BOZEMAN — Head coach Danny Sprinkle and the Montana State men's basketball team are coming off two big road wins last week against Weber State and Idaho State.
Going back to the Jan. 9 road win over Idaho, the Bobcats have their first three -game true road winning streak since the 2004-05 season.
Momentum is riding high for MSU and it couldn’t be at a better time, because it’s now Cat-Griz week. Montana State will play rival Montana in Missoula Saturday night.
It’ll be the first Cat-Griz game as head coach for Sprinkle, who played at MSU from 1996-2000. Excitement and emotions for the big game will be high like it would be any other time the two rivals get together, but keeping those nerves in check will be the difference between a win and a loss come Saturday night.
“These are the games you come back for. It’s so important to everyone in this state, to both universities and that’s why you play Division I, you want to play in a game like this. And the atmosphere is going to be great. That's why you lift at 6 a.m. That’s why you go get shots up at night for games like this," said Sprinkle. "I know we’re going to play well, but it’s one of those where you can’t play too emotional. You can't come out too emotional and get down 10-2, because now you're clawing back in a hostile environment. We’re going to have to handle our nerves, and it's going to be fun to see some of our young guys who don't have the experience to go through it."
Tipoff between Montana (11-9 overall, 7-2 Big Sky Conference) and Montana State (11-9, 5-4) is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Dahlberg Arena. The Griz first have a Thursday game at Portland State (10-12, 4-6).
