Allegiant” in the same sentence.

[CelticCat]

GCU is 26-5 at home since 2020, it's not an easy place to win.

[tetoncat]

15-2 last year, 10-3, 8-8, 12-2, 16-3, 15-3. They do not lose at home much. They changed intensity, we didn't match. Need to learn who will be the guys to answer the call at end of games. They were more athletic than us with a few lineups down the stretch

[BelgradeBobcat]

There's something about MSU teams and blowing leads in AZ. Football did it on Saturday. MBB blew a big lead to NAU last season as did WBB. All those teams managed to win anyway. MBB finally got bit in the arse last night.

My big concern. Even when we were way ahead we weren't hitting a lot of outside shots. Battle and Patterson chucked bricks all game long. Neither point guard are very good outside shooters. We don't have Xavier Bishop or Harry Frey to bail us out. I guess were red shirting the kid from California who hit a bunch of threes in the summer tour?

[aucat]

Two things: 1. Regarding getting GCU to come to Bozeman, fugetta about it. I did some research. With their sold out games, they are loaded with cash and they don't go play on the road if they don't have to. I guess we get a pretty big paycheck when we go there. And by the way, regarding getting to the Phoenix area from BZN, I know that Allegiant flights are limited to Mesa. But we flew in to Sky Harbor at PHX on United to go up to Flagstaff and attend the MSU-NAU game. The traffic in Phoenix is absolutely horrendous. Plus you have to go WAY outta the way to turn in your rental car at the Rental Car Center. Next time I will try to fly into Mesa on Allegiant and avoid the terrible congestion.

Bky the way, I looked it up and GCU is doing so well with BB that their prez said they are not even considering starting up a football programs. He says it would take 10-15 years to break even.

2. If GCU can sell out games, I think it's time Bobcat fans pick it up with our basketball teams. We need to get bigger crowds. We have good teams, let's get more fans there, like we do for football.