BOZEMAN — Jed Miller tallied a career-high 24 points and Davian Brown added 21 as Montana State came out firing on all cylinders to defeat Northern Colorado, 89-75, on New Year's Day.
The Cats (7-7, 1-0 Big Sky) shot 21 of 32 (65.6%) from the field in the second half to pull away from the Bears (10-4, 0-1 Big Sky) in front of 2,829 fans in Worthington Arena. Jeremiah Davis added a career-high 16 points while Christian King chipped in 14 as Montana State extended its winning streak to a season-long three games.
"That was what we talked about this whole week was we've got the best numbers defensively in the Big Sky versus the toughest schedule in the Big Sky in the non-conference" head coach Matt Logie said.
"So, that's our identity and that's how you beat a team like Northern Colorado who is very, very efficient on the offensive end. And I thought our identity was strong today."
WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS:
Montana State opened the game on a 9-2 run behind six points from Davis and a three-pointer by Brown before Northern Colorado responded with a 10-0 run of its own to take a 12-9 advantage at the 14:25 mark in the first half.
From that point, Miller took over, scoring eight-straight points to put the Cats up, 17-12, with 12:13 left in the first half. King then added six points to increase Montana State's overall run to 14-0, giving the Bobcats a 23-12 advantage at the midway point in the half.
The Bobcats maintained a consistent lead until the closing minutes of the half when the Bears tallied six-straight points to cut Montana State's advantage to four, 32-28, at the 2:06 mark before the Bobcats scored five of the final seven points of the half to take a 39-33 advantage into the break.
The Cats scored 14 points off 10 Northern Colorado turnovers and did not give up a point on any of their three giveaways. Miller led Montana State in scoring in the first half with 11 points while Brown and Davis each added eight.
The Bears quickly tied the game at 39 with six-straight points out of the break, but the Bobcats responded with a 7-3 run to bring their lead back to six points, 48-42, five minutes into the frame. The Bears cut their deficit to one twice in the following two minutes but came no closer as Montana State used a 12-4 run to push their lead to nine points, 62-53, with 10:13 to play.
Northern Colorado responded by scoring seven of the next nine points to come within four of Montana State, 64-60, with 8:28 to play before the Cats knocked down a pair of threes to take a double-digit lead, 70-60, at the 6:42 mark.
From that point, the Bobcats made nine of their final 10 shots of the game, leading by as many as 18 points in the final minutes to ultimately secure an 89-75 victory in Worthington Arena.
"I think we got out in transition a little bit, we've seen some guys start to shoot the ball like they're capable of, and then we got some second chance points," Logie said of the Bobcats' 50-point second-half outburst. "We executed well, too. We understood what we were trying to accomplish, and the guys did a good job."
Montana State shot 52.4% from the field, including a blistering 65.6% in the second half, and led for 36 of 40 minutes played. The Cats committed a season-low seven turnovers and tallied 24 points off the bench.
Miller tallied a career-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting while Brown added 21 while shooting 6 of 9 from the field. Thursday's contest marked the first time two Bobcats scored 20 points in a game since Tyler Patterson and Jabe Mullins scored 26 and 20 points, respectively, at Sacramento State on March 1, 2025.
Miller also led the team in rebounds (6) and steals (2), while chipping in two assists. Brown was the Bobcats' blocks leader with two, tying his career high. Jeremiah Davis shot an impressive 7 of 10 from the floor for a career-high 16 points to go with five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
Christian King tallied 14 points, four rebounds, and a team-high three assists to round out the Cats' double-digit scorers.
The Bobcats will conclude their three-game homestand against Northern Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 3, in Worthington Arena as they look to extend their winning streak to four games. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m., with the game to air live on ESPN+.
