Three-point barrage by ‘Yotes sinks Griz in South Dakota

Sunday, November 27

Vermillion, S.D.

Noon (MT)

Montana

1-6

South Dakota

6-2

Montana

South Dakota

Three-point barrage by ‘Yotes sinks Griz in South Dakota

11/27/2016 4:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

The South Dakota Coyotes (6-2) drained four-straight three-pointers during a 17-2 run in the first half to build a lead the Montana Grizzlies (1-6) couldn't recover from, as the hosts staved off a Griz comeback to win 72-67 in Vermillion.

Montana wraps up a tough five game, 13-day road trip that covered more than 8,000 miles with a 1-4 record. UM dropped its last two games by five points each, after earning a big 21-point win over Oral Roberts to cap the Paradise Jam tournament.

The Griz received a whopping 42 points off the bench for the second time this season, and for the second-straight game true freshman Sayeed Pridgett led the team in scoring with 14 points after hitting 6-of-8 from the field.

Another true freshman, Jared Samuelson, was perfect on the day, going 5-5 from the field and 2-2 from the line for 12 points.

Montana's defense held South Dakota to a workable 37.5 percent from the field, but gave up 11 offensive rebounds to the Coyotes, with the hosts pulling down three in a row just as the Griz were close to completing the comeback late in the second half.

"Those were key possessions. We were defending well enough to get out and get in transition to get some high percentage shots; we just couldn't get the ball," said Montana head coach Travis DeCuire.

"It's kind of the tale of lineups for us. We've got a group of guys that are really good offensively but they aren't doing very well defensively, and then our best defensive lineup is struggling to score. We've got to find some combinations that can finish the job."

In a game of runs, the Griz and Coyotes went back and forth for the majority of the contest, with Montana unable to recover from the 17-2 run for USD in the first half that kept the Griz scoreless for over four minutes.

Jack Lopez opened the scoring to give UM the early 3-0 lead, hitting the triple from the top of the key. He's been the go-to shooter to start the game for UM this season, getting the first bucket in five of seven games, four of which have been three-pointers.

Montana's lead wouldn't last long, however, as Matt Mooney, Carlton Hurst, and Tyler Flack combined for four-straight threes. That combo would be Montana's biggest problem in the game, finishing with 18, 18 and 13 points respectively to lead USD.

Following the deep-ball barrage by the 'Yotes, the Griz would go on to win the rest of the first half 19-12 and win the second half as well, 39-36, but a 15-point lead for USD proved to be insurmountable for UM.

The Griz benefited from the return of Michael Oguine from injury against South Dakota, earning his first minutes of the season late in the first half and making an immediate impact with his signature aggressive play.

"He got us back in the game," said DeCuire. "We were flat in the locker room, and coaches challenged the guys a little bit this morning to get going, and it just took us a while to wake up. Once we did that we were fine, and Mike was a big spark in that regard. He was one of the guys that started attacking the rim early and once he did that some other guys followed suit."

Riding that momentum, senior Mario Dunn brought the Griz within one of tying the game with under 10 minutes to play in the second half by hitting a pair of threes. But USD would answer back with a 5-0 run to build the lead back to six.

Samuelson then hit a pair of jumpers to move him into double figures before Lopez hit another three-pointer to pull the Griz back within two with 3:43 to play.

Lopez finished hitting 3-of-4 from behind the arc, and the Griz finished 5-of-10 on threes in the second half as compared to just 2-of-9 in the first half.

We just can't dig ourselves into these types of holes, and we have to defend better," added DeCuire. "We've got some young guys that have to grow up in some areas, and that's going to happen through experience."

Montana returns to its home court for the first time in nearly three weeks on Sat. Dec. 3, hosting Wisconsin-Milwaukee followed by San Jose State on Dec. 7 in Dahlberg Arena.

Tickets for the two-game home stand are available at GrizTix.com or at the Adams Center Box Office.