BOZEMAN – The biggest games of the basketball season will tip off Saturday when Montana State welcomes in the University of Montana for a doubleheader.
Once again, lines will be drawn in the sand for those who support the Blue and Gold and those who side with the Maroon and Silver. For the MSU men, they were swept last season by the Montana, losing by no less than 15 points in each contest.
The Bobcats hope this year brings different results, but they’re not getting sucked into the hype of Cat-Griz. They understand the excitement this rivalry brings to the Treasure State, but, to them, this is just another week of basketball in the Big Sky Conference.
“It’s just another game in league play. It means a lot to people and we respect that and understand that, and people will sometimes say, ‘Well, if you beat the Griz, that’s all that matters.’ It’s not, really, that’s the truth. It’s 20 league games,” said MSU head coach Brian Fish. “It will mean a lot to the people in the state, it means a lot to the people in our program, it means a lot to their people, I’m sure. But we need to play well and continue to get better, because 36 hours after that game we’re at Northern Colorado on the road, and that one counts the same as this one.”
Montana State will host Montana on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
