BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Montana State shot 53% from the field and held a sizable rebounding advantage (50-21) on the way to an 82-61 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon at Worthington Arena. 

The Bobcats, who never trailed, used the large rebounding disparity to outscore the Hornets, 20-7, in second chance points. Sacramento State trailed just, 37-33, at the half, and committed only three turnovers, but the Bobcats shot it well from the field (32-61, 53%) and 3-point line (13-33, 39%).

Sacramento State trailed by one point twice in the second half, but fell victim to a 17-3 MSU run that gave the Bobcats a 62-47 lead with 10:39 to play. Sacramento State would get no closer the rest of the way. The Hornets shot 35% from the field (21-60) and 38% (8-21) from the 3-point line.

Sacramento State, playing the second leg of a stretch of three games in five days, dropped to 9-20 overall and 5-12 in the Big Sky Conference. For the sixth straight game, the Hornets played without the injured Mikey Williams (20.1 ppg in league), and the team has dropped each of those games. Also, Sacramento State has been playing with just eight healthy players for the last three weeks.

Today marked the final road game, and the Hornets wrap up the regular season at home on Monday vs. Idaho State. The Big Sky Tournament in Boise will be March 7-11, and today's loss assured Sacramento State will play in the first round of the tournament on Saturday, March 7, at either 4:30 p.m. PT, or 7:00 p.m. PT. The top six teams in the 10-member league receive a first round bye.

Montana State (17-13, 11-6) remains in second place in the Big Sky standings, just a game back of first place Portland State. The Hornets were attempting to gain a season sweep of the Bobcats, as the Hornets defeated MSU, 83-80, at home on Jan. 29. Sacramento State is 7-28 all-time when playing the Bobcats in Bozeman.

Prophet Johnson and Jayden Teat both had 15 points for the Hornets, and the two combined to shoot 5-for-9 from the 3-point line. Arman Madi added 14 points and three steals, Romari Robinson had a season-best eight points, and Taj Glover had six points. Mark Lavrenov led the Hornets with seven rebounds while Shaqir O'Neal added five boards.  

Sacramento State's final regular season game will be at home on Monday vs. Idaho State at 7 p.m. Four Hornet seniors will be honored prior to the game - Johnson, O'Neal, Davis Ambuehl and team manager Vince Cooke. Ambuehl has yet to play this season because of injury.

NOTABLES
Madi started his third straight game, and scored in double figures for the sixth consecutive game, after notching double digits three times in his first 22 games.