Grizzly hoopsters shock Bruins in 66-57 win
12/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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The University of Montana Grizzly basketball team accomplished the unthinkable and registered a marquee victory, defeating the host UCLA Bruins 66-57 in fabled Pauley Pavilion in a non-conference game Sunday evening.
It was a rare road win over a Pac-10 school, and the first Grizzly win over the Bruins in the fifth meeting between the teams, although last season Montana won 68-55 at Oregon. The Griz also had a memorable 70-68 Pac-10 road win at 17th-ranked Stanford in the 2002-03 season.
"This is one of the most storied gymnasiums in the country as far as basketball goes, and it wasn???t a thing of beauty, but we really showed some toughness and resiliency," Griz head coach Wayne Tinkle said in his post-game interview on KGVO Radio. "We made plays when we needed to, and everyone on the team contributed."
The Grizzlies took a 24-22 lead with 6:48 remaining in the first half on a lay-up by sophomore guard Will Cherry, and Montana would lead the rest of the way. Montana led 32-28 at halftime.
When UM sophomore forward Mathias Ward hit a jump shot with 8:19 left in the game, the Grizzlies (4-3) took a 17-point lead ??? their biggest of the contest over the Bruins (3-4), and led by double figures the rest of the way, until UCLA scored with one second left to make it a 9-point UM victory.
The Griz struggled again at the free throw line (9-of-18 in the game), but made 4-of-6 charity shots in the final couple of minutes to maintain their double-digit lead until UCLA???s last-second score cut UM???s margin of victory to nine points.
"When I talked to the players before the game we talked about the 1975 game (a 67-64 Bruin win over the Grizzlies in a second-round NCAA game played in Portland, Ore.), and about playing with toughness and resiliency," Tinkle said. "This wasn???t an NCAA game of course, but I told them let???s make our own history tonight. Our guys played great defense, we rebounded well, and we got a win in a Pac-10 arena.
"It was a great win in a tough environment," Tinkle continued. "Our marquee win would have to be our (66-65) victory we had at Weber State in the Big Sky tournament championship game last year, but this one was sure was a great one for our team, our basketball program, and the state of Montana. I am just super, super proud of this team."
Cherry scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Grizzlies. Montana senior center Brian Qvale had his seventh career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Also contributing for the Griz were junior guard Jordan Wood with 9 points, junior forward Derek Selvig with 8 points and 8 boards, and junior forward Art Stewart also scored 8 points.
UCLA was led by junior guard Malcom Lee with 13 points, while sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt had 11 points and 7 rebounds.
Montana employed a 2-3 zone on defense, and held UCLA to 31.3% shooting (20-of-64) from the field and 4-of-18 (22.2%) from three-point range.?? The Bruins were 13-of-17 (76.5%) from the line.
The Griz made 26-of-50 shots for 52.0% shooting from the floor and made 5-of-15 (33.3%) treys.?? Each team had 39 rebounds apiece.
Two of UCLA's losses this season have been to top 10 teams -- 82-70 to No. 7 Villanova, and 77-76 at No. 4 Kansas.
The last time Montana played UCLA was in a first-round NIT game in Pauley Pavilion in the 1984-85 season, and Reggie Miller scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Bruins in a 78-47 victory.
The Grizzlies' next game is Thursday, Dec. 9th, when they host the University of Great Falls Argos in a 7:00 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena.
