Griz come up shy in near upset of Lobos
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
This was a whole different breed of wolves the Montana men's basketball team ran into this year.
Four years after upsetting the Nevada Wolfpack in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, the Griz fell 62-57 to the eighth-ranked New Mexico Lobos on Thursday in a game of see-saw runs at the HP Pavilion.
The third-seeded Lobos advanced to face 11th seed Washington on Saturday. The 14th-seeded Griz finished their season at 22-10.
Montana led 29-28 at intermission behind a dominating performance from junior center Brian Qvale, who scored 17 of his career-high 26 points before intermission.
But the first eight minutes of the second half belonged to the Mountain West Conference regular-season champion Lobos. They put together a 17-0 run to take a 46-32 lead with 12:43 to play.
Then it was the Grizzlies' turn. A 12-2 run got them within 48-44 with 8:39 to play and they eventually crawled to 57-56 on a 16-foot jumper by Anthony Johnson with 1:41 to play. It was Johnson's first field goal of the game, and that told a lot of the story.
New Mexico scored its final five points at the line as the Griz couldn't convert and were forced to foul.
A little more than a week after scoring a school-record 42 points in the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game, Johnson was 1-for-12 and finished with six points, 14 below his season average.
"I just picked a bad day to have a bad shooting night," said Johnson. "Credit the defense, though, (Dairese) Gary is a tough guard. He's really strong and he was pretty physical with me throughout the game, which kind of threw me off a little bit. I was getting to the spots on the court where I like it, but the shot just wasn't falling."
New Mexico coach Steve Alford said Gary's defense on Johnson was the difference.
"He does whatever has to be done to will his team to a win," Alford said. "He's a champion. It was Dairese tonight. He holds (Johnson) to 1-for-12. I thought that was the biggest key to the game."
Roman Martinez led the Lobos with 19 points. Gary added 15 on 7-for-10 shooting from the line. Darington Hobson, the MWC player of the year, finished with 11, five below his average.
Johnson said he put his shooting woes in the past at the four-minute mark and started fresh. When his 16-footer got the Griz within a point, it was Montana's game to win.
"At that moment, there was no doubt in my mind we'd win," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way."
Johnson finished his career with 1,124 points, 14th on the school's career list in just two years.
"I'm very grateful and very, very appreciative to have been at Montana," Johnson said. "It had a profound effect on me and my family.
"They provided the opportunity to live out my college dream, play basketball and get an education. I'm forever grateful to Coach Tinks and the coaching staff for believing in me enough to bring me on board. I'm just thankful."
Four years after upsetting the Nevada Wolfpack in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, the Griz fell 62-57 to the eighth-ranked New Mexico Lobos on Thursday in a game of see-saw runs at the HP Pavilion.
The third-seeded Lobos advanced to face 11th seed Washington on Saturday. The 14th-seeded Griz finished their season at 22-10.
Montana led 29-28 at intermission behind a dominating performance from junior center Brian Qvale, who scored 17 of his career-high 26 points before intermission.
But the first eight minutes of the second half belonged to the Mountain West Conference regular-season champion Lobos. They put together a 17-0 run to take a 46-32 lead with 12:43 to play.
Then it was the Grizzlies' turn. A 12-2 run got them within 48-44 with 8:39 to play and they eventually crawled to 57-56 on a 16-foot jumper by Anthony Johnson with 1:41 to play. It was Johnson's first field goal of the game, and that told a lot of the story.
New Mexico scored its final five points at the line as the Griz couldn't convert and were forced to foul.
A little more than a week after scoring a school-record 42 points in the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game, Johnson was 1-for-12 and finished with six points, 14 below his season average.
"I just picked a bad day to have a bad shooting night," said Johnson. "Credit the defense, though, (Dairese) Gary is a tough guard. He's really strong and he was pretty physical with me throughout the game, which kind of threw me off a little bit. I was getting to the spots on the court where I like it, but the shot just wasn't falling."
New Mexico coach Steve Alford said Gary's defense on Johnson was the difference.
"He does whatever has to be done to will his team to a win," Alford said. "He's a champion. It was Dairese tonight. He holds (Johnson) to 1-for-12. I thought that was the biggest key to the game."
Roman Martinez led the Lobos with 19 points. Gary added 15 on 7-for-10 shooting from the line. Darington Hobson, the MWC player of the year, finished with 11, five below his average.
Johnson said he put his shooting woes in the past at the four-minute mark and started fresh. When his 16-footer got the Griz within a point, it was Montana's game to win.
"At that moment, there was no doubt in my mind we'd win," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way."
Johnson finished his career with 1,124 points, 14th on the school's career list in just two years.
"I'm very grateful and very, very appreciative to have been at Montana," Johnson said. "It had a profound effect on me and my family.
"They provided the opportunity to live out my college dream, play basketball and get an education. I'm forever grateful to Coach Tinks and the coaching staff for believing in me enough to bring me on board. I'm just thankful."
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