# 2016–17 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represented Montana State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by third 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 16–16, 11–7 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they lost in the first round to Southern Utah.

## Previous season

The Bobcats finished the 2015–16 season 14–17, 9–9 in Big Sky play to finish in seventh place. They lost in the first round of the Big Sky tournament to Sacramento State.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Stephan Holm | 1 | G | 6'3" | 175 | Junior | Riverton, UT | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Nahjee Mathlock | 10 | G | 5'11" | 185 | Junior | Las Vegas, NV | Graduate transferred to Alaska–Fairbanks |
| Tyson Kanseyo | 11 | F | 6'8" | 220 | Sophomore | Malden, Netherlands | Transferred to Chaminade |
| Marcus Colbert | 22 | G | 5'11" | 180 | Senior | Post Falls, ID | Graduated |
| Shikei Blake | 25 | C | 6'7" | 225 | Junior | Wilmington, DE | Transferred |
| Quinn Price | 33 | F | 6'9" | 205 | Sophomore | Casa Grande, AZ | Retired from basketball due to a knee injury |
| Danny Robison | 34 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Senior | Billings, MT | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Joe Mvuezolo Jr. | 1 | F | 6'6" | 185 | Junior | London, England | Junior college transferred from Miami Dade College |
| Keljin Blevins | 2 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Junior | Hot Springs, AR | Transferred from Southern Utah. Under NCAA transfer rules, Blevins will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Devonte Klines | 10 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Sophomore | Ranch Santa Margarita, CA | Junior college transferred from Saddleback College |
| Konner Frey | 11 | G | 6'5" | 210 | Senior | Bountiful, UT | Transferred from Utah Valley. Under NCAA transfer rules, Frey will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have one year of remaining eligibility. |
| Benson Osayande | 21 | F | 6'9" | 204 | Junior | Elk Grove, CA | Junior college transferred from Gillette College |

### 2016 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Devin Kirby #72 PF | Chandler, AZ | Basha High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Sep 22, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Harald Frey #72 PF | Oslo, Norway | WANG Toppidrett | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | Sep 15, 2015 |
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 23, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/04/2016* 7:00 pm | | Montana Western | W 86–72 | | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse Bozeman, MT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 5:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington State | L 65–69 | 0–1 | Beasley Coliseum Pullman, WA |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 pm | | Louisiana–Lafayette Hardwood Showcase | W 84–83 | 1–1 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,395) Bozeman, MT |
| 11/16/2016* 7:00 pm | | Rocky Mountain (MT) | W 93–76 | 2–1 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,262) Bozeman, MT |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 pm | | James Madison Hardwood Showcase | W 80–73 | 3–1 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,539) Bozeman, MT |
| 11/21/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Rice Hardwood Showcase | L 78–83 | 3–2 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,408) Houston, TX |
| 11/26/2016* 2:00 pm | | Delaware State Hardwood Showcase | W 91–66 | 4–2 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,307) Bozeman, MT |
| 11/28/2016* 2:00 pm | | Arizona Christian | W 93–73 | 5–2 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,341) Bozeman, MT |
| 12/01/2016* 7:00 pm, P12N | | at Utah | L 84–92 | 5–3 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,548) Salt Lake City, UT |
| 12/05/2016* 7:00 pm | | Milwaukee | L 78–83 | 5–4 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,212) Bozeman, MT |
| 12/07/2016* 7:15 pm | | at South Dakota | L 57–74 | 5–5 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,800) Vermillion, SD |
| 12/10/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Nebraska–Omaha | L 91–97 | 5–6 | Baxter Arena (1,511) Omaha, NE |
| 12/18/2016* 2:00 pm | | South Dakota | L 68–80 | 5–7 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,128) Bozeman, MT |
| 12/21/2016* 7:00 pm | | Central Michigan | L 103–106 | 5–8 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,066) Bozeman, MT |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| 12/29/2016 7:00 pm | | Weber State | L 75–87 | 5–9 (0–1) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,586) Bozeman, MT |
| 12/31/2016 2:00 pm | | Idaho State | W 80–63 | 6–9 (1–1) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,138) Bozeman, MT |
| 01/05/2017 7:00 pm | | at Eastern Washington | L 64–82 | 6–10 (1–2) | Reese Court (1,380) Cheney, WA |
| 01/07/2017 8:00 pm | | at Idaho | L 81–83 $^{OT}$ | 6–11 (1–3) | Cowan Spectrum (1,114) Moscow, ID |
| 01/12/2017 7:00 pm, SWX MT | | North Dakota | L 81–83 $^{OT}$ | 6–12 (1–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,629) Bozeman, MT |
| 01/14/2017 2:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | W 68–53 | 7–12 (2–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,313) Bozeman, MT |
| 01/19/2017 8:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | W 74–65 | 8–12 (3–4) | Hornets Nest (751) Sacramento, CA |
| 01/21/2017 8:00 pm | | at Portland State | W 71–65 | 9–12 (4–4) | Peter Stott Center (705) Portland, OR |
| 01/26/2017 7:00 pm | | Idaho | W 94–91 | 10–12 (5–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,620) Bozeman, MT |
| 01/28/2017 2:00 pm | | Eastern Washington | W 91–90 | 11–12 (6–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,951) Bozeman, MT |
| 02/04/2017 7:00 pm, Cowles MT | | at Montana | L 84–90 | 11–13 (6–5) | Dahlberg Arena (5,546) Missoula, MT |
| 02/09/2017 6:30 pm | | at Northern Arizona | L 63–69 | 11–14 (6–6) | Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ |
| 02/11/2017 2:00 pm | | at Southern Utah | W 83–78 | 12–14 (7–6) | Centrum Arena (1,761) Cedar City, UT |
| 02/16/2017 7:00 pm | | Portland State | W 92–90 $^{OT}$ | 13–14 (8–6) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,471) Bozeman, MT |
| 02/18/2017 2:00 pm | | Sacramento State | W 62–59 | 14–14 (9–6) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,916) Bozeman, MT |
| 02/25/2017 7:00 pm, Cowles MT | | Montana | W 78–58 | 15–14 (10–6) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (6,772) Bozeman, MT |
| 03/02/2017 7:00 pm | | at Idaho State | W 79–68 | 16–14 (11–6) | Holt Arena Pocatello, ID |
| 03/04/2017 7:00 pm | | at Weber State | L 67–76 | 16–15 (11–7) | Dee Events Center (8,575) Ogden, UT |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| 03/072017 8:05 pm | (6) | vs. (11) Southern Utah First Round | L 105–109 $^{3OT}$ | 16–16 | Reno Events Center (1,507) Reno, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||