BOZEMAN — From Saturday morning to Saturday evening, it was a full day of celebration for Montana State athletics as the banner for the football program's national championship was hung in Worthington Arena, and the basketball teams followed it up with a sweep of rival Montana.
The men's game served as the nightcap, and Bobcat head coach Matt Logie and his team was plenty aware of the spotlight on them with all of the festivities leading into their matchup with the Griz.
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"Well, I didn't want to be that guy, you know?" Logie joked. "It was not lost on anybody what this day could mean for Bobcat Nation in terms of celebrating what has occurred and also championing and celebrating where we're at as a department. And so we were thrilled to get the victory tonight and continue to build off of that momentum."
It was a back-and-forth contest, and the win propelled the MSU men to 4-1 in Big Sky Conference play and into the No. 2 spot in the league standings behind Portland State.
Montana State's women's program started the doubleheader with a dominant showing over Montana with its largest win ever over the Lady Griz in a 38-point blowout.
"I think it surpassed the hype, honestly," MSU guard Jamison Philip said. "I just went into it knowing it's going to be a loud game. We're going to have fans on our side. And then when I looked at the community and saw how many people were there to rally around us and support us, it just made me feel even better that I chose Montana State and that we have this much of a community to support us every game."
With a talented young core that coach Tricia Binford says has gelled together well in practice, plus a roster deep and loaded with talent, the Bobcats remain the lone team undefeated in Big Sky play at 5-0, as the defending conference champs have flexed their muscles early as the clear-cut team to beat.
"I just say our all-around team chemistry. Defensively, our team chemistry just continues to grow each and every game," MSU sophomore guard Taylee Chirrick said. "So that's been really fun to see. And then offensively, too, everyone's been able to step up. Everyone played a good amount of minutes tonight of equaling it out. So it's been really cool to just see everyone just working really hard and playing good together."
On the Lady Griz side, UM fell to 0-5 in league play, as Montana is still searching for answers in what's been a challenging season.
"I'm going to relentlessly believe in our team until there's no more time, until there's no more days left," Lady Griz head coach Nate Harris said. "We'll show up tomorrow and get after it and prepare for a chance to get off the snide on Monday. Our group's going to start winning. Our group's going to turn the corner. I'll never believe anything otherwise."
For the Griz men, their roller-coaster season continues, as UM fell to 3-2 in Big Sky play and is trying to find full consistency from this year's squad.
"I think we're defending well enough to win. I think offensively, we are not very clean," Griz head coach Travis DeCuire said. "We turn the ball over when we should be getting good shots. We're shooting the ball when the guys are open. We just need to become a more efficient basketball team on the offensive side of the ball."
