Lights will learn in Bozeman

The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team is 1-0 on the young season. And the Lights will still be 1-0 after tonight. However, Northern also will have played the best basketball team the Lights will see this season.

MSU-N is in Bozeman tonight for an exhibition game against the Montana State Bobcats, with tip-off set for 7 inside the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

Northern opened its 2017-18 campaign with a dominant win over Mount Royal University just two weeks ago, but tonight's trip to Bozeman, while it won't count for either team, will be as tough a test as the Lights can get.

The Bobcats are picked to finish fourth in the Big Sky Conference this season, and they return junior guard Tyler Hall (6-4), who was fifth in all of NCAA Division I in scoring last season, and who has become a top NBA prospect. Hall is also the Big Sky's Preseason Player of the Year. The Cats also have Harald Frey, one of the top point guards in the Big Sky, so Northern will be up against a backcourt unlike anything they've seen, or will see.

And overall, Northern will be playing a team on the rise in the Big Sky, and playing at a level they won't see the rest of this season.

"We will certainly need to be cognizant of their height and length on both ends of the floor," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "It is always a challenge too ... especially against a team that returns something like 85 percent of their scoring and the pre-season MVP of the Big Sky Conference."

While Northern's guards, such as Gabe Porter, Caulin Bakalarski, Devin Bray, Charles Porter, and Adam Huse, who will be returning home, as he is the son of former MSU head coach Brad Huse, will have their hands full with MSU's dynamic backcourt, the Bobcats will have their hands full with MSU-N center Ryan Reeves. The 6-10 Reeves, who is one of the top players in the Frontier, will get a chance to truly test himself against an NCAA team tonight, and he and the Lights are excited about that opportunity.

"Our guys are excited to play against a D1 opponent, yet, they also know it is most importantly a great game for learning ... an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience together against tough competition," coach Huse said.  "I suspect there will be a great deal of teaching points when we go back to watch the film from this game, hopefully all positive of course, but no matter what the outcome is, I am guessing there will be a great deal of valuable information for us to learn from moving forward."

After tonight's exhibition game in Bozeman, the Lights will get back to the business of games that count on their schedule. Friday, Northern travels to Pablo to take on Salish Kootenai College, the first of two meetings between the squads this year. Salish Kootenai is playing many Frontier Conference teams this season and, Huse said, the program is improving, and will be a good matchup for the Lights Friday night.

 "Salish is a very versatile team," Huse said. "They have many interchangeable parts and can put a defense in tough situations if you're not ready.  It will be good to get back to non-conference action as the momentum of our season starts to build more and more with each week. Playing the second game of a road trip on their home floor will be more good experience for us as we will see situations like this all year long. We will need to find the energy to stay very active to stay up with and handle their energy and pace of play at their home gym."

Tonight's game between the Lights and the Bobcats tips at 7 in Bozeman. Northern meets Salish Kootenai at 8 p.m. Friday night in Pablo. The Lights are back home next Friday to take on SAGU American Indian College in the Armory Gymnasium.