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After a week long hiatus finals, the Buffalo Bulls are ready to get back into the swing of things and take on Big Sky opponent Montana State. The Bobcats are 5-5 against opponents that are easier than what UB has seen so far this season. After this game, the Bulls head to a top-50 opponent in VCU and hope to grab a huge win given the state of the program before they're on another small break for Christmas. Anyway, let's get to previewing Montana State:
Quick Facts
Opponent: Montana State
Head Coach: Brian Fish (12-28, 2nd year with Montana State)
Date/Time: 12/19/15, 2:00 PM
Home/Away: Home
Opponent's Mascot: a Bobcat (Which is better than the one from Ohio)
Current Record: 5-5, with wins against Colgate and Central Connecticut
2014-15 Season Record: 7-23 (4-14 Big Sky)
Postseason: Did not receive postseason bid
All-Time Series: Buffalo has never played Montana St.
Opponent's Roster and Stats
| Player | Position | Height | MIN | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| Marcus Colbert | G | 5'11" | 32.6 | 17.8 | 2.9 | 4.7 | 0.473 | 0.755 | 0.413 |
| Tyler Hall | G | 6'4" | 29.9 | 16.6 | 5 | 1.6 | 0.492 | 0.885 | 0.438 |
| Danny Robison | F | 6'8" | 27.1 | 9.2 | 4.6 | 0.8 | 0.467 | 0.634 | 0.345 |
| Zach Green | G | 6'4" | 25.7 | 8.4 | 5.2 | 1.5 | 0.446 | 0.676 | 0.188 |
| Stephan Holm | G | 6'3" | 14.4 | 8 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.553 | 0.556 | 0.577 |
| Sarp Gobeloglu | F | 6'10" | 19.8 | 7.9 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 0.483 | 1 | 0.425 |
| Quinton Everett | G | 6'3" | 19.2 | 6 | 4.9 | 1 | 0.392 | 0.536 | 0.417 |
| Nahjee Matlock | G | 5'11" | 10.1 | 1.8 | 2 | 0.7 | 0.214 | 0.556 | 0.125 |
| Tyson Kanseyo | F | 6'8" | 9.2 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.667 | 0 |
| Sam Neumann | F | 6'7" | 6.7 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.25 | 0.333 | 0.143 |
| Quinn Price | F | 6'9" | 3.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | -- | 79 | 37 | 12 | 0.457 | 0.685 | 0.397 |
Montana State seems to be a bottom quarter Basketball team. They do score a lot and play with a lot of possesions. It'll be a great test for our defense. This scoring is from the one-two punch of Marcus Colbert and Tyler Hall. If UB can shut those two down, it will cause a lot of problems for Montana State. Rebounding isn't the greatest for them either. They're 204th in the nation in rebounds and it's most likely due to they size. Only two players over 6'4" get significant minutes. They can't seem to find an answer for defense though as they're 326th in the nation for points allowed.
Notable Opponent
- Syracuse (Let's hope they win this one after we beat them)
Can We Win?
If all goes right, this should be an easier win than Binghamton. Montana State is the easiest game left on Buffalo's schedule and Team Rankings has us winning with 91% odds. A 20+ point win would be solid going into VCU