BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's basketball team's homestand continues, as the Yellowjackets host a pair of opponents from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this week.
 
The Black Hills State University Yellow Jackets and the Yellowjackets (1-3) will square off on Wednesday, followed by a Saturday-night showdown with the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers later in the week. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted on MSUB's YouTube channel.
 
According to head coach Mick Durham, the next two games are getting ready for the pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games scheduled for next week. Every season, each GNAC team plays a pair of conference games in December, yet the two opponents this week could help the 'Jackets gain some momentum before playing Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene at home next week.
 
"The biggest things with these two games are to get us ready for next Thursday," Durham said. "I told the guys that the two most important games we play before Christmas are our two GNAC games. The nice thing is, we're able to be home on this stretch. It seems like we've been playing a few games and it's been hard to get good, quality practices in because we're playing quite a bit."
 
MSUB has yet to win a game at home this season, as the team started the season with three games down in San Marcos, Calif. before returning home for its regular-season home opener against Minot State last Saturday.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK
Needing to stifle Minot State's prolific three-point-shooting offense, the Yellowjackets clamped down on the Beavers' guards, forced eight first-half turnovers and held the opposition to 1-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
The first half was a low-scoring affair, as both teams started cold and shot well below 40% from the field. As Minot State couldn't hit open looks, MSUB stayed in the mix by only allowing one offensive rebound and forcing eight Minot State turnovers. Yet the 'Jackets trailed until Jaren Fritz, Brent Finn and Nicholas Sebastiao made threes late to give MSUB a slim 27-26 lead at halftime.
 
"We seemed to move the ball well in the first half and play together," Durham said. "We're really trying to be solid defensively and we did a good job on the boards. So we're trying to take as away those positives and as we can from each game."
 
Then in the second half, the dam burst.
 
Minot State went on a 11-0 run midway through the second half to put MSUB away. The Beavers led by as many as 20 points until Carrington Wiggins tried leading a comeback, scoring 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half. Yet that barrage of Minot State threes – combined with MSUB shooting only 38.5% from the field – was too much to overcome.
 
THE SEASON SO FAR
Coming into the 2021-22 with one player with GNAC experience and three starters from the pair of exhibitions played last spring, the 'Jackets are still solidifying their rotation with its group of newcomers.
 
MSUB has played with three different starting lineups four games into the season, but has had three consistent starters in its backcourt between upperclassmen Carrington Wiggins (16.0 points per game), Damen Thacker (11.8 points per game) and Brent Finn (7.8 points per game).
 
"We're still searching for minutes and consistency on both ends," Durham said. "Everybody's have their moments defensively, but we've been a little hurt in transition sometimes."
 
Perhaps the biggest changes have been in the frontcourt, as stingy defender and vocal leader Jimmy Brown has taken time at starting center spot alongside Montana State transfer Bilal Shabazz. From there, 6'10" Emmanuel Ajanaku has given MSUB some length and rebounding off the bench, as the second-year freshman is the leading rebounder at 5.5 per game.
 
"Since we've started Jimmy, we've gotten off to a good start," Durham said. "We're continuing to look at him in the starting lineup, but we're looking for other guys to step it up. But we've been pretty solid initially with him getting us off to a good start."
 
Eventually, however, the team's three-point shooting will progress to the mean. With Sebastiao (7-for-13 from three) Fritz (5-for-9 from three) making the most of their points from beyond the arc so far, Durham believes it's only a matter of time before the team as a whole improves its perimeter shooting.
 
"I've got confidence in our guys' three-point shooting ability," Durham said. "I don't think it's shown yet, but we need to get better shots. Sometimes we are a little impatient and we shoot it too quickly, which can happen with a new group of guys playing together this early in the season."
 
"We'd like to get some balance and have some inside scoring so we don't rely on all the jumpers," Durham added. "That's been the battle, offensively, is to try to get consistent production inside and along the perimeter. We've done it – we've shown signs of it – now it's putting a complete game together."

 
BLACK HILLS STATE UNIVERSITY YELLOW JACKETS
Record: 2-2
League: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Head coach: Ryan Thompson (3^rd season)
Head-to-head record: 12-7
Last meeting: Nov. 24, 2018 (90-70, MSUB)
 
Picked third in the RMAC preseason poll, the Yellow Jackets return most of its starters from last season, in which they finished 11-7 and made it to the RMAC Semifinals. Although the Yellow Jackets have a 2-2 record, they come to Billings in the wake of a few losses to Northern State University and Augustana – both of which have either been nationally ranked, or received votes in the NABC polls thus far.
 
"They're a pretty big, physical team," Durham said of the Yellow Jackets. "They've got a nice mix of inside and outside play."
 
So far, BHSU has been led by a solid trio of efficient scorers. Joel Scott (17.3 points, 11.3 rebounds per game) has been a force to be reckoned with; the junior forward has three double-doubles in four games, plus his 64.29% field goal shooting ranks 51^st nationally.
 
"When you look at the stats, he's the one that's getting a lot of attention, defensively," Durham said of Scott. "And obviously, we have to give him some attention too. When you mix in the three-point shooting from PJ Hays in the last game, but they've got some good size. But one of the biggest things with Scott is you have to keep him off the boards and limiting him to one shot."
 
Aside from PJ Hays — who scored 20 points in his season debut against Northern State last weekend — Sindou Cisse is another prolific scorer, connecting on 60% of his field goals while averaging 14.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Adam Moussa rounds out the BHSU backcourt with his 14.3 points and 5.2 assists per game, the latter of which is tied for 40^th in the nation.

 
SOUTH DAKOTA MINES HARDROCKERS
Record: 1-3
League: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Head coach: Eric Glenn (4^th season)
Head-to-head record: 2-6
Last meeting: Nov. 14, 2013 (72-65, South Dakota Mines)
 
After finishing 9-9 last season, the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers were ranked ninth in the RMAC preseason poll and are 1-3 on the season so far. Despite having mostly freshmen and sophomores on the roster, South Dakota Mines returns all but one starter from a season ago.
 
Other than Kolten Mortenson (16.3 PPG), Alejandro Rama (15.0 PPG) and Brevin Walter (13.8 PPG), the Hardrockers haven't gotten consistent offensive performances from anyone else. However, they might be fine as-is; through four games, the Hardrockers have a top-100 field goal percentage defense that's held opponents to a meager 41.6% shooting from the floor.
 
Should the Yellowjackets win on Saturday night, MSUB would get its first victory over the Hardrockers since Dec. 7, 2012. The two teams have only met twice since 1950.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB hosts Black Hills State this Wednesday at 7 p.m. Livestream and live stat links can be found on the men's schedule page at msubsports.com.