Montana State bounces Idaho

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Al Beye scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds Saturday night to lead Montana State to a 79-69 non-conference win over Idaho in a matchup set up by the teams’ involvement in the ESPN BracketBusters pool.

Marvin Moss scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half, including the Bobcats’ first eight points after the break, to give MSU (14-12) a 48-39 lead with 15:53 left.

Beye had six dunks, including one after he blocked an Idaho jump shot. Derrick Edmonds tracked down the ball and threw it to Nick Dissly, who hit Beye for a crowd-pleasing dunk that put the Bobcats up 55-44 with 12:26 remaining.

A 15-foot jumper by Ja’Ron Jefferson gave the Bobcats a 65-50 lead with 6:25 left, but Idaho scored eight straight to cut the margin to 65-58 at the 3:56 mark.

Beye scored six unanswered points to give MSU a 71-58 lead with just less than 2 minutes to play. His dunk with 1:01 left gave the Bobcats a 74-60 lead. Beye has scored at least 20 points in four of the past five games.

Tanoris Shepard led Idaho (4-19) with 21 points while Nebojsa Jakovijevic and Keoni Watson each scored 11.

Montana St. 79, Idaho 69

Idaho (4-19)—Vrzina 0-6 2-2 2, Kale 2-5 3-4 7, Jakovijevic 4-5 0-0 11, Watson 5-12 0-0 11, Shepard 7-15 6-9 21, Ledbetter 1-4 1-2 4, Dubois 2-8 2-2 6, Nwoke 2-3 0-0 4, Forge 1-1 1-1 3. Totals 24-59 15-20 69.

Montana State (14-12)—Jefferson 2-6 0-0 5, Moss 9-12 0-1 20, Beye 8-10 6-8 22, Durham 0-1 4-6 4, Edmonds 5-10 4-5 16, Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Durr 0-0 2-3 2, Dissly 3-4 0-0 8, Pratt 0-0 0-0 0, Morris 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-46 16-23 79.

Halftime—Montana State 40, Idaho 31. 3-point goals—Idaho 6-16 (Jakovijevic 3-4, Watson 1-2, Ledbetter 1-4, Shepard 1-6), Montana State 7-15 (Dissly 2-2, Moss 2-3, Edmonds 2-6, Jefferson 1-3, Durham 0-1). Fouled out—Kale, Watson. Rebounds—Idaho 31 (Vrzina 7), Montana State 29 (Beye 9). Assists—Idaho 10 (Watson 4), Montana State 16 (Edmonds 5). Total fouls—Idaho 21, Montana State 19. A—3,417.