BOISE, Idaho — The “Boise Bobcats” are up to their old tricks.
On the strength of offensive efficiency, No. 5-seeded Montana State blew past No. 4 Idaho State 80-60 on Monday to again advance to the Big Sky Conference semifinals and claim the program’s 10th consecutive tournament victory at Idaho Central Arena dating back to 2022.
The Bobcats, who are trying to win an unprecedented fourth straight Big Sky postseason title, again made themselves comfortable at their home away from home.
Photos: Montana State shoots past Idaho State, into Big Sky semifinals
"This is a program that has proven it belongs as an annual contender, and obviously coming off of three championship tournaments, these guys have a ton of experience," Bobcats coach Matt Logie said.
"I think experience leads into confidence and so this is where we expect to be at the end of the year. This is a program that has championship aspirations. So it's been something that all these guys signed up for."
Bobcat postgame: Coach Matt Logie, players discuss win over Idaho State at Big Sky tournament
MSU came out of nowhere to win last year’s championship and is again in a similar position as a below-.500 team, now at 15-17. But hot shooting is the formula and it didn’t fail the Bobcats when it mattered Monday.
The Cats shot 65.4% in the first half and hit 5 of 11 3-point tries. Tyler Patterson made three 3s in that stretch, the last of which put MSU ahead 30-16. Following a fast-break dunk by Bryce Zephir, the Bobcats built a 17-point advantage at 39-22.
Patterson and Sam Lecholat each had 11 points and combined to make 9 of 10 field goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes as MSU took a 14-point lead into the break.
The Bobcats continued the trend in the second half and were up by 26 points after a corner 3 by Jed Miller with 8:59 left. The lead eventually reached 31 points. MSU shot 63.5% for the game and had 21 team assists on 33 total field goals.
Patterson and Patrick McMahon each had 14 points to lead the Bobcats. Lecholat had 13 and Miller finished with 11. Jabe Mullins had five assists and Lecholat and Miller each finished with four.
"I think the coaches just put us in a great spot," Patterson said. "Our team flows. Shooting is contagious, and when one guy hits one it kind of avalanches that way. Fortunate for us, that's been the case" in Boise.
Toward the end of the regular season, Logie and the coaching staff made a lineup tweak and took forward Brandon Walker out of the rotation to favor a more collective style of play. It's paid off.
"I think what we learned over time was in order to be our best as a team, we need that flow and that ball movement to unlock some of these other guys," Logie said.
"And it's not to discredit anything that Brandon is able to accomplish out there, but this group collectively has just found a rhythm in these last few games that I think speaks a little bit more clearly to the vision of how we want to play as a unit."
Meanwhile, Idaho State standout and league MVP Dylan Darling struggled to find his stroke. Darling didn’t make a field goal until the 6:41 mark of the first half and misfired on all six of his 3-point shots.
Darling finished with 16 points, as did fellow Bengal Jake O'Neil. Idaho State was eliminated from the tournament with a 15-15 record. The Bengals haven't won the Big Sky championship since the 1986-87 season.
"We got punched tonight," Darling said. "Never really got my rhythm. Never really got my flow."
In the semifinals on Tuesday, the Bobcats will play No. 1 seed Northern Colorado (24-8) at 7 p.m. MSU, which has won 12 of its past 13 Big Sky tourney contests, will try to advance to the title game for the fifth straight year. No team has won four consecutive tourney championships in Big Sky history.
