Grizzlies post largest margin of victory in 40 years, roll past Centurions

Saturday, December 12

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

1-4,0-2Big Sky

102

Yellowstone Christian College

0-1

Team	1	2	F
Yellowstone Chris.	19	23	42
Montana	49	53	102

Michael Steadman, Cameron Parker vs. Yellowstone Christian

Photo by: Tommy Martino

Grizzlies post largest margin of victory in 40 years, roll past Centurions

12/12/2020 5:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Audio Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Montana men's basketball team earned its first win of the season on Saturday afternoon, and did so in historic fashion. The Grizzlies beat visiting Yellowstone Christian College 102-42.

The 60-point margin of victory was Montana's third-largest in school history, and widest in more than 40 years. Additionally, the Grizzlies reached 100 points for the 31^st time ever, and just the fifth time in the past 20 seasons.

Montana had little trouble with the Centurions, scoring on its first offensive possession and rolling from there. The Grizzlies jumped out to a 15-3 advantage, and just 12 minutes into the contest had pushed its lead to 21, while making 13 of its first 16 shot attempts.

By the break, the Grizzlies were on top, 49-19, which was only extended in the second half, thanks to a 17-0 scoring run midway through. A Josh Vazquez 3-pointer gave the Grizzlies a 70-31 lead with 11:37 to play, which ignited the spurt that featured 14 points in just 3 minutes of action.

Four different Grizzlies scored during the 17-0 run, including six points from Josh Bannan and five points and two steals from fellow freshman Brandon Whitney. Junior Cameron Parker was also huge during the period, contributing to six of the seven baskets, including four assists.

On the day, Parker finished with nine assists, in addition to 12 points. He was one of six Grizzlies in double figures for scoring, joining Michael Steadman (19), Bannan (19), Vazquez (15), Whitney (15) and Kyle Owens (10).

Owens, a sophomore, recorded his first career double-double in the victory, totaling 13. As a team, Montana only gave up 15 rebounds, out-rebounding Yellowstone Christian, 49-15.

Gallery: (12-12-2020) MBB: vs. Yellowstone Christian (12.12.20)

Game Notables

The 60-point margin of victory is the third-largest in school history and widest in more than 40 years. The only other times Montana has won a game by 60 or more points came in 1945-46 (103-34 over Gonzaga) and 1979-80 (94-33 over Carroll).
Montana scored 100 points for the 31^st time in school history, including the fifth time in the past two decades.
Montana scored on its first offensive possession and never trailed in the game. The Grizzlies led by as many as 63 points.
- Montana started strong out of the gates, jumping out to a 15-3 advantage.
- The Grizzlies led by 21 just 12 minutes into the contest, 33-12, making 13 of their first 16 shot attempts.
- Montana held a 30-point halftime lead, 49-19, and led by at least 30 points for the remainder of the contest.
- The Grizzlies used a 17-0 run midway through the second half to extend their lead. For more than 6 minutes (from 11:37 to 5:33), Montana missed just a single shot.
After being out-rebounded in the first four games of the season, Montana crashed the glass well on Saturday, totaling 49 rebounds. The Grizzlies only gave up 15 rebounds (+35 advantage).
- In comparison, sophomore Kyle Owens recorded 13 rebounds by himself.
Montana made 68.4 percent of its shot attempts (39-of-57) while holding Yellowstone Christian to a .279 clip (17-of-61).
Montana shot 19-of-23 from the free-throw line, marking the second consecutive game the Grizzlies have shot 80 percent or better from the charity stripe.
Montana took advantage of its size, scoring 60 points in the paint.
The Grizzlies forced 16 turnovers, leading to 24 points.
All nine players who played 3 minutes or more scored, with six reaching double figures.
Seven different Grizzlies tallied an assist.
Sophomore Kyle Owens, who has been in double figures for scoring in all five games this season, recorded his first career double-double (10 points, career-high 13 rebounds).
Senior Michael Steadman had the best performance of his short Griz career, scoring 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Steadman also added eight rebounds.
- Steadman drew six fouls on the day, without being whistled for a single foul.
Freshman Josh Bannan made all eight of his 2-point shot attempts (8-of-10 overall, plus 3-for-3 from the free-throw line). He finished the day with a career high for points (19), rebounds (7), assists (3) and steals (2).
Sophomore Josh Vazquez stayed hot from 3-point range, connecting on 3-of-5 attempts for 15 points (one shy of a career high).
- Over the past four games, Vazquez is shooting 9-of-17 (.529) from 3-point range.
Freshman Brandon Whitney played a team-most 32 minutes. He made the most of the time, too, scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, in addition to four assists and a team-most three steals.
Junior Cameron Parker was a single assist shy of a points-assists double-double. He finished the day with 12 points and nine dimes, in addition to five rebounds and two steals. Parker did not miss a shot, shooting 4-of-4 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Freddy Brown III, who redshirted a season ago, scored a career-high eight points. After playing 32 total minutes during his freshman season, Brown played 14 minutes on Saturday, also recording two rebounds.

No-look pass from @CameronParker23 to @JoshVazquez3 for 3️⃣#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/0cv5oKdxmx
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 12, 2020

Quoting DeCuire
(on getting the first win of the season)
"You can do a lot of things right, and not have the outcome you want, and that happened for us twice last week on the road. We needed a home game where we could sleep in our own beds, go through a home-game routine and have some success. There were some areas that we needed to fix, and you can only do that against another opponent; you can't do fix that against yourself."

(on his team's offensive execution)
"We gave them the goal of 20 assists and 10 turnovers. We had more than 10 turnovers, but a lot of them were from unselfishness. Our intent was there, and that was the most important thing to me. What is our intent on the offensive end? Are we trying to win and make each other better? Are we trying to make the game easier for on another? Or are we just taking care of ourselves? Today, I felt very positive about what our intent was."

It was a little bit of everyone. I think (Michael) Steadman finally got in a bit of a rhythm and was better on the glass. Kyle Owens continues to rebound. (Josh) Bannan needed to see the ball go through the basket, and that helped him get going. (Cameron) Parker, he wants assists; that's his thing. I think we had a better rotation, and guys had a better feel for when their opportunities would come."

The birthday boy, @mikesteady123, is up to 19 points and the Griz are rolling!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/B2ksjLgxbU
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 12, 2020

Looking Ahead
Having already traveled 8,300 miles during non-conference play, the Grizzlies will once again hit the road this week, bussing to Seattle, Washington to take on Washington of the Pac-12 (Wednesday, 9 p.m. MT).

Brandon Whitney creates a little separation and connects on the mid-range jumper!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/5v40iHel6o
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 12, 2020