Thursday, December 3
Cedar City, Utah
7 PM
Montana
0-2,0-1Big Sky
63
at
64
Southern Utah
2-1,1-0Big Sky
1
2
F
Montana
34
29
63
Southern Utah
28
36
64
Montana drops Big Sky opener late at Southern Utah
12/3/2020 10:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CEDAR CITY, Utah – For the first time in 12 seasons, Montana opened Big Sky Conference play with a loss, falling at Southern Utah, 64-63, on Thursday night. The Grizzlies led for more than 31 minutes and never trailed by more than 3 points in the loss.
The Grizzlies led by as many as 11 points on the night, including seven in the second half. They held a 56-52 lead with under 5 minutes to play and a 59-58 advantage with 2 minutes on the clock, but Southern Utah made six free throws over the closing 2 minutes to pull in front.
On the night, the Thunderbirds went to the line 40 times, resulting in 26 points. The Grizzlies only attempted 17 free throws, but didn't help themselves at the line either, shooting 9-of-17. Montana also turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 15 Southern Utah points; on the flip side, the Grizzlies didn't score a single point off of Southern Utah's nine giveaways.
After the Thunderbirds took just their third lead of the night, 58-57, with 2 minutes, 43 seconds to play, the Grizzlies responded on the other end with a Brandon Whitney layup. Two possessions later, it was Whitney again, whose driving layup gave Montana a 60-59 advantage with 1 minute to play.
Trailing by three, Montana had an answer on the clutch shooting of Josh Vazquez – his fourth 3-pointer of the game – to tie the score at 63-63 with 31 seconds to play. Holding the ball for a final shot, John Knight III was fouled on his go-ahead attempt and made 1-of-2 with 2.6 seconds to play to seal the victory for the Thunderbirds.
Vazquez led the Grizzlies with a career-high-tying 14 points, including 4-of-6 shooting from deep. Sophomore Kyle Owens was good off the bench once again, totaling 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Senior Michael Steadman scored 12 points in 17 minutes before fouling out, while junior Cameron Parker scored eight points and tallied a team-best four assists.
Mack 10-1 run
(on the game overall)
"Gotta finish plays. At the end of the day, that's what it comes down to. If you would have told me we'd hold a team to 31 percent from the floor, and shoot 49 (percent), I'd think we won going away.
Thirteen offensive rebounds is way too many, especially when two or three are off of free throws. Those are empty possessions. We didn't get enough loose balls and we gave up 15 points off of turnovers, meaning we didn't transition well.
"It's the details right now that are beating us. We've got to get where we aren't beating ourselves with mistakes."
(on not finding an offensive rhythm due to foul trouble)
"The lineups that I had, that were playing well, didn't stay on the floor very long because of fouls. Every time we'd build momentum, two of those guys were coming out."
(on playing an early conference game)
"We're not where we normally would be in conference, this early and with just one outing. We're figuring things out live, and when your second game is a conference game, it's tough."
(on playing Southern Utah again on Saturday)
"A late night of film for me tonight, make some adjustments, fix a couple things and see what we can do on Saturday."
Montana will get its first look at the Big Sky's new format for 2020-21, playing Southern Utah again on Saturday (noon tip).
The Grizzlies led by as many as 11 points on the night, including seven in the second half. They held a 56-52 lead with under 5 minutes to play and a 59-58 advantage with 2 minutes on the clock, but Southern Utah made six free throws over the closing 2 minutes to pull in front.
On the night, the Thunderbirds went to the line 40 times, resulting in 26 points. The Grizzlies only attempted 17 free throws, but didn't help themselves at the line either, shooting 9-of-17. Montana also turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 15 Southern Utah points; on the flip side, the Grizzlies didn't score a single point off of Southern Utah's nine giveaways.
After the Thunderbirds took just their third lead of the night, 58-57, with 2 minutes, 43 seconds to play, the Grizzlies responded on the other end with a Brandon Whitney layup. Two possessions later, it was Whitney again, whose driving layup gave Montana a 60-59 advantage with 1 minute to play.
On the other end, though, the Grizzlies were whistled for a foul while Maizen Fausett attempted a 3-pointer. Fausett made the first two free throws, to put the home team on top, and after missing the third, the Thunderbirds corralled the loose ball, leading to two more free throws – both makes. Southern Utah finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points.After Southern Utah takes just its 3rd lead of the night, Montana responds! Just a freshman, @BWhit_10 is already making big plays for the Griz! #GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/YkzwZTzSlU
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 4, 2020
Trailing by three, Montana had an answer on the clutch shooting of Josh Vazquez – his fourth 3-pointer of the game – to tie the score at 63-63 with 31 seconds to play. Holding the ball for a final shot, John Knight III was fouled on his go-ahead attempt and made 1-of-2 with 2.6 seconds to play to seal the victory for the Thunderbirds.
Vazquez led the Grizzlies with a career-high-tying 14 points, including 4-of-6 shooting from deep. Sophomore Kyle Owens was good off the bench once again, totaling 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Senior Michael Steadman scored 12 points in 17 minutes before fouling out, while junior Cameron Parker scored eight points and tallied a team-best four assists.
Junior Mack Anderson had an impressive second half, totaling six rebounds and blocking two shots, in addition to scoring three points, in 8 minutes. During a 2-minute stretch – in the midst of a 10-1 Griz run – Anderson had three points, three rebounds and two blocked shots.JOSH VAZQUEZ FOR 3️⃣!
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 4, 2020
All. Tied. Up. pic.twitter.com/mWAcKr4052
Mack 10-1 run
Game NotablesAfter Southern Utah took a brief 42-40 lead, Montana is on a 10-1 run to regain control.
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 4, 2020
The Thunderbirds have gone 6 minutes without a made field goal. pic.twitter.com/cofbXm8RUX
- Montana was playing in its earliest Big Sky Conference opener ever, never before playing a league game prior to Dec. 3.
- Thursday snapped Montana's 11-game winning streak in Big Sky Conference openers, with the Grizzlies dropping to 0-1 in league play for the first time since 2008-09.
- Thursday marked Travis DeCuire's 200th career game as head coach of the Grizzlies, becoming the fifth coach in school history to reach the milestone (George Dahlberg, Mike Montgomery, Blaine Taylor, Wayne Tinkle).
- Montana led for more than 31 minutes of the game, including by as many as 11 points.
- Southern Utah led on five occasions, for a total of 3:27, and never by more than three points.
- Southern Utah scored the game's first basket, before Montana responded with an 8-0 run. Less than 12 minutes into the contest, the Grizzlies were already doubling up the Thunderbirds, 22-11.
- Montana led by as many as seven points in the second half, including 38-31 with 17:47 to play, before Southern Utah used an 11-2 run to take its first lead (42-40) since the opening minute.
- The Grizzlies answered with a 10-1 run of their own, to reclaim a seven-point lead (50-43 with 8:26 to play.
- During Montana's 10-1 run, the Grizzlies shot 4-of-4 from the floor, while holding Southern Utah to 0-of-6 shooting.
- During a stretch of 6 minutes, Southern Utah was held to zero made field goals and just three made free throws.
- Over the game's final 14 minutes, Southern Utah shot just 3-of-14 from the floor, but made 17 free throws.
- Over the game's final four minutes, neither team led by more than three points. During that stretch, there were four lead changes and three tie scores.
- Montana shot .490 from the floor (24-of-49), including .538 in the first half.
- Southern Utah entered the game ranked in the top 35 nationally for scoring, field-goal shooting and 3-point shooting, but the Griz defense was stout, limiting the Thunderbirds to 64 points (season average was 89.0); .327 shooting (season average was .537) and .286 3-point shooting (season average was .418).
- Southern Utah took 40 free throws, leading to 26 points. In comparison, Montana attempted just 17 free throws (9-of-17).
- After forcing USC into 16 turnovers, the Grizzlies forced just nine on Thursday. Montana didn't score a single point off of a Southern Utah turnover (compared to 15 for the Thunderbirds).
- Montana's bench scored 37 points (58.7 percent), led by Josh Vazquez's 14 and Kyle Owens' 10.
- Sophomore Josh Vazquez tied a career high with 14 points, shooting 4-of-6 from deep. He gave the Grizzlies a four-point lead 56-52, but his biggest shot tied the game at 63-63 with 31 seconds to play.
- Sophomore Kyle Owens shot 4-of-5 from the floor, totaling 10 points, in addition to a career-high eight rebounds. He had seven points and five boards in the second half alone.
- On the season, Owens is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game and has led Montana for rebounding in both contests.
- After playing 3 minutes at USC, Mack Anderson scored five points and collected six rebounds. The junior had an impressive performance in the second half, collecting three rebounds and blocking two shots, plus scoring three points, during a 10-1 Griz run over a 2-minute stretch.
- After being held to 3-of-8 shooting in his Griz debut at USC, senior Michael Steadman scored 12 points before fouling out (17 minutes), connecting on 6-of-9 shot attempts, including making his first three attempts.
- Nine of the 10 Grizzlies who played scored, with each doing so before halftime.
- Senior Cameron Satterwhite (19th of his career) and freshman Brandon Whitney made their first Montana starts.
- Montana is now 0-2 on the season for the first time since 2016-17.
- Montana dropped to 18-7 all-time against Southern Utah, losing for the second consecutive time, after previously winning 15 in a row in the series. The Grizzlies lost for the first time in Cedar City since the 1998-99 season.
- In the last four trips to Cedar City, Montana has trailed for less than 6 combined minutes, and never by more than three points.
Quoting DeCuireMichael Steadman is up to 12 points, and he puts Montana back on top!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/FW9grjS4V7
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 4, 2020
(on the game overall)
"Gotta finish plays. At the end of the day, that's what it comes down to. If you would have told me we'd hold a team to 31 percent from the floor, and shoot 49 (percent), I'd think we won going away.
Thirteen offensive rebounds is way too many, especially when two or three are off of free throws. Those are empty possessions. We didn't get enough loose balls and we gave up 15 points off of turnovers, meaning we didn't transition well.
"It's the details right now that are beating us. We've got to get where we aren't beating ourselves with mistakes."
(on not finding an offensive rhythm due to foul trouble)
"The lineups that I had, that were playing well, didn't stay on the floor very long because of fouls. Every time we'd build momentum, two of those guys were coming out."
(on playing an early conference game)
"We're not where we normally would be in conference, this early and with just one outing. We're figuring things out live, and when your second game is a conference game, it's tough."
(on playing Southern Utah again on Saturday)
"A late night of film for me tonight, make some adjustments, fix a couple things and see what we can do on Saturday."
Looking Ahead𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒐𝒇𝒇!
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 4, 2020
Get up, @cam_satterwhite! 😤 pic.twitter.com/CPW8Pqgfvy
Montana will get its first look at the Big Sky's new format for 2020-21, playing Southern Utah again on Saturday (noon tip).
Big Sky play begins tonight! Let's 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩!#GrizHoops #GoGriz #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/y9cJ18zSXF
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 3, 2020
Team Stats
Mont
SUU
FG%
.490
.327
3FG%
.375
.286
FT%
.529
.650
RB
32
36
TO
13
9
STL
5
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
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