BOZEMAN, Mont. — Eastern Washington (13-8, 7-1 Big Sky) had their worst long-range shooting performance of the season on Thursday night at Montana State (11-11, 6-3 Big Sky), snapping their nine-game winning streak with a 70-60 loss to the Bobcats. The Eagles went just 2 for 18 from beyond the three-point line.
Not much went right on the offensive side of the ball in Bozeman. As a team, they finished 22 for 49 from the floor (44.9%) and 14 for 21 from the free throw line (66.7%). Casey Jones led all Eagle scorers with 12 points, followed by Cedric Coward with 11. No others reached double figures.
"We were not the more physical team tonight," said head coach David Riley. "That's our identity, that's what is going to travel on the road, and we didn't do that."
Eastern trailed 32-25 at the half, marking their lowest first-half scoring output since the first game of the season, when they posted 20 at Utah. They managed to hang around as the Bobcats couldn't score efficiently either, shooting 34% in the first half and 36.9% overall, marking Eastern's best shooting defense since Jan. 13 at Idaho. Two free throws by Coward were the only points scored by either team in the final 3:45 of the first.
The Eagles continued to stay within striking distance throughout the second — MSU never pushed their lead beyond a dozen — but just couldn't string a run together to get any closer than 3 points. MSU hit a few key 3-point shots to keep their cushion, including three from veteran guard Robert Ford III, who led all scorers with 21 points, 13 of which came after halftime.
EWU finished with 18 turnovers to MSU's 12, marking two-straight games with 18 after they also struggled to control the ball in their win over Northern Arizona on Jan. 27. The Bobcats turned it over only 4 times in the second half and secured 14 offensive rebounds overall, allowing MSU to put up 16 more shot attempts (65) than the Eagles (49).
"The reality is that if you take away those offensive rebounds, you take away four or five turnovers and we have a chance to win this game," continued Riley. "We need to see more urgency, more toughness and smart basketball."
Eastern's win streak was the fourth-longest in the country headed into the game. They maintain a hold on first place in the Big Sky Conference at 7-1, ahead of 6-2 Northern Colorado, who won in double overtime at home against Idaho State on Thursday.
The Eags head to Missoula next as they'll take on the University of Montana on Saturday night at 7 p.m. MT / 6 p.m. PT. Watch live on ESPN+ or listen on 700 ESPN or The Varsity Network.
Eagle Notes
- The Eagles are now 6-8 on the road this season, including 3-1 in conference play.
- Eastern has lost two in a row to Montana State, but won 8 of the last 11.
- EWU was outrebounded for the first time since Dec. 18 at Cal Poly.
- Coward finished one rebound away from a double-double at 11 points and 9 rebounds.
- Ellis Magnuson moved into sole possession of second place in EWU's all-time games played leaderboard at 136. Bogdan Bliznyuk is first at 138.
Eastern's next home game is Saturday, February 10 vs. Idaho. It will be Equality and Inclusion Night at Reese Court in Cheney, with a doubleheader as the Eastern women will play at 2 p.m. followed by the men at 4:30 p.m. Tickets for that game and all EWU Athletics events are available at goeags.com/tickets or via the EWU Athletics Ticket Office at 509-359-6059.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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