GREENSBORO, N.C. — In the battle of Bobcats versus Wildcats, Kansas State prevailed.
The No. 3 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament’s East Region defeated No. 14 seed Montana State 77-65 late Friday evening at the Greensboro Coliseum, a result that set up a meeting with more Wildcats: those of No. 6 seed Kentucky on Sunday in the Round of 32.
The Big Sky champion Bobcats could have had a second helping of Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament if a few more things had gone according to plan against Kansas State.
Most notably, MSU’s strategy of getting to the foul line did not have as much success as it did during the regular season and conference tournament. Montana State attempted just 17 foul shots — down from its average of 23.4. Further, MSU made nearly 76% of its free throws this season but hit just nine on Friday (52.9%).
“You can’t miss free throws at the rate that we did,” Bobcats head coach Danny Sprinkle said. “It was kind of uncharacteristic. We’re usually a pretty good free throw shooting team.”
MSU (25-10) was within striking distance the entire game despite that. The Bobcats would have been even closer if they had gotten more outside shots to fall. They attempted more 3-pointers (21) than they had in any game in over a month and sank six of them. One or two more would have given MSU more life.
Montana State's Nick Gazelas sinks a three-pointer over Kansas State's Keyontae Johnson in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, Friday, March 17, 2023 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
“I thought at times we had some looks,” Sprinkle said. “Any time you are going to upset a team, you have to make clean 3s.”
There simply weren’t too many of those opportunities to go around. Defensively, that was what Kansas State (24-9) was trying to accomplish.
“We knew that for them to win, they had to make 3s or shoot 2s at a really, really high rate,” Wildcats head coach Jerome Tang said. “I felt like we did a really good job of making it tough on them.”
Montana State had trouble bottling up K-State’s Markquis Nowell (17 points, 14 assists) and Keyontae Johnson (18 points, eight rebounds), both third team All-American selections. The 6-foot-6 Johnson was particularly difficult on both ends of the floor, Sprinkle said.
Montana State's Caleb Fuller contests a shot from Kansas State's Keyontae Johnson at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., on Friday, March 17, 2023.
“When he gets going putting the ball on the floor, he is so strong and athletic,” he said. “We don’t see a lot of guys like that in our league.”
Johnson had several impressive scores in the mid-range, and Nowell managed to find him and the team’s post players for easy scoring opportunities. It culminated with K-State owning a 48-30 advantage in paint points.
“We’ve been a paint point team all year long,” Tang said. “Whether we get there by the dribble or the pass, it’s just something that is a point of emphasis for us.”
MSU sophomore forward Great Osobor was MSU’s best post option, as he had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with seven rebounds, three blocks, two steals and one assist and three turnovers. It was an encouraging outing from one of the program’s most promising underclassmen.
“All the little things that entail a great player, that go into being a great player, he has that in him,” Sprinkle said. “He has to continue to develop his habits, but really excited about his future.”
Senior Jubrile Belo, Osobor’s older mentor, played his final game as a Bobcat. He managed five points on 2-of-4 shooting with two rebounds, two assists and one steal.
MSU’s bigger starting lineup of Belo, Osobor and Caleb Fuller — a tactic not seen since this season’s first meeting with rival Montana — was effective defensively for a while, particularly against Johnson and Nae’Qwan Tomlin. But K-State’s players used their own length and athleticism to shut down interior looks as well over time.
“They did an unbelievable job post defense-wise,” Sprinkle said. “A lot of it’s just effort.”
The Bobcats needed several different aspects of the game to fall their way if they were to pull off the upset. They needed to make and attempt more free throws and find more success inside. Without those elements, the team’s outside shooting couldn’t save it.
Coupled with a defense that was sometimes not quick enough or strong enough to match up with K-State’s weapons, Montana State’s visit to the NCAA Tournament lacked madness.
Montana State's players hug at the end of the Kansas State NCAA Tournament game at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., on Friday, March 17, 2023.
That said, MSU lost by 35 points in the NCAA Tournament last season in the same 14-versus-3 pairing against Texas Tech. The Bobcats were healthier and stronger this season and some players — like RaeQuan Battle (27 points), Osobor and Belo, among others — knew what it was like to play on this stage.
The Big Sky Conference is still looking for its first NCAA Tournament win since Montana’s in 2006, but MSU’s margin of loss this season was more in line with how the league’s teams have done in recent tournaments than last year’s performance.
From one season to the next, the improvement was obvious. And just like last year, Sprinkle was optimistic the experience of playing deep into March could only benefit the program’s future.
“We want to eventually knock these teams off, and in order to do that you have to be physical,” he said. “You have to be able to play physical for 40 minutes, not 30, and get multiple bodies thrown at you.
“We’ll learn a lot from this film, but I think going forward it gives our guys a lot of confidence playing Kansas State, one of the top teams in the country, pretty much down to the wire.”
