Griz start strong, fall to NC State at Paradise Jam

Friday, November 18

St. Thomas, USVI

4:00 PM (MT)

Montana

0-3

North Carolina State

3-0

Montana

NC State

Griz start strong, fall to NC State at Paradise Jam

11/18/2016 9:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Season Stats 111816 PDF Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Looking to pick up its first win of the season on the sunny shores of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Montana Grizzlies men's basketball team (0-3) went toe-to-toe with the North Carolina State Wolfpack (3-0), before eventually running out of gas late in the second half, falling 85-72.

Walter Wright snapped his cold streak in emphatic fashion. Coming into the game, he had scored just two points in two games. Against the Wolfpack, Wright went 8-17 from the field for 22 points to lead the Griz in scoring. It was the fifth time the senior from Connecticut has scored 22 points or more as a Grizzly.

Wright hit 14 of those 22 points in the first half alone, finding success, as he often does, by creating magic while driving to the rim to lead the Griz to a 40-38 halftime advantage.

All signs pointed toward an upset for Montana early in the second half as well, but the shots stopped falling as NC State made adjustments to shut down UM's attack, building a buffer that the Grizzlies couldn't recover from.

"Walter set the tone," said head coach Travis DeCuire. "He was able to attack the basket and get in there at a high level. Once they started collapsing, we needed to make jump shots, and we just struggled to do that."

Ahmaad Rorie added 16 points, and Sayeed Pridgett had another outstanding game, going 5-5 from the field for 12 points as the Griz featured three players in double figures. Fabijan Krslovic was also strong, on his way to a double-double with eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out.

In a game that saw 14 lead changes, turnovers hurt Montana the most as the Griz and Wolfpack combined for 31, with NC State scoring 19 points off UM's 18 giveaways.

Montana came out of the gates firing to start the game, taking a 3-2 lead early when Rorie drove the lane and found Lopez hiding in the corner waiting to drain a three. It was the second game in a row Lopez has hit a three on his first shot of the night.

After an 8-0 run by the Pack, Wright clawed the Griz back into the game, scoring six-straight to put the Griz down one, 11-12, headed into the first media timeout, building confidence in their performance.

After more back-and-forth, Rorie put the Griz in front again going coast-to-coast on a steal and getting the foul as he finished at the rim to put the Griz up 18-16 with just over 12 minutes left in the opening half.

The action came fast and furious from there, with the lead changing eight times in the next 12 minutes, and the Griz and Pack combining to shoot 20 of 32.

Despite 10 turnovers in the first half, the Griz took the lead with just under three minutes left in the half when Pridgett made a couple of nice moves in the paint for a pair of short-range jumpers to go up 35-33. Montana would hold on to their lead and head into the lockers up 40-38.

The second half started the way the first half finished, with both teams pushing the tempo up and down the floor.

With the game tied at 51 with 12:48 to play, the Pack took control, going on a 16-8 run over the next seven minutes as the Griz cooled from 57 percent to 42 percent from the field in the second half.

Shots from behind the arc wouldn't fall either UM went just 3-13 from three-point land after halftime.

As the final minutes ticked away, Rorie would add nine to his total with a brace of threes, but the NC State lead proved to be too large as the Wolfpack denied UM the upset.

"It's about getting better each game," added DeCuire. "From the USC game to the Wyoming game, we got better. From the Wyoming game to tonight, we got better. If we can play a little better tomorrow, I think we'll be in pretty good shape."

Creighton defeated Washington State 103-77 in the day's nightcap at the Paradise Jam.

Montana now moves to the consolation side of the bracket and will face the Cougars on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT. That game can be seen via live stream on FloHoops.com.