BOZEMAN – Montana State is on a three-game losing streak in the Big Sky Conference, but the Bobcats know what they need to do in order to get back on track.
The Cats next opponent is Northern Arizona, a team they defeated by three points in late December. But MSU knows that performance won’t be enough to take down NAU this time. Even though MSU shot just 32 percent against league-leading Montana, the focus is on defense.
“(The Lumberjacks) have some big guys and they like to post it up and throw it down low and that’s been a struggle for us, our interior, this season,” said MSU’s Sam Neumann. “We feel like they’ve gotten a little bit better since the last time we’ve played them.”
Not only has the interior been working for them, their perimeter shooting has improved. Over the past three games, NAU has shot 52.1 percent from the floor, led by the backcourt of JoJo Anderson and Chris Bowling, who average 22 combined points per game.
“They’re shooting the ball a lot better now,” said Neumann, “so now we have to focus on both of those things, and defense as a whole has to be a lot better.”
MSU hosts NAU at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Thursday.
