BOZEMAN – Getting acclimated to his new job as Montana State’s head basketball coach is behind Matt Logie. The same can be said for Big Sky Conference play this season.
Cat-Griz, however, is always tough on new coaches and Logie is no different in that category after seeing the Bobcats scrap to stay alive only to lose 87-77 Saturday night at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
“It’s a special thing to be a part of,” Logie said after playing in front of 6,648 largely partisan faithful. “Great to be in this position. I’m grateful for the opportunity to represent Montana State. Obviously, it’s disappointing to not come out with a victory but we’ve got a lot of season in front of us.”
The Bobcats had a tough night slowing down Montana’s offense as the Grizzlies blistered the nets with 62 percent shooting from the floor, 64 percent from the 3-point arc and 81 percent from the free throw line.
MSU had some bright spots of its own with Robert Ford III leading all scorers and rebounders with 30 points and seven boards. Brandon Walker was 8-for-8 from the floor and the Bobcats hit 55 percent of their shots. But it was not enough as a red-hot Griz team made sure Logie started 0-1 in the rivalry after Danny Sprinkle won three of the last four against Montana before bolting for Utah State.
The Bobcats hung around until the 9-minute mark when Aanen Moody went off for 11 straight points making four consecutive shots to push UM’s lead to 12 and MSU would never get closer than seven the rest of the way.
“For me it was emotional, nerves,” UM head coach Travis Decuire said of his first Cat-Griz game 10 years ago. “It was a defensive battle. There’s some nerves that come with that but you don’t respect the game if you don’t have some nerves.”
DeCuire is now 13-4 in Cat-Griz games. He won his first and most recent games against MSU with the latter snapping a brief two-game losing streak in Bozeman.
“This is as special as it gets,” Logie said. “You can feel the energy in the building tonight. Hopefully next time that comes around we can make some plays and have a different outcome.”
Despite a couple glaring stats, MSU did well to stay in the game. The Grizzlies’ 33-2 edge in bench points and Moody’s big scoring spurt were a huge difference. MSU countered that with a three-headed effort by Walker, Ford III and Brian Goracke, who hit 26 of 38 shots from the floor and 5 of 10 3-point shots.
Logie and DeCuire have a long history together. Logie’s grandfather Ed Pepple coached DeCuire in high school at Mercer Island in Washington. Logie was a ball boy on that team. When Logie was at Whitworth his squad would often get on Montana’s schedule.
Montana State hosts Idaho State on Monday and Montana hosts Weber State the same day.
