It's Montana State here on Tuesday night

Brad Huse is the head coach of the Bobcats, has been since April 2006. His squad is currently 11-13 overall, 5-8 in conference play but an ominous 1-11 in away games. MSU is a member of the Big Sky Conference and currently in sixth place.

Shooting numbers tell the tale of Montana State's season:

* This is a team shooting 41% on the season while allowing opponents to connect at a 46% clip.

* The Bobcats have also attempted 182 more three pointers than opposing teams, shooting 33% versus 39% for opponents. So expect a barrage of long range shots from Huse's team.

* In cumulative scoring, it's 799 to 790 in MSU's favor in first half point production. But the second 20 minutes is somewhat different with the Bobcats at 878 points to 938 for opposing teams -- not a large differential but worth noting that the team's scoring proficiency drops as games goes on.

* Turnovers are fairly close with Montana State having a +45 differential.

* The rebounding numbers are also similar.

Comparative games of note

11/12/2010 @ Hawai'i L 59-77

11/24/2010 San Francisco W 76-59

11/29/2010 Seattle L 70-72

12/19/2010 UC Riverside L 67-78

1/16/2011 Eastern Washington W 71-59

2/13/2011 Sacramento State L 74-71

Sultan Toles-Bey and Alpha N'Diaye each scored 18 points and Sacramento State held off a late Montana State rally, boosting the Hornets to a 74-71 win in Bozeman on Sunday. Bobby Howard led the Bobcats with a career-high 28 points (9-26 shooting).

Sacramento State took control of the game shortly after halftime, scoring 10 points on its first four possessions to turn a two-point edge into a 10-point cushion. The Hornets eventually led by 15, 47-32 with 13:46 to play, before the Bobcats chipped away at the lead.

Trailing 65-55 with just over three minutes remaining, MSU used a 13-5 run to trim the lead to two points in the last 30 seconds. But Rod Singleton missed a contested layup with six seconds left and a three-quarter court three-pointer as time expired missed the mark, allowing Sacramento State to snap a six-game losing streak to the Bobcats, and a four-game streak in Worthington Arena.

Montana State will also host Idaho on February 19.

The Bobcat Starting Five

There is no Dario Hunt -- an athletic and inside power player here.

* 6-foot-10 Cody Anderson - 4.4 ppg., shooting 49% overall3.4 rpg.

* 6-foot-7 Bobby Howard - 14.3 ppg., shooting 39% overall, 31% on a team-leading 122 trey attempts, 7.2 rpg.

* 6-foot-7 Danny Piepoli - 6.8 ppg., shooting 34% overall, 32% on 100 threes (second on the team)

* 6-foot-5 Erik Rush - 15.2 ppg., shooting 43% and 33% respectively (the latter on 98 long distance attempts) , 4.3 rpg., team-leading 37 steals - this young man is from the South Bay (Milpitas High) so expect his family and friends to be out in full force

* 5-foot-10 Rod Singleton - 7.7 ppg., the QB of the team with 77 assist to 53 turnovers

That's a trio of seniors in Howard, Piepoli and Rush plus the junior Anderson and a junior college transfer (Singleton) in his first year.

Off The Bench

* 6-foot-7 Jourdan Allou - 3.9 ppg., shooting 57% but only 32% from the foul line, 3.4 rpg., second on team with 13 blocks

* 6-foot-5 Shawn Reid - 6.3 ppg., shooting 39% overall but 43% on threes

* 5-foot-9 Casey Trujeque - shooting 30% overall, 31% from long distance and 32 of his 43 shot attempts have been treys

* 6-foot-7 Tre Johnson - leads the team in blocked shots with

* 6-foot-10 Jeff Budinich - 42 of his 59 shot attempts have been three-pointers, he's making 36% despite topping out at 6-foot-10


The Montana State Roster (alphabetized and by position)

Cody Anderson C 6-10 270 Jr.
Blake Brumwell C 6-7 240 Fr.

Jordan Allou F/C 6-7 200 Jr.

Jeff Budinich F 6-10 235 Fr.
Steven Davis F 6-7 235 Fr.
Bobby Howard F 6-7 230 Sr.
Tre Johnson F 6-7 200 Fr.
Danny Piepoli F 6-6 205 Sr.
Shawn Reid F 6-5 195 Fr.

Tor Anderson G 6-2 200 Fr.
Chris McCall G 6-3 180 Fr.
Ryan McIntyre G 6-2 160 Fr.
Erik Rush G 6-5 210 Sr.
Rod Singleton G 5-10 185 Jr.
Casey Trujeque G 5-9 175 Fr.