# 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.
On March 17, head coach Brian Fish was fired. 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

College recruiting information :
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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

College recruiting information (2019) :
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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. |||||||

## 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. ||||||