BILLINGS, Mont. – Entering into the final week of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season, the Montana State University Billings men's basketball team has two road games against two of the league's toughest teams in Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene this Thursday and Saturday.

 

The Central Washington game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. local time and will be televised on SWX Sports, plus Central Washington's YouTube channel. Saturday's game at NNU will also be at 7:30 p.m. local time.

 

The Yellowjackets (12-13, 8-7 GNAC) are coming off a 1-3 week against Western Washington and Simon Fraser, in which the 'Jackets blew out the Vikings in Bellingham last Monday before MSUB dropped its next two home games. According to the latest GNAC Points Rating System standings, the Yellowjackets are tied for fifth with Western Washington, which dropped a road game at Western Oregon on Monday after the weekly PRS standings were released.

 

Both games this weekend will be crucial to the team's seeding in next week's GNAC Championships. Northwest Nazarene (10-8) is third in the PRS standings and Central Washington (14-7) is fourth, so road wins against either team will help MSUB avoid finishing in the bottom four of the conference standings; the lower four seeds have a play-in game on March 2.

 

Nevertheless, the Yellowjackets are having an offensive resurgence. Led by reigning GNAC Player of the Week Carrington Wiggins' 17.9 points per game (5^th in the GNAC) and his 50.3% shooting (14^th in the GNAC), the Yellowjackets have shot better than their season-average of 43.4% from the field over the past four games. Once pegged as a defense-heavy team, the 'Jackets have tried shedding that label with outings like their 10-for-20 showing from three at Western Washington, their 13-for-20 mark from three against Seattle Pacific and its 52% shooting in the second half against Simon Fraser.

 

Aside from Wiggins, senior guard Damen Thacker is a top-10 GNAC scorer (10^th in the GNAC), assister (9^th) and three-point shooter (10^th), averaging 15.0 points, 3.6 assists and 2.0 made threes per game. Additionally, forward Bilal Shabazz has been on a tear as of late, averaging 8.5 points per game – upping his season-average to 6.6 PPG – in the month of February while making seven-consecutive starts.

 

LAST TIME OUT VS. CENTRAL WASHINGTON

MSUB's first meeting against Central Washington ended up providing one of the most defining moments of the 2021-22 season.

 

In the wake of losing a close game to Northwest Nazarene in overtime, the Yellowjackets found themselves down by one point on their final possession of the game against Central Washington on Dec. 4. Thacker dribbled the length of the court, shook a defender and heaved an off-balanced midrange jumper, but Malik Brikat was waiting underneath the basket and made a game-winning put-back to put away Central Washington in a 66-64 win.

 

The teams' first meeting followed the script of most of MSUB's games in the early season: Both Thacker and Wiggins had 20-point nights, the offense got hot in the second half by shooting 63.64% from the floor and the 'Jackets out-rebounded Central Washington by a 39-36 margin – albeit with one major offensive rebound from Brikat. And, critically, the Yellowjackets out-shot the Wildcats from the free-throw line in the second half; MSUB went 7-for 9 (77.78%) down the stretch, compared to CWU's 8-for-13 (61.54%) mark.

 

For a while, Central Washington looked like the top team in the conference – and MSUB hung its hat on beating the conference leaders from home. On offense, the Wildcats remain the best in the league, averaging 83.4 points per game on 49.3% shooting, yet every game is a shootout. CWU ranks seventh in points allowed (76.4 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (45.7%), which will be a contrast of styles with MSUB's tough defense.

 

Central Washington boasts the conference's top scorer in Xavier Smith, who averages 19.0 points per game on 51.9% shooting. Fellow senior David Thompson averages 15.0 points per game, giving the Wildcats two top-10 scorers to match MSUB's high-scoring backcourt duo of Wiggins and Thacker. Junior forward Matt Poquette is CWU's leading rebounder at 5.6 boards per game, yet the Wildcats are undersized compared to MSUB. CWU has two players listed at 6-foot-9 or taller, and the Wildcats are only out-rebounding opponents by 0.5 boards per game. By comparison, MSUB is the third-best team in terms of rebounding margin at +4.4 rebounds per game.

 

LAST TIME OUT VS. NORTHWEST NAZARENE

Foreshadowing more close GNAC games, MSUB and NNU needed overtime to decide the first meeting between the two teams on Dec. 2, 2021, as the Nighthawks prevailed in overtime 68-67.

 

The game was a defensive struggle. Neither team made more than 41% of their field goal attempts, and both teams combined for 25 turnovers in the 45 minutes of play. In that game, the Yellowjackets shook off a slow start, then made two big defensive stands at the end of the second half and close to the end on overtime to keep them in the game.

 

Although NNU star forward Gabriel Murphy had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, Damen Thacker outperformed him with a 19-point, 11-rebound outing of his own – the first double-double of his MSUB career. Thacker was also the hero at the end of regulation, making a transition layup over NNU guard Tru Allen to force overtime with five seconds to go.

 

The Yellowjackets made one last stand in overtime, as freshman Emmanuel Akpan blocked a George Reidy jumper on NNU's final possession, but MSUB's attempt at a game-winner with five seconds left was offline.

 

Since that game, the Nighthawks have offset early difficulties in GNAC play with a 5-2 run in February – including a 71-65 win over conference-leading Saint Martin's. Sophomore George Reidy leads NNU with 13.8 points per game, point guard Tru Allen leads all GNAC freshmen with 11.5 points per game and Gabriel Murphy is a double-double threat on any night with his 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Predictably, NNU is the top team in the GNAC at 12.3 offensive rebounds per game.

 

MSUB will be the third home game of the week for Northwest Nazarene: The Nighthawks blew out Simon Fraser 85-64 on Tuesday, then they'll take on Seattle Pacific on Thursday night.

 

UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets take on the Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. local time. The game will be televised on SWX Sports, plus Central Washington's YouTube channel; livestream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball schedule page at msubsports.com.