BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana State men’s basketball flies to sunny California this week to begin an eight-day stretch away from the Treasure State, beginning with a Sunday evening clash against USC in Los Angeles.
The Bobcats (5-5) face USC on Sunday at the Galen Center before taking on UC Riverside on Wednesday, Dec. 18 and heading straight to Texas to face TCU in Fort Worth on Sunday, Dec. 22.
Tip on Sunday against the Trojans is set for 5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT.
The game will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network, with live radio play-by-play from Voice of the Bobcats Keaton Gillogly airing on the Bobcat Sports Network.
USC (6-4) will be the third Big Ten team that the Bobcats face this season after close calls with Wisconsin and Northwestern.
Montana State has not beaten a Big Ten foe since felling Purdue in 1930, but went step-for-step with Wisconsin in the season opener in Madison on November 7, and lost by just three points in a back-and-forth affair at Northwestern in Evanston on November 19, 72-69.
Sunday marks the first ever meeting between USC and Montana State.
The Trojans, led by former Arkansas and Nevada head coach Eric Musselman, are coming off an 85-61 win over Danny Sprinkle and Washington on December 7 for their first conference win as a member of the Big Ten.
That win snapped a three-game skid that included losses to Saint Mary’s, New Mexico, and No. 12 Oregon.
USC is ranked No. 94 in KenPom, while Montana State is currently No. 131.
The Bobcats are No. 104 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, while the Trojans are slotted No. 150.
Montana State has won four of their last five games, and was the only team in the Big Sky to sweep their opponents in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge this week, handily defeating Omaha on the road last Wednesday before cruising past Kansas City at home last Saturday.
FINDING THE GROOVE
After starting the season with four of their first five games on the road against a handful of high-major opponents, Montana State has won four of their last five games, with the lone loss coming in overtime to a strong CSUN team. On Sunday, Montana State will face off with their third Big Ten opponent of the season after falling by 12 at Wisconsin in the season opener on November 7 and narrowly dropping a nailbiter by three points at Northwestern on November 19. Montana State has not defeated a Big Ten opponent since taking down Purdue in 1930.
FORMER TROJAN RETURNS
Max Agbonkpolo, a native of Laguna Niguel, California, was a four-star prospect and top-60 recruit out of high school at Santa Margarita Catholic before going on to play for USC for three seasons (2019-22), appearing in 90 games with 21 starts. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 7.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a junior in 2021-22 across 33 games with 18 starts for a Trojan team that went 26-8 and earned a No. 7 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. After one year at Wyoming (2022-23) and one year at Utah State (2023-24), Agbonkpolo is playing his final season of college basketball at Montana State this year and enjoying a career season. The forward is leading the team in rebounding (5.9 rpg) and is second in scoring (12.2 ppg) while shooting 47.1% from the floor and a career-best 37.1% from beyond the arc. Over his last four games, Agbonkpolo is averaging 16.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game on 56.8% shooting and has knocked down 12 of his 24 three-point attempts.
BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK
Montana State is one of the most experienced teams in the country in 2024-25, boasting five players in the rotation who have played in at least 112 games (Jabe Mullins, Tyler Patterson, Brian Goracke, Max Agbonkpolo, Sam Lecholat), and nine players who have at least four years in college basketball. Tyler Patterson has started 127 games in a Montana State uniform entering Sunday, the most of any active player at one school in the country and the most in Montana State history.
WIN AT THE ARC
After a slow start shooting the ball from the outside, Montana State has pushed the percentages back to their projected ranges. The Bobcats are 13th in NCAA Division I in reliance on three-point shooting, with 41.0% of their points coming on 3-pointers. MSU ranks 32nd in the country in three-point percentage (38.4%) and are 6th nationally in defending the three-point line, with opponents making just 21.2% of their attempts from deep.
DEFENSE COMING ALONG
Montana State has allowed just 63.4 points per game over the last five outings, going 4-1 in that stretch. On the season, the Bobcats are 5-0 when allowing fewer than 70 points and 0-5 when giving up more than 70 points.
B WALK WALKING THE TALK
Preseason All-Big Sky selection Brandon Walker is following up a stellar sophomore season with an even more impressive junior campaign in 2024-25. The native of Oak Cliff, Texas, leads the team averaging 14.3 points per game while ranking fifth in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (52.5%). Walker has scored at least nine points in all ten games this year, reaching double-figures in each of the last nine contests. The big man is also averaging career-highs in rebounding (4.8 rpg) and assists (2.0 apg). Walker is coming off a 17-point outburst in a road win over Omaha and a 16-point performance against Kansas City to help Montana State become the only team in the Big Sky to sweep their opponents in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
ABOUT THE TROJANS
USC reloaded in the portal once Eric Musselman took over the reins of the program over the offseason, with 16 newcomers joining the team–including eight graduate transfers. The Trojans have four players averaging double-figures, plus a familiar face to the Bobcats in Northern Colorado transfer Saint Thomas averaging 8.5 points per game. Last year’s Big Sky Newcomer of the Year has started all ten games for USC this year and is averaging 31.8 minutes per game.
GOLDEN AGE OF BOBCAT BASKETBALL
Montana State has played in four straight Big Sky Tournament championship games, gone 49-16 against Big Sky opponents over the last three seasons, and made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history. The Bobcats are the Big Sky Conference’s first three-peat champion since Weber State from 1978-80. In 2021-22, Montana State went 27-8, which included a 13-1 record at home and a program-record 16 wins in conference play. In 2022-2023, Montana State went 25-10, collected a 12-1 record at Worthington Arena, and went 15-3 in conference action. In 2023-24, Montana State knocked off Cal for their first Power Five road win since 2011 and made a run through the Big Sky Tournament as the No.5 seed, becoming the lowest-seeded team from the Big Sky to reach March Madness since 1994.
THE MATT LOGIE FILE
Second-year MSU head coach Matt Logie Logie has taken his teams to the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 13 seasons as a head coach, and is believed to be just the second men’s coach in history to lead teams to the Big Dance at the Division I, Division II, and Division III levels (Tobin Anderson). Logie ranks 11th in NCAA men’s basketball history in career winning percentage (.786) and is seventh among active head coaches. Logie came to Montana State after four seasons at Point Loma in California, where his teams rolled up an 82-23 record with three conference championships. His 13 seasons as a head basketball coach include eight at Whitworth University in Spokane (2011-19), where his Pirates compiled a 194-35 record.
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