Brian Fish never knows what Sarp Gobeloglu is going to do. If Gobeloglu keeps his coach guessing with performances like Thursday night, Montana State’s head coach might have a new favorite wild card.
MSU forward Sarp Gobeloglu finishes at the rim
Gobeloglu, a 6-foot-10 junior from Turkey who came to Montana State from Gillette (Wyoming) Community College, has an unconventional game, from his impossibly lanky frame and astonishingly high shooting release to his European influence. On Thursday with Sacramento State in Bozeman for a crucial early-season Big Sky Conference tilt, Gobeloglu put his skills on full display in front of 2,036 fans.
With the Bobcats clinging to a three-point lead and the shot clock winding down, Marcus Colbert drove into the paint, drawing a host of Sacramento State defenders. Montana State’s unbreakable point guard drew contact and kicked a pass to the top of the key. As he had all night, Gobegolu let fly and found nothing but the bottom of the net.
Gobeloglu’s fifth 3-pointer of the game gave MSU a 67-61 lead with one minute, 16 seconds to play. His final free throw gave him his first 20-point game as a Division I player and lifted Montana State to a 71-64 victory.
“One of Sarp’s greatest strengths is they don’t know what the hell he is going to do and I don’t know what the hell he is going to do so he’s probably impossible to write a scouting report on,” Fish said. “He hits that huge three, knocks it down. Tonight was exceptional but he’s played seven or eight games like that this year and it’s good.”
The win is Montana State’s second straight in Big Sky play to move to 2-1 in conference, 7-8 overall. Sac State lost for the fourth time in five outings to fall to 0-2 in league play, 7-6 overall.
MSU forward Danny Robison finishes a and-1
Home for the first time since December 6, Montana State overcame a week filled with adversity. The Bobcats lost their league opener in a shootout to Southern Utah in Cedar City. MSU bounced back to post an overtime win over Northern Arizona. Following the NAU win, Fish caught a flight to St. Louis to visit a prospect rather than returning to Bozeman. A harsh case of food poisoning leveled MSU’s energetic head coach, causing him to miss all but Wednesday’s practice leading up to his team’s conference home opener.
Following Wednesday afternoon’s practice, Fish had an animated and irritated talk with his squad. He called a meeting with seniors Colbert and Danny Robison that night to try to get the collective mentality of the Bobcats centered before his team’s 2016 home debut.
“First of all, I think the assistant coaches did a great job of getting through this and I thought we head great leadership from Danny and Marcus to get through this,” Fish said. “I will see them next Wednesday to see if it works again next week. I’ll tell you bad salmon isn’t the way to go with food, but our guys fought through it. We’ve faced some adversity now that is starting to put some notches in the belt to teach them what to do to win and that’s something I like in the growth of this team.”
Montana State buried half of its 12 first-half 3-point attempts and 54 percent of its first half shots overall in building a 35-33 lead. MSU cooled off after halftime against the bigger, longer Hornets, shooting just 35.7 percent. But Colbert’s pace-setting ability and leadership combined with Gobeloglu’s sweet shooting stroke helped the Bobcats grit out a win.
MSU coach Brian Fish coaches point guard Marcus Colbert
Montana State’s bench played 60 minutes, significantly more than the first weekend of the conference season. Gobeloglu, Tyson Kanseyo and Quinton Everett combed to grab 12 rebounds as MSU owned a 36-30 advantage on the glass, including 10 offensive boards. Fish said the performance “was the best our bench has been all year.”
With 3:31 to play and Montana State clinging to a 59-58 lead, Colbert missed a baseline jump shot. The ball careened out of bounds into the stands but the 6-foot-9 Kanseyo hurdled the front row, saved the ball to Zach Green and secured possession. Out of a time out, Gobeloglu committed a turnover but Kanseyo’s hustle ignited the crowd.
“It sets the tone for how we have to play the last three minutes,” Fish said. “It had a ripple effect. It turned our toughness up.”
With 2:48 to play, Jeff Wu drilled his third 3-pointer in crunch time to give Sac a 61-60 lead but MSU again responded. Freshman Tyler Hall, Montana State’s leading scorer (17.7 points per game), was 2-of-10 from the floor before he hit a pull-up jump shot in the lane to give MSU a 62-61 lead. The Bobcats would not trail again.
“We were trying to build off of last Saturday’s win and Coach emphasized a few things out of that game moving forward in the season,” said Colbert, who finished with game-highs of 21 points and five assists. “This was a big step forward tonight.”
MSU point guard Marcus Colbert
With Colbert acting as a one-man press and trap breaker against Sac’s swarming defense, Colbert drove the lane frequently and kick. Gobeloglu always seemed to be locked and loaded. Gobeloglu hit 7-of-10 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc for his career high point total. His previous career high was 16 points in a win over San Jose State earlier this season.
Gobeloglu is a frequent target of Fish’s tirades, but his improvement this season has been noticeable. After Thursday’s performance, Gobeloglu is averaging 9.0 points per game and is shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc (30-of-68).
“The thing about Sarp is he’s eager to get better,” Colbert said. “Us as a team, we notice it too. But Coach wants him to be so good because of his potential. We just keep him up, keep him going. He’s doing a great job for us.”
Sacramento State shot 50 percent in the first half, including knocking down 6-of-8 3-pointers as MSU struggled to rotate defensively. In the second half, the Bobcat defense locked in, holding Sac State to 33 percent shooting. Aside from Wu, the Hornets were 1-of-10 from deep after halftime as Montana State allowed its lowest point total of the season.
MSU point guard Marcus Collbert and Sac State forward Nick Hornsby dive for a loose ball
Despite a 12-of-22 performance from the free throw line, a 0-of-3 night from key reserve Quinton Everett and 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting from Hall, Montana State won for the second straight time. MSU’s seven wins equal the total number of victories in Fish’s first season last winter. The Bobcats host Portland State on Saturday afternoon as MSU shoots for its first three-game winning streak of the Fish era.
“I like how we are playing, I like our effort, I like some of our leadership,” Fish said. “I like how in the last seven days, we have advanced as a team. Winning is a byproduct of playing the right way. I like it going this way, 2-1 in the league with a chance on Saturday to get another one. But we are going to have to play really well Saturday. We can enjoy this one tonight and then we can lock back in. Certainly seven wins is fun but certainly no pay raises in seven-win seasons.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
