Montana State couldn’t buy a two-pointer in the first half against Delaware State. The Bobcats seemingly couldn’t miss from beyond the 3-point arc after halftime.
The MSU men’s basketball team converted 10 first-half field goals, including shooting 6-of-14 from deep but just 4-of-12 from inside the arc. In the second half, despite star guard Tyler Hall’s shooting struggles, the Bobcats caught fire from deep to runaway from the Hornets.
Montana State outscored the visitors by 27 points in the second half to turn a 36-34 halftime deficit into a 91-66 victory. The Bobcats drilled 11-of-21 shots from beyond the arc after halftime, sinking 17 3-pointers all told in their fourth straight home victory to being the 2016-17 campaign.
“Energy,” MSU junior Zach Green Green said after scoring 16 points with 10 rebounds, four assists and a steal. “That’s what we mainly focused on at halftime was playing with better energy.”
Hall, a sophomore who leads the Big Sky Conference by averaging 25.6 points per outing through five games, finished 3-of-9 from beyond the arc and 3-of-11 from the floor. His nine points were a season low and he seemed to favor a tender back for most of the afternoon in Bozeman. His previous season-low was 16 points and he had two outings of 28 points and one of 32 so far this season.
Senior Sarp Gobeloglu, MSU’s second-leading shooter from deep with nine 3-pointers behind Hall’s 21 triples, made 1-of-3 from deep to finish with three points.
With two of its three leading scorers not filling up the scoring column, the rest of the Bobcats picked up the slack. True freshman point guard Harald Frey had his best outing as a Bobcat, hitting 5-of-9 from deep in scoring 19 points to go with five rebounds and a team-high five assists. MSU dished out 21 assists on 28 made baskets.
Green continued his strong play in the front court, posting a double-double. He scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, hitting two 3-pointers. Sophomore Sam Neumann hit 2-of-3 from deep and scored 14 points to go with six rebounds. Junior Joe Mvuezolo Jr. hit his only 3-point attempt and finished with 11 points off the bench. Senior Quinton Everett hit 2-of-5 3-pointers and scored 10 points as five Bobcats finished in double figures.
We did a much better job of (defending cleanly),” MSU head coach Brian Fish said. “Overall there weren’t the repetitive mistakes we’ve made. I can think of four or five (mistakes), but we continue to improve in that. And we need to continue to improve because we’re not the biggest team, but we’re scrappy and tough. That’s how we have to play.”
The Bobcats shot 60 percent after halftime and 51 percent overall. MSU held a 42-20 advantage on the glass. DSU grabbed just one offensive rebound.
Kavon Waller hit 5-of-7 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 17 points for Delaware State, a historic black college that hit 11 3-pointers total in Bozeman.
The win moves Montana State to 4-2 overall, including 4-0 at home and 3-2 against Division I opponents. Only Eastern Washington has three Division I wins among the 11 other Big Sky Conference teams. Montana State hosts Arizona Christian on Monday evening at 7 p.m.
