Despite a strong outing by point guard Dylan Garrity, including a game-leading 18 points, Sacramento State dropped their sixth consecutive Big Sky game, losing 65-72 to Montana State in Bozeman Thursday night.

The Bobcats were led by forward Tre Johnson, who led the game with 10 rebounds and tallied 14 points of his own. MSU moved the ball around effectively, with four players scoring in double digits.

The Hornets gave up 40 points in the first half and appeared sluggish on defense. Head Coach Brian Katz said they were a step behind.

Then right out of the gate, less than 30 seconds into the second half, Katz called a a timeout following a missed layup by Josh McCarver and an easy jump shot at the other end of the floor for MSU. He said he saw the same slow play starting to show up again.

“I didn’t like the first possession,” Katz explained. “We were slow, and it was an uncontested shot at about 12 feet. You know your team. I thought we were sluggish still and I just didn’t like it.”

From there, Sac State gradually worked its way back into the game, until a 3-pointer by Garrity put them within 3 with 2:34 left to play. But the Bobcats went 6-for-6 from the line in the game’s final 23 seconds to outlast Sac State.

Katz said he is pleased with how Garrity is developing into more of a scorer. Entering play Thursday, the freshman leads the conference in assists per game with 6.4, one full assist more than the holder of second place. But Katz said he has been known to not take open shots in favor of the pass.

“We know he’s a good shooter,” Katz said. “He averaged 20 [points per] game in high school. We felt like he was being a little too unselfish and passing up some shots, so we’ve kind of really been on him about that.”

Garrity finished the game 5-for-9 from the field, including 3 of 6 from beyond the arch. He was also a perfect 5-for-5 from the stripe.

Junior guard Jordan Estrada participated in “controlled practice” this week, according to Katz. Estrada, who went down December 31 against Weber State with an ankle injury, is expected to be ready to play when the Hornets return home to face none other than Weber State January 26.

Alex Grotewohl can be reached at [email protected].