Saturday, February 16
Pocatello, Idaho
Montana
80
at
68
Idaho State
Griz use 2 big runs to bounce Bengals
2/16/2019 9:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
POCATELLO, Idaho – Montana closed the first half on an 18-3 run, making 10 consecutive shots at one point, to overcome an early deficit on the road. Idaho State closed to within three points in the second half, but Montana responded with a 16-1 run to create the needed separation in an 80-68 victory.
Montana has now won nine consecutive games dating back to Jan. 12, including five in a row on the road.
Sayeed Pridgett continued his torrid pace, leading the Grizzlies for scoring (22), rebounding (seven) and assists (five), and shooting 11-of-15 from the floor. Fellow junior Kendal Manuel had a career night as well, connecting on 6-of-7 three-point attempts and scoring 20 points.
Manuel hit three treys during the Grizzlies' 16-1 second-half run, which saw Montana turn a three-point lead to 18 in less than 5 minutes of game clock. Idaho State cut the score to 57-54 with 10:27 to play before Manuel hit a three on the other end. The Bengals didn't make their next shot from the floor until 5:25 remained in the game.
Senior Ahmaad Rorie scored 15 points while dishing out five assists, but his biggest came late in the first half. Less than a minute after hitting a corner three, Rorie connected on a deep two to eclipse 1,500 career points. He becomes the ninth player in school history to reach that number and the first ever to do it in just three seasons.
Montana took its first lead of the night with 3:32 to play in the first half and never looked back, leading for the final 23 minutes.
(on Montana's 18-3 run to close the first half and erase an early deficit)
"We've got so many guys who can put it in the basket, we just have to let each other do it. Ahmaad (Rorie) caught fire. A couple guys made the extra pass to get him the ball in some spots and he shot a couple off the bounce, which is what he does. Then in the second half Kendal (Manuel) caught fire. Mike (Oguine) was setting flair screens, Ahmaad was making the extra pass and turning down shots. These guys are doing an incredible job of sharing right now."
(on Montana's slow start)
"If you took away the first four minutes, we were actually playing pretty good basketball. We took away the transitions and made a couple changes on the ball-screen defense in terms of recovery time, and I switched up some matchups so that we didn't have to address the ball screen, we could just switch it."
(on Anderson's career night)
"He's been on the verge for a while. I think he's been unlucky on some foul calls, which has taken away some minutes. He needed some flow, some rhythm. Tonight he defended very well, kept himself out of trouble, which allowed him to play good minutes. A couple guys had rough stretches, so we were forced to leave him in, which we've wanted to do. When he's playing good defense and he's staying out of foul trouble, the offense will come. He's a phenomenal finisher, and these guys love getting him the ball."
(on Manuel's 20-point night, including three-pointers after ISU cut the score to three twice)
"We called his number twice. One time I called it, the other time coach Flo (Jay Flores) called it. He responded in both of those situations and allowed us to pull away, but I thought his defense was better. He did a good job of containing guys and he was aggressive on the glass for us."
(on the state of the team with six games remaining in the regular season)
I think we're in a good spot. We're playing really good basketball right now, and we're defending well enough to win. We're sharing the ball and we're executing offensively. We have multiple guys who are stepping up offensively and giving us big nights, and Ahmaad (Rorie) is our iron man. He's playing a lot of minutes, he's spreading the ball around and he's making sure the ball is getting to the right spot.
I told the team in the locker room, 'You have a two-game lead and you have four games at home. You hold down the fort and you hang a banner.'"
Looking Ahead
Riding a nine-game winning streak, Montana will now have a full week to prepare for rival Montana State. The game (Saturday, 7 p.m.) is a maroon out. With six games to play in the regular season, including the next four at home, Montana has a two-game lead in the loss column following Northern Colorado's loss to Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Montana has now won nine consecutive games dating back to Jan. 12, including five in a row on the road.
Sayeed Pridgett continued his torrid pace, leading the Grizzlies for scoring (22), rebounding (seven) and assists (five), and shooting 11-of-15 from the floor. Fellow junior Kendal Manuel had a career night as well, connecting on 6-of-7 three-point attempts and scoring 20 points.
Manuel hit three treys during the Grizzlies' 16-1 second-half run, which saw Montana turn a three-point lead to 18 in less than 5 minutes of game clock. Idaho State cut the score to 57-54 with 10:27 to play before Manuel hit a three on the other end. The Bengals didn't make their next shot from the floor until 5:25 remained in the game.
Senior Ahmaad Rorie scored 15 points while dishing out five assists, but his biggest came late in the first half. Less than a minute after hitting a corner three, Rorie connected on a deep two to eclipse 1,500 career points. He becomes the ninth player in school history to reach that number and the first ever to do it in just three seasons.
Montana took its first lead of the night with 3:32 to play in the first half and never looked back, leading for the final 23 minutes.
Game NotablesCongratulations to @ahmaadrorie, who last night became the 1st player in #GrizHoops history to score 1,500 career points in 3 seasons! #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/qBMx4ikCgU
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 18, 2019
- Over the past four games, Pridgett is averaging 22.8 points on .731 shooting, in addition to 9.0 rebounds.
- Kendal Manuel scored 20 points, shooting 6-of-7 from three-point range (UM high, ties a career high). In two games vs. Idaho State this season, Manuel is averaging 18.0 points on 10-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc. At one point on Saturday, he scored 12 of 19 Griz points.
- Freshman Mack Anderson had a career night, scoring a dozen points on 6-of-8 shooting, also grabbing four rebounds. He played a career-high 22 minutes.
- Of Rorie's 15 points, he scored 10 during a span of 3:09 late in the first half.
- In addition to his 11 points, Michael Oguine had a team-high three steals.
- Montana shot 55.0 percent from the floor while limiting Idaho State to 39.0 percent shooting. The Bengals made five consecutive shots early in the first half, jumping out to a 15-9 lead.
- Five players scored in double figures for Montana.
- Montana out-rebounded Idaho State, 36-28. The Grizzlies have out-rebounded their opponent in 14 of the past 15 games.
- Montana trailed for 14:48 in the first half, a longer period of time than the Grizzlies had trailed in the past eight games combined.
- Montana trailed by as many as nine points. Prior to Saturday, the Grizzlies hadn't trailed by more than four points in any of the past eight games.
- Montana has won 17 consecutive games vs. Idaho State. Travis DeCuire is 8-0 vs. the Bengals, with each win being by double digits.
Quoting DeCuireEN FUEGO! 🔥🔥🔥
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 17, 2019
18-2 run in the last 4:36 for the Griz on TEN STRAIGHT made shots! 😳🤯#GrizHoops 🐻🏀 pic.twitter.com/nX6ZWWmmHB
(on Montana's 18-3 run to close the first half and erase an early deficit)
"We've got so many guys who can put it in the basket, we just have to let each other do it. Ahmaad (Rorie) caught fire. A couple guys made the extra pass to get him the ball in some spots and he shot a couple off the bounce, which is what he does. Then in the second half Kendal (Manuel) caught fire. Mike (Oguine) was setting flair screens, Ahmaad was making the extra pass and turning down shots. These guys are doing an incredible job of sharing right now."
(on Montana's slow start)
"If you took away the first four minutes, we were actually playing pretty good basketball. We took away the transitions and made a couple changes on the ball-screen defense in terms of recovery time, and I switched up some matchups so that we didn't have to address the ball screen, we could just switch it."
(on Anderson's career night)
"He's been on the verge for a while. I think he's been unlucky on some foul calls, which has taken away some minutes. He needed some flow, some rhythm. Tonight he defended very well, kept himself out of trouble, which allowed him to play good minutes. A couple guys had rough stretches, so we were forced to leave him in, which we've wanted to do. When he's playing good defense and he's staying out of foul trouble, the offense will come. He's a phenomenal finisher, and these guys love getting him the ball."
(on Manuel's 20-point night, including three-pointers after ISU cut the score to three twice)
"We called his number twice. One time I called it, the other time coach Flo (Jay Flores) called it. He responded in both of those situations and allowed us to pull away, but I thought his defense was better. He did a good job of containing guys and he was aggressive on the glass for us."
(on the state of the team with six games remaining in the regular season)
I think we're in a good spot. We're playing really good basketball right now, and we're defending well enough to win. We're sharing the ball and we're executing offensively. We have multiple guys who are stepping up offensively and giving us big nights, and Ahmaad (Rorie) is our iron man. He's playing a lot of minutes, he's spreading the ball around and he's making sure the ball is getting to the right spot.
I told the team in the locker room, 'You have a two-game lead and you have four games at home. You hold down the fort and you hang a banner.'"
Looking Ahead
Riding a nine-game winning streak, Montana will now have a full week to prepare for rival Montana State. The game (Saturday, 7 p.m.) is a maroon out. With six games to play in the regular season, including the next four at home, Montana has a two-game lead in the loss column following Northern Colorado's loss to Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Two hands just to make sure 🙌🏽😎 Mack Anderson throwing it ⬇️ to put the Grizzlies ⬆️ by 12 over the Idaho State Bengals!#GoGriz 🐻🏀 pic.twitter.com/RbO2P1cSWs
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 17, 2019
Back to back three balls for Kendal Manuel! 👌🏽
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 17, 2019
Griz lead is now up to 18 points just like that! 😎🤑#GrizHoops 🐻🏀 pic.twitter.com/gdWCKMYP9r
Players Mentioned
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