Saturday, December 28
Missoula, Mont.
7 PM
Montana
5-7, 1-0BSC
79
vs
72
Northern Arizona
6-4, 0-1BSC
1
2
F
Northern Arizona
34
38
72
Montana
28
51
79
Photo by: Derek Johnson
Montana pulls away from Northern Arizona to open Big Sky play with win
12/28/2019 11:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MISSOULA, Mont. – For the 10th season in a row, Montana opened Big Sky Conference play with a victory. The Grizzlies trailed for nearly 23 minutes on Saturday, but pulled away late to earn a 79-72 win over Northern Arizona.
Montana was again led by its veteran senior, Sayeed Pridgett, who scored 27 points while recording his fourth double-double of the season.
Trailing by six at the intermission, Montana quickly erased the deficit and took a lead less than 4 minutes into the second half. It wouldn't last, though, as Northern Arizona quickly built its lead back up to eight, 50-42, to force a Grizzlies timeout.
It wouldn't take long for Montana to work its way back, though, as the Grizzlies went on a 15-2 run over the next 5:26 to turn a multi-possession deficit into a seven-point lead. Pridgett had seven of the Grizzlies' points, while freshman Kyle Owens had four, including a put-back bucket that resulted in a Lumberjacks timeout with 7:01 to play.
A big part of Montana's ability to pull away was the team clamping down defensively from three-point range. NAU made 8 of its first 16 three-point attempts, but wouldn't make any – and only attempted three – after Luke Avdalovic's triple with 13:38 to play which gave the Lumberjacks' the 50-42 lead that sparked the Grizzlies' turnaround.
In addition to Pridgett's 27 points, fellow senior Kendal Manuel scored 16, all of which came in the second half. Manuel hit two big-time three-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, making four clutch free throws in the closing minute. Jared Samuelson (nine points), Owens (eight) and Derrick Carter-Hollinger (eight) shot a combined 10-of-12, helping Montana make 50 percent of its shots overall. Freshman Josh Vazquez tallied five assists for the second consecutive game, compared to just one turnover.
Montana is now a perfect 10-0 against NAU under Travis DeCuire.
Quoting DeCuire
(on adjusting to NAU big man Brooks DeBisschop not playing)
"The biggest thing for us is that we prepared for the big guy to play in the game, and they play a completely different style of basketball when they're playing through him. A lot of their offense goes through their post, and tonight it was all about the perimeter. It took us a whole half to get to that point."
(on taking away the three-pointer in the second half)
"One was how we were guarding, defending the ball screens and the isolations – there was way too much middle penetration and we had to keep them out of the paint. Our transition defense was terrible, and they got a lot of uncontested threes. Once we settled down and stopped turning the ball over, our offense got a little better and our defense recovered too."
(on Pridgett taking over offensively)
"I think the biggest is that he's getting post touches, which creates rhythm for him, but it's not the only way he scores, so it's hard to take his game away. Right now he's a matchup issue."
(on Manuel's big second half)
"It starts on defense. He got a couple big boards and had some success on the defensive end, and once he made a couple plays the three ball goes in and things start to happen."
(on Montana's bench production)
"Kyle (Owens) was phenomenal in the second half. You have guys like Kyle and Jared (Samuelson) who weren't sure about their minutes in the second half, and their number is called and they were outstanding. Guys don't need to always play 20 minutes to go 4-for-4 from the floor."
Gallery: (12/28/2019) MBB: vs. Northern Arizona (12.28.19
Looking Ahead
The Grizzlies will next host Sacramento State on Monday night (7 p.m.). The Hornets are coming off of a 66-51 loss at Montana State on Saturday.
The first 500 fans on Monday can take advantage of free general-admission tickets, in honor of a pre-New Year's Eve celebration.
Montana was again led by its veteran senior, Sayeed Pridgett, who scored 27 points while recording his fourth double-double of the season.
Trailing by six at the intermission, Montana quickly erased the deficit and took a lead less than 4 minutes into the second half. It wouldn't last, though, as Northern Arizona quickly built its lead back up to eight, 50-42, to force a Grizzlies timeout.
It wouldn't take long for Montana to work its way back, though, as the Grizzlies went on a 15-2 run over the next 5:26 to turn a multi-possession deficit into a seven-point lead. Pridgett had seven of the Grizzlies' points, while freshman Kyle Owens had four, including a put-back bucket that resulted in a Lumberjacks timeout with 7:01 to play.
Northern Arizona would cut the score to three points with 2:10 to play, but never got closer. After leading for just 3 minutes over the game's first 30, Montana led for the final 9:21.Sayeed Pridgett with the tomahawk slam! 🤯#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/WPWOsKgRvD
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 29, 2019
A big part of Montana's ability to pull away was the team clamping down defensively from three-point range. NAU made 8 of its first 16 three-point attempts, but wouldn't make any – and only attempted three – after Luke Avdalovic's triple with 13:38 to play which gave the Lumberjacks' the 50-42 lead that sparked the Grizzlies' turnaround.
In addition to Pridgett's 27 points, fellow senior Kendal Manuel scored 16, all of which came in the second half. Manuel hit two big-time three-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, making four clutch free throws in the closing minute. Jared Samuelson (nine points), Owens (eight) and Derrick Carter-Hollinger (eight) shot a combined 10-of-12, helping Montana make 50 percent of its shots overall. Freshman Josh Vazquez tallied five assists for the second consecutive game, compared to just one turnover.
Montana is now a perfect 10-0 against NAU under Travis DeCuire.
Quoting DeCuire
(on adjusting to NAU big man Brooks DeBisschop not playing)
"The biggest thing for us is that we prepared for the big guy to play in the game, and they play a completely different style of basketball when they're playing through him. A lot of their offense goes through their post, and tonight it was all about the perimeter. It took us a whole half to get to that point."
(on taking away the three-pointer in the second half)
"One was how we were guarding, defending the ball screens and the isolations – there was way too much middle penetration and we had to keep them out of the paint. Our transition defense was terrible, and they got a lot of uncontested threes. Once we settled down and stopped turning the ball over, our offense got a little better and our defense recovered too."
(on Pridgett taking over offensively)
"I think the biggest is that he's getting post touches, which creates rhythm for him, but it's not the only way he scores, so it's hard to take his game away. Right now he's a matchup issue."
(on Manuel's big second half)
"It starts on defense. He got a couple big boards and had some success on the defensive end, and once he made a couple plays the three ball goes in and things start to happen."
(on Montana's bench production)
"Kyle (Owens) was phenomenal in the second half. You have guys like Kyle and Jared (Samuelson) who weren't sure about their minutes in the second half, and their number is called and they were outstanding. Guys don't need to always play 20 minutes to go 4-for-4 from the floor."
Looking Ahead
The Grizzlies will next host Sacramento State on Monday night (7 p.m.). The Hornets are coming off of a 66-51 loss at Montana State on Saturday.
The first 500 fans on Monday can take advantage of free general-admission tickets, in honor of a pre-New Year's Eve celebration.
Kendal Manuel with the dagger, giving Montana a game-high nine-point lead! pic.twitter.com/umZKuE77ib
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 29, 2019
Manuel ➡️ Owens
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 29, 2019
We've got ourselves a ballgame! pic.twitter.com/tsabfCZ4eD
Team Stats
NAU
UM
FG%
.424
.500
3FG%
.421
.333
FT%
.667
.696
RB
33
37
TO
15
13
STL
8
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballMarch Madness Denver Pep Rally - 3/19/25
Thursday, March 20
Montana? Yes, Montana!
Wednesday, March 19
Griz Basketball Open Practice [March Madness] - 3/19/25
Wednesday, March 19
Griz Basketball Arrival To Denver [March Madness] - 3/18/25
Tuesday, March 18
