# 2021–22 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represented Montana State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by third-year head coach Danny Sprinkle, played their home games at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, Montana as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the regular season 24–7, 16–4 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Sacramento State, Weber State, and Northern Colorado, to win the tournament, and earned the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Given a No. 14 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament, Montana State was defeated by Texas Tech in the first round.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bobcats finished the 2020–21 season 13–10, 8–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They defeated Idaho State and Southern Utah before losing to Eastern Washington in the championship of the Big Sky tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 25, 2021* 7:00 pm | | Providence (MT) | W 108–63 | – | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,713) Bozeman, MT |
| November 3, 2021* 7:00 pm | | Yellowstone Christian | W 116–42 | – | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse Bozeman, MT |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 8:00 pm | | at Colorado | L 90–94 $^{OT}$ | 0–1 | CU Events Center Boulder, CO |
| November 14, 2021* 2:00 pm | | Rocky Mountain | W 81–52 | 1–1 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse Bozeman, MT |
| November 17, 2021* 6:00 pm | | at South Dakota State | L 74–91 | 1–2 | Frost Arena Brookings, SD |
| November 20, 2021* 2:00 pm | | at New Mexico | L 78–81 | 1–3 | The Pit Albuquerque, NM |
| November 26, 2021* 1:00 pm | | vs. Portland Cardinal Thanksgiving Invitational | W 69–66 | 2–3 | McDermott Center San Antonio, TX |
| November 27, 2021* 10:30 am | | at Incarnate Word Cardinal Thanksgiving Invitational | W 83–64 | 3–3 | McDermott Center San Antonio, TX |
| November 28, 2021* 11:00 am | | vs. Southeast Missouri State Cardinal Thanksgiving Invitational | W 75–68 | 4–3 | McDermott Center San Antonio, TX |
| December 2, 2021 6:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado | L 75–77 $^{OT}$ | 4–4 (0–1) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,191) Greeley, CO |
| December 4, 2021 2:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | W 68–66 | 5–4 (1–1) | Hornets Nest (372) Sacramento, CA |
| December 7, 2021* 7:00 pm | | at North Dakota State | W 68–49 | 6–4 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,669) Bozeman, MT |
| December 11, 2021* 6:00 pm | | at St. Thomas (MN) | W 72–65 | 7–4 | Schoenecker Arena (1,097) Saint Paul, MN |
| December 19, 2021* 2:00 pm | | Portland | W 61–59 | 8–4 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,234) Bozeman, MT |
| December 22, 2021* 7:00 pm | | American Indian | W 124–73 | 9–4 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,026) Bozeman, MT |
| December 30, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Weber State | L 75–85 | 9–5 (1–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,918) Bozeman, MT |
| January 1, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Idaho State | W 60–40 | 10–5 (2–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,200) Bozeman, MT |
| January 6, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Idaho | W 92–72 | 11–5 (3–2) | Idaho Central Credit Union Arena (50) Moscow, ID |
| January 9, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Montana | W 66–59 | 12–5 (4–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,763) Bozeman, MT |
| January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Arizona | W 89–84 | 13–5 (5–2) | Walkup Skydome (840) Flagstaff, AZ |
| January 22, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Portland State | W 73–60 | 14–5 (6–2) | Viking Pavilion (1,496) Portland, OR |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Washington | W 69–65 | 15–5 (7–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,078) Bozeman, MT |
| January 29, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Idaho | W 70–64 | 16–5 (8–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,481) Bozeman, MT |
| February 5, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Weber State | W 78–57 | 17–5 (9–2) | Dee Events Center (6,329) Ogden, UT |
| February 7, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Idaho State Rescheduled from February 7 | W 72–54 | 18–5 (10–2) | Reed Gym (1,027) Pocatello, ID |
| February 10, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Portland State | W 77–74 | 19–5 (11–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,556) Bozeman, MT |
| February 12, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Arizona | W 72–70 | 20–5 (12–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,803) Bozeman, MT |
| February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Eastern Washington | L 86–88 $^{OT}$ | 20–6 (12–3) | Reese Court (1,216) Cheney, WA |
| February 19, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Utah | W 76–71 | 21–6 (13–3) | America First Event Center (1,360) Cedar City, UT |
| February 27, 2022 3:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Montana | L 74–80 | 21–7 (13–4) | Dahlberg Arena (5,285) Missoula, MT |
| March 1, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Utah Rescheduled from January 15 | W 69–53 | 22–7 (14–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,288) Bozeman, MT |
| March 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Sacramento State | W 75–69 | 23–7 (15–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,959) Bozeman, MT |
| March 5, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Colorado | W 87–85 | 24–7 (16–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (4,217) Bozeman, MT |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2022 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (8) Sacramento State Quarterfinals | W 83–61 | 25–7 | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| March 11, 2022 5:30 pm, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (4) Weber State Semifinals | W 69–66 | 26–7 | Idaho Central Arena (2,535) Boise, ID |
| March 12, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (3) Northern Colorado Championship | W 87–66 | 27–7 | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2022* 11:45 a.m., TNT | (14 W) | vs. (3 W) No. 12 Texas Tech First Round | L 62–97 | 27–8 | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Mountain. ||||||
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