Patrick McMahon scored a career-high 35 points for Montana State, but the Bobcats were unable to overcome Idaho State’s strong offensive performance, losing 91-76 in Pocatello on Saturday.
The game saw a scoring duel between McMahon and Idaho State’s Gus Etchison, who finished with 36 points. McMahon’s effort was the highest by a Bobcat since Amin Adamu scored 36 in January 2021. Despite outscoring Idaho State in the second half, an early 23-point run by the Bengals created a deficit that Montana State could not erase. With this result, Idaho State improved to 12-17 overall and 5-11 in Big Sky play, while Montana State dropped to 15-13 and 9-6 in conference games.
“I think it’s reflective of what he’s [McMahon] meant to our program,” head coach Matt Logie said. “He’s so resilient – he showed that again tonight. Our kids never quit. We were trying to get it down to 10 at some point where we could put some pressure on them and get some nerves with them, and every time we had a chance to make a run and make a big shot, things didn’t go down. But Pat kept fighting, kept getting those chances, got to the free-throw line, and made 15 out of 17 free throws. This wasn’t our night, and we’ve got a lot of opportunities in front of us still, so garbage in, garbage out.”
Montana State started with an early lead before Idaho State responded with a decisive run over seven minutes in the first half. The Bengals led by as many as 24 points early in the second half before Montana State cut into the margin but could not close the gap further than thirteen points late in the game.
Idaho State shot nearly 58% from the field compared to Montana State’s just over 42%. The Bengals also outrebounded Montana State by sixteen boards but committed more turnovers than their opponent.
McMahon contributed three rebounds along with his scoring output. Christian King added seventeen points and five rebounds for Montana State. Jed Miller led with three assists and three steals while Jaden Steppe shared team honors for assists and recorded one block.
Montana State will host Portland State next Thursday for its final home stand of the season at Worthington Arena. Senior Night will honor McMahon along with teammates Miller, Chris Hodges, and Davian Brown.
For updates on Montana State men’s basketball follow @MSUBobcatsMBB on Twitter or Instagram or visit msubobcats.com.
