# 2023–24 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represented Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by first-year head coach Matt Logie, the Bobcats played their home games on campus at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, Montana. They finished the season 17–18, 9–9 in Big Sky play, to finish in fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Weber State, Sacramento State and Montana to win the Big Sky tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season. As a No. 16 seed in the Midwest region, they lost to Grambling State in the First Four.

## Previous season

Montana State finished the 2022–23 regular season at 25–10, 15–3 in Big Sky play, to finish in second place. In the Big Sky tournament, MSU defeated Northern Colorado, Weber State and Northern Arizona to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 14 seed in the East region. They lost in the first round to Kansas State.
On April 7, 2023, Bobcats head coach Danny Sprinkle resigned to take the head coaching job at Utah State. Matt Logie, head coach at D-II Point Loma Nazarene, was hired by the Bobcats on April 17.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Caleb Fuller | 0 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Ipswich, England | Graduated |
| Nick Gazelas | 2 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Junior | Humble, TX | Transferred to Prairie View A&M |
| Great Osobor | 3 | F | 6'8" | 245 | Sophomore | Bradford, England | Transferred to Utah State |
| Alex Germer | 4 | F | 6'8" | 190 | RS Freshman | Missoula, MT | Transferred to College of Idaho |
| Darius Brown II | 10 | G | 6'2" | 195 | RS Junior | Pasadena, CA | Transferred to Utah State |
| Jubrile Belo | 13 | F | 6'9" | 240 | Senior | London, England | Graduated |
| RaeQuan Battle | 21 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Junior | Tulalip, WA | Transferred to West Virginia |
| Luca Colceag | 22 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Freshman | Bilbao, Spain | Transferred to Eastern Florida State College |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Aiden Gair | 0 | G | 6'6" | 198 | Junior | Williamsport, PA | Missouri State–West Plains |
| Jaden Geron | 5 | G | 6'8" | 175 | Junior | Fresno, CA | Rice |
| Brian Goracke | 21 | G | 6'5" | 210 | Junior | Monroe, OR | Point Loma Nazarene |
| Chika Nduka | 23 | G/F | 6'6" | 225 | Junior | Seattle, WA | Portland |
| John Olmsted | 15 | F/C | 6'10" | 235 | GS Senior | Morenci, AZ | Arizona State |
| Eddie Turner III | 3 | G | 6'2" | 160 | Freshman | Seattle, WA | Columbia |
| Brandon Walker | 2 | F | 6'7" | 260 | Sophomore | Oak Cliff, TX | UT Arlington |

### 2023 incoming recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jaqari Miles #23 CG | Stevenson Ranch, CA | West Ranch High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 19, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| 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: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 10, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northwest Indian | W 103–63 | 1–0 | 15 – Ford III | 9 – Lecholat | 6 – Turner III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,274) Bozeman, MT |
| November 11, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Seattle | L 68–71 | 1–1 | 18 – Goracke | 6 – tied | 3 – Lecholat | Redhawk Center (999) Seattle, WA |
| November 16, 2023* 9:00 p.m., P12N | | at California | W 63–60 | 2–1 | 26 – Walker | 9 – Ford III | 4 – Walker | Haas Pavilion (2,638) Berkeley, CA |
| November 20, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+/SWX | | Green Bay Montana State Multi-Team Event | L 53–54 $^{OT}$ | 2–2 | 26 – Ford III | 13 – Ford III | 3 – Lecholat | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,251) Bozeman, MT |
| November 22, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC Riverside Montana State Multi-Team Event | W 69–68 | 3–2 | 20 – Patterson | 9 – Ford III | 5 – Ford III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,484) Bozeman, MT |
| November 26, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Long Beach State | L 69–75 | 3–3 | 20 – Patterson | 8 – Ford III | 6 – Ford III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,501) Bozeman, MT |
| November 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Rocky Mountain | L 62–70 | 3–4 | 14 – Goracke | 9 – Ford III | 6 – Turner III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,571) Bozeman, MT |
| December 5, 2023* 8:00 p.m., P12N | | at Washington | L 61–85 | 3–5 | 13 – Ford III | 6 – Olmsted | 3 – Lecholat | Alaska Airlines Arena (6,042) Seattle, WA |
| December 16, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | SAGU American Indian | W 106–81 | 4–5 | 29 – Goracke | 9 – Ford III | 9 – Turner III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,586) Bozeman, MT |
| December 19, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Utah | W 89–88 $^{OT}$ | 5–5 | 23 – Goracke | 10 – Ford III | 4 – Nduka | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,229) Bozeman, MT |
| December 22, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cal State Northridge | L 70–82 | 5–6 | 23 – Ford III | 9 – Ford III | 2 – tied | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (418) Bozeman, MT |
| December 28, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Idaho State | W 74–66 | 6–6 (1–0) | 29 – Goracke | 8 – Goracke | 3 – Ford III | Reed Gym (1,211) Pocatello, ID |
| December 30, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Weber State | L 64–86 | 6–7 (1–1) | 18 – Turner III | 5 – Goracke | 4 – tied | Dee Events Center (4,886) Ogden, UT |
| January 3, 2024* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Oral Roberts Big Sky–Summit League Challenge | L 76–82 | 6–8 | 20 – Walker | 10 – Ford III | 6 – Turner III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,316) Bozeman, MT |
| January 6, 2024* 3:15 p.m., Summit League Network | | at South Dakota State Big Sky–Summit League Challenge | L 61–89 | 6–9 | 13 – Goracke | 4 – tied | 3 – Turner III | Frost Arena (2,167) Vermillion, SD |
| January 11, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Arizona | W 79–50 | 7–9 (2–1) | 17 – Walker | 12 – Ford III | 4 – tied | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,608) Bozeman, MT |
| January 13, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Colorado | W 90–81 | 8–9 (3–1) | 25 – Goracke | 12 – Ford III | 5 – Walker | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,093) Bozeman, MT |
| January 20, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Montana | L 77–87 | 8–10 (3–2) | 30 – Ford III | 7 – Ford III | 3 – tied | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (6,648) Bozeman, MT |
| January 22, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Idaho State | W 77–70 | 9–10 (4–2) | 19 – Walker | 13 – Ford III | 4 – Lecholat | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,449) Bozeman, MT |
| January 25, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Sacramento State | W 70–62 | 10–10 (5–2) | 20 – Goracke | 7 – Goracke | 5 – Ford III | Hornets Nest (1,253) Sacramento, CA |
| January 27, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Portland State | L 91–94 | 10–11 (5–3) | 26 – Ford III | 8 – Ford III | 7 – Turner III | Viking Pavilion (1,197) Portland, OR |
| February 1, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Washington | W 70–60 | 11–11 (6–3) | 21 – Ford III | 10 – Lecholat | 5 – Ford III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,012) Bozeman, MT |
| February 3, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Idaho | L 75–81 | 11–12 (6–4) | 15 – Ford III | 7 – Ford III | 5 – tied | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,761) Bozeman, MT |
| February 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Colorado | L 70–73 | 11–13 (6–5) | 24 – Ford III | 6 – tied | 4 – Turner III | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,055) Greeley, CO |
| February 10, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Arizona | L 71–76 | 11–14 (6–6) | 22 – Walker | 11 – tied | 4 – Turner III | Walkup Skydome (709) Flagstaff, AZ |
| February 17, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Montana | L 69–88 | 11–15 (6–7) | 18 – Turner III | 8 – Ford III | 3 – Turner III | Dahlberg Arena (5,704) Missoula, MT |
| February 22, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Portland State | W 72–67 | 12–15 (7–7) | 27 – Turner III | 9 – Walker | 5 – Ford III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,571) Bozeman, MT |
| February 24, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Sacramento State | L 63–66 | 12–16 (7–8) | 19 – Walker | 6 – tied | 4 – Turner III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (4,002) Bozeman, MT |
| February 29, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Idaho | W 62–48 | 13–16 (8–8) | 14 – Ford III | 7 – Walker | 2 – Ford III | ICCU Arena (1,537) Moscow, ID |
| March 2, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Eastern Washington | L 104–108 $^{OT}$ | 13–17 (8–9) | 24 – Turner III | 8 – tied | 9 – Turner III | Reese Court (2,451) Cheney, WA |
| March 4, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Weber State | W 76–64 | 14–17 (9–9) | 15 – Olmsted | 9 – Ford III | 6 – Turner III | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,137) Bozeman, MT |
| Big Sky tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2024 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (4) Weber State Quarterfinals | W 91–82 | 15–17 | 27 – Ford III | 6 – tied | 4 – tied | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| March 12, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPNU/ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (10) Sacramento State Semifinals | W 74–71 | 16–17 | 19 – Ford III | 11 – Lecholat | 4 – Turner III | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| March 13, 2024 9:30 p.m., ESPN2/ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (3) Montana Championship | W 85–70 | 17–17 | 22 – Ford III | 9 – Ford III | 4 – Ford III | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 20, 2024 4:40 p.m., TruTV | (16 MW) | vs. (16 MW) Grambling State First Four | L 81–88 $^{OT}$ | 17–18 | 26 – Ford III | 6 – tied | 5 – Turner III | UD Arena Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest region. All times are in Mountain. |||||||||
Source: