2018–19 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represented Montana State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by fifth-year head coach Brian Fish, played their home games at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, Montana as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 11–9 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. They defeated Idaho in the first round of the Big Sky tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Eastern Washington.

2018–19 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	15–17 (11–9 Big Sky)
Head coach	Brian Fish (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Chris Haslam Luke Fennelly Vinnie McGhee
Home arena	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Montana †	16	–	4		.800			26	–	9		.743
Northern Colorado	15	–	5		.750			21	–	11		.656
Eastern Washington	12	–	8		.600			16	–	18		.471
Weber State	11	–	9		.550			18	–	15		.545
Portland State	11	–	9		.550			16	–	16		.500
Montana State	11	–	9		.550			15	–	17		.469
Southern Utah	9	–	11		.450			17	–	17		.500
Northern Arizona	8	–	12		.400			10	–	21		.323
Sacramento State	8	–	12		.400			15	–	16		.484
Idaho State	7	–	13		.350			11	–	19		.367
Idaho	2	–	18		.100			5	–	27		.156
† Conference tournament winner

On March 17, head coach Brian Fish was fired.^[1] He finished at Montana State with a five-year record of 65–92.

Previous season

The Bobcats finished the 2017–18 season finished the season 13–19, 6–12 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Big Sky tournament to North Dakota.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Zach Green	0	G	6'4"	195	Senior	Gilbert, AZ	Graduated
Joe Mvuezolo Jr.	1	F	6'6"	180	Senior	London, England	Graduated
Devonte Klines	10	G	6'2"	185	Junior	Rancho Santa Margarita, CA	Declare for 2018 NBA draft
Isaac Bonton	13	G	6'2"	175	Freshman	Portland, OR	Transferred to Casper College
Benson Osayande	21	F	6'9"	200	Senior	Elk Grove, CA	Graduated
Konner Frey	22	G	6'6"	200	RS Senior	Bountiful, UT	Graduated
Luke Schultz	44	C	6'11"	230	Freshman	Fredericksburg, TX	Transferred to Christendom College

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Ladan Ricketts	11	F	6'5"	180	Junior	Livingston, MT	Junior college transferred from Sheridan College
Russell Daniels	20	G	5'11"	160	Junior	Baton Rouge, LA	Junior college transferred from Florida SouthWestern State College
Usman Haruna		F/C	6'11"	215	Senior	Kaduna, Nigeria	Transferred from East Carolina. Under NCAA transfer rules, Haruna will have to sit out from the 2018–19 season. Will have one year of remaining eligibility.

2018 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jared Martin #75 SF	Scottsdale, AZ	Prolific Prep	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 10, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 65
Zeke Quinlan SF	Portland, OR	Hillcrest Preparatory Academy	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Aug 2, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 0
Quentin Guliford SF	Peoria, AZ	Liberty High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Oct 28, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 0
Maximilian Schuecker C	Mödling, Austria	Oberwart Gunners	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Jun 2, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 0
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 10, 2017.

2019 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Caleb Bellach SF	Manhattan, MT	Manhattan Christian School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 9, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jubrile Belo C	London, England	Lamar Community College	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 10, 2018.

Roster

2018–19 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Zeke Quinlan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Life Christian/Hillcrest Prep Portland, Oregon G 1 Jared Martin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Saguaro Scottsdale, Arizona F 2 Keljin Blevins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr Bishop O'Connell Southern Miss Hot Springs, Arkansas G 3 Tyler Hall 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Rock Island Rock Island, Illinois C 4 Sam Neumann 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Cretin-Derham Hall Saint Paul, Minnesota G 5 Harald Frey 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Wang Sports Academy Oslo, Norway F 11 Ladan Ricketts 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Park Sheridan College Livingston, Montana F 12 Quentin Guilford 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Liberty Peoria, Arizona G 13 Lassi Nikkarinen 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Mäkelänrinne Helsinki, Finland G 20 Russell Daniels 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr McKinley Florida SouthWestern State College Baton Rouge, Louisiana F 31 Devin Kirby 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS So Basha Chandler, Arizona C 32 Maximilian Schuecker 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Redwell Gunners Oberwart Mödling, Austria C Usman Haruna   6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Potter's House Academy East Carolina Kaduna, Nigeria	Head coach Brian Fish (Marshall) Assistant coach(es) Chris Haslam (Wyoming) Luke Fennelly (Montana State) Vinnie McGhee (Cal State Northridge) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Oct 30, 2018* 8:00 pm		Montana Western	W 90–75		Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,818) Bozeman, MT
Non-conference regular season
Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Utah State	L 71–101	0–1	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,354) Bozeman, MT
Nov 9, 2018* 6:00 pm, BTN		at Indiana Hardwood Showcase	L 55–104	0–2	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN
Nov 11, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Presentation Hardwood Showcase	W 83–68	1–2	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,268) Bozeman, MT
Nov 14, 2018* 7:00 pm, MWN		at Colorado State	L 77–81	1–3	Moby Arena (2,243) Fort Collins, CO
Nov 17, 2018* 3:00 pm		at UC Santa Barbara	L 69–88	1–4	The Thunderdome (2,387) Santa Barbara, CA
Nov 21, 2018* 6:00 pm, SECN+		at Arkansas Hardwood Showcase	L 68–90	1–5	Bud Walton Arena (8,682) Fayetteville, AR
Nov 24, 2018* 12:00 pm		at Omaha	L 65–89	1–6	Baxter Arena (1,434) Omaha, NE
Nov 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, SWX Montana		North Dakota	W 81–76	2–6	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,527) Bozeman, MT
Dec 9, 2018* 5:00 pm, P12N		vs. Washington State Kennewick Showcase	W 95–90	3–6	Toyota Center (1,807) Kennewick, WA
Dec 18, 2018* 7:00 pm		at Denver	L 64–76	3–7	Magness Arena (879) Denver, CO
Big Sky regular season
Dec 29, 2018 2:00 pm		at Southern Utah	W 92–62	4–7 (1–0)	America First Events Center (1,802) Cedar City, UT
Dec 31, 2018 2:00 pm		at Northern Arizona	L 68–74	4–8 (1–1)	Walkup Skydome (472) Flagstaff, AZ
Jan 3, 2019 7:00 pm		Portland State	W 98–88	5–8 (2–1)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,297) Bozeman, MT
Jan 5, 2019 2:00 pm		Sacramento State	W 84–70	6–8 (3–1)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse  Bozeman, MT
Jan 10, 2019 8:00 pm		at Idaho	W 77–67	7–8 (4–1)	Cowan Spectrum (1,029) Moscow, ID
Jan 14, 2019 7:00 pm		Northern Colorado	L 70–73	7–9 (4–2)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,706) Bozeman, MT
Jan 19, 2019 3:00 pm		at Eastern Washington	L 81–85	7–10 (4–3)	Reese Court (1,500) Cheney, WA
Jan 24, 2019 7:00 pm		Weber State	L 84–93	7–11 (4–4)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,535) Bozeman, MT
Jan 26, 2019 2:00 pm		Idaho State	W 104–84	8–11 (5–4)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,140) Bozeman, MT
Feb 2, 2019 7:00 pm		Montana	L 78–83	8–12 (5–5)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (6,013) Bozeman, MT
Feb 4, 2019 7:00 pm		at Northern Colorado	W 69–66	9–12 (6–5)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,409) Greeley, CO
Feb 7, 2019 7:00 pm		Eastern Washington	W 74–66	10–12 (7–5)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,267) Bozeman, MT
Feb 9, 2019 2:00 pm		Idaho	W 86–72	11–12 (8–5)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,004) Bozeman, MT
Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm		at Idaho State	W 84–76	12–12 (9–5)	Reed Gym (1,436) Pocatello, ID
Feb 16, 2019 7:00 pm		at Weber State	L 82–94	12–13 (9–6)	Dee Events Center (7,508) Ogden, UT
Feb 23, 2019 7:00 pm		at Montana	L 83–89	12–14 (9–7)	Dahlberg Arena (7,135) Missoula, MT
Mar 2, 2019 2:00 pm		Northern Arizona	W 84–73	13–14 (10–7)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,022) Bozeman, MT
Mar 4, 2019 7:00 pm		Southern Utah	W 90–83	14–14 (11–7)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse  Bozeman, MT
Mar 7, 2019 8:00 pm		at Sacramento State	L 67–70	14–15 (11–8)	Hornets Nest  Sacramento, CA
Mar 9, 2019 8:00 pm		at Portland State	L 80–84	14–16 (11–9)	Viking Pavilion  Portland, OR
Big Sky tournament
Mar 13, 2019 2:30 pm, Pluto TV	(6)	vs. (11) Idaho First round	W 75–71	15–16	CenturyLink Arena  Boise, ID
Mar 14, 2019 8:00 pm, Eleven	(6)	vs. (3) Eastern Washington Quarterfinals	L 84–90	15–17	CenturyLink Arena  Boise, ID
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time.

References

1. "Montana State fires head men's basketball coach Fish".