BOISE, Idaho — The Big Sky Conference released its men's all-conference awards on Tuesday morning, and in staying in line with the regular season, it was all Montana State.
The Bobcats hauled in a number of honors and awards for their performances this year, one where they went 24-7 and won the Big Sky regular season for the first time since 2002.
Montana State big man Jubrile Belo was named both the league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, and was also a first-team All-Big Sky pick. Belo, a junior from London, England, averaged 13.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for the Bobcats.
Fellow Bobcat Xavier Bishop, a senior from Springfield, Illinois, was also named to the first team. Bishop averaged 13.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game for MSU.
Northern Colorado's Daylen Kountz, Southern Utah's John Knight III and Weber State's Koby McEwen were also named first team All-Big Sky.
Montana sophomore Josh Bannan was named to the second team after averaging 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. UM's Robby Beasley III and MSU's Amin Adamu were both honorable mention All-Big Sky players as well.
MSU's RaeQuan Battle and UM's Cameron Parker were both named co-Top Reserves for the season. Battle averaged 8.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for the Bobcats while Parker averaged 9.3 points and 4.6 assists per game for the Griz.
UM and MSU begin the men's Big Sky Conference Tournament on Thursday in the quarterfinal round. The Bobcats host the winner of Idaho and Sacramento State at noon on Thursday while Montana will take on Weber State at 2:30 p.m. that same day. If both teams were to win, the in-state rivals would meet in the semifinal round with a spot in the championship game on the line.
To view the women's all-conference awards that were released on Monday, click here.
