Montana falls once again in final seconds

Saturday, December 5

Cedar City, Utah

12 PM

Montana

0-3,0-2Big Sky

Southern Utah

3-1,2-0Big Sky

Montana

Southern Utah

12/5/2020 2:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

CEDAR CITY, Utah – For the second consecutive game, Montana led by double digits, came from behind to tie the game in the final minute on a Josh Vazquez 3-pointer, before losing on the final possession at the free-throw line.

The Grizzlies led for just 1 minute, 18 seconds in the opening half – falling behind by as many as nine points – but looked to have taken control late in the half. Montana closed the first half on a 13-0 run, before extending it to 15-0 and 23-2 to open the second half. The Grizzlies would lead by as many as 13 points, including by eight with under 4 minutes to play.

Montana, though, allowed Southern Utah to make five consecutive shots – in addition to five free throws – down the stretch. Southern Utah took a 72-71 lead with 40 seconds to play – its first lead of the second half – and led 74-71 with 20 seconds on the clock.

Like he did on Thursday, though, sophomore Josh Vazquez connected on a clutch, game-tying 3-pointer in the closing minute. The triple tied the score at 74-74 with 11 seconds to play, giving the Grizzlies the chance to send the game to overtime as long as they could get one defensive stop.

Southern Utah's Tevian Jones' game-winning attempt was off the mark, but teammate Nick Fleming corralled the loose ball and was fouled on a tip-in attempt that was well short. Fleming confidently made the first shot, to take a 75-74 lead with 1.3 seconds to play, before intentionally missing the second. Montana chased down the miss, but the Grizzlies' full-court heave at the buzzer was long.

On Thursday, Vazquez tied the game at 63-63 with 31 seconds to play. Similarly, though, Southern Utah then won the game at the free-throw line, sinking the game-winning free throw with 2.6 seconds to play.

JOSH VAZQUEZ AGAIN!! pic.twitter.com/O8LhlDdmVg
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 5, 2020

Montana lost despite shooting .509 from the floor, including .571 from 3-point range. The Grizzlies were led by Kyle Owens' career-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Junior Cameron Parker also had his most impressive Griz performance to date, scoring 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting (3-for-3 from deep), in addition to six assists. Also in double figures was senior Michael Steadman, who scored 13 points and led Montana with seven rebounds.

The Grizzlies held Southern Utah to .433 shooting, including 10-of-33 from deep, but were out-rebounded 34 to 28, most notably 10 to three on the offensive glass.

Thanks to the 23-2 run between both halves, the Grizzlies led for 21 consecutive minutes until Southern Utah recaptured a 72-71 lead in the final 40 seconds.

With the loss, Montana falls to 0-3 on the season, including 0-2 in Big Sky Conference play for the first time since 2007-08 and just the second time in the past 23 seasons.

Kyle Owens is unstoppable down low! The sophomore scores on back-to-back possessions and is already nearing double figures.#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/L2KW0Dc8XQ
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 5, 2020

Game Notables

During Montana's road trip to Southern Utah, the Grizzlies lost two games by a combined two points.
Montana shot a season-high .509 from the floor (27-of-53), including .571 from 3-point range (8-of-14).
- In the two games at Southern Utah, the Grizzlies shot a combined .500 (51-of-102).
- In addition to shooting a season best, the Grizzlies also scored a season-high 74 points on Saturday.
After shooting 9-of-17 from the free-throw line on Thursday, Montana bounced back with a 12-of-15 performance on Saturday, including freshman Brandon Whitney, who was 6-for-6.
Sophomore Kyle Owens played the best game of his career, scoring a career-high 21 points while shooting 9-of-14 from the floor (2-of-3 from 3-point range).
- In addition to his offensive performance, Owens also added four rebounds, two charges drawn and one steal.
- During a 7-0 Griz run to turn a one-point advantage into a 53-45 lead, Owens scored five points and took a charge.
Junior Cameron Parker had the best performance of his young Griz career, scoring 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting (3-of-3 from 3-point range), while also leading the Grizzlies with six assists.
- Fifteen of Parker's 19 points came in the first half, including a personal 7-0 run to ignite Montana's 13-0 run to close the first half.
- It marked the second-most points of his career. Parker was in double figures 18 times in two seasons at Sacred Heart.
After playing just 17 minutes on Thursday due to foul trouble, senior Michael Steadman saw 30 minutes of action on Saturday, scoring 13 points and recording seven rebounds – both season bests.
- In the first two games of the season, Steadman was limited to just three total rebounds.
Sophomore Josh Vazquez played 30 minutes and scored six points, none bigger than a game-tying 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining in the game.
- On Thursday, Vazquez also hit a game-tying 3-pointer in the final minute of the game.
- On the weekend, Vazquez shot 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Montana trailed by as many as nine points (23-14 just 9 minutes into the game) and fell behind by eight points, 31-23, with 5:33 left in the first half.
The Grizzlies then closed the half on a 13-0 run, holding the Thunderbirds to 0-of-7 shooting and three turnovers in the final 5 minutes.
- The run extended to 15-0 on the opening play of the second half, and 23-2 moments later, allowing the Grizzlies to take their largest lead of the day (46-33 with 17:33 to play).
  - During the 8-minute stretch, sandwiched between both halves, Southern Utah was held to 1-of-11 shooting.
The Thunderbirds responded to the Grizzles' run with a 12-0 run of their own, bringing the score to 46-45, but Montana quickly pushed the lead back to double digits (56-46 with 10:55 to play).
- Montana led by nine, 67-58, with 6:27 to play, following an Owens 3-pointer.
- Montana led by two possessions, 69-64, with 2:44 to play, following an Owens made jumper.
Over the final 3:27, Southern Utah scored on every offensive possession, allowing the Thunderbirds to turn an eight-point deficit into a victory. The Thunderbirds shot 5-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line during that period. Their only misses came on their final possession: Tevian Jones missed a jumper in the closing seconds, but Nick Fleming secured the offensive rebound and was fouled. He made his first free-throw attempt, before intentionally missing the second.
Montana was out-rebounded on Saturday, 34 to 28, including 10 to 3 on the offensive glass.
- In the two games at Southern Utah, the Grizzlies gave up 23 offensive rebounds and 27 second-chance points.
The Grizzlies turned the ball over more times than Southern Utah in both games, including 13 to 11 on Saturday.
Owens (10^th of his career) and Vazquez (15^th) earned their first starts of the season.
Just eight players saw action on Saturday. The Grizzlies were once again without Robby Beasley III and Hunter Clarke, in addition to Thursday's starters Derrick Carter-Hollinger and Cameron Satterwhite.
Montana is 18-9 all-time against Southern Utah, but has now lost three in a row in the series (last March in overtime, before this week's games by two combined points).
In the four prior games at Southern Utah, Montana never trailed by more than three points.

Montana falls to 0-3 for the first time since the 2016-17 season. The Grizzlies are 0-2 to begin Big Sky Conference play for the first time since 2007-08, and just the second time in the past 23 seasons.

Gallery: (12-5-2020) MBB: at Southern Utah (12.05.20)

Quoting DeCuire
(on where his team is coming up short)
"It's been the same thing that we've been working on for a while, and that's finishing possessions. You can't defend for 25 seconds and then not get the job done. What I wrote down for these guys to discuss is: rebounds and loose balls."

(on Montana's 23-2 run between both halves)
"When we do the right things on both sides of the ball, and play with the right intent, we can be a pretty good basketball team. On the flip side, we have to figure out how to sustain it."

(on Southern Utah taking 33 3-pointers, compared to 27 shots inside the arc)
"Some of it was forced. We kept them out of the paint, and we did of a decent job of minimizing their penetration. I think the way they were trying to attack our initial ball-screen coverage in the first half, that's what was there for them, and then once we made the adjustment, that's all they had available to them."

(on Owens' career-high 21 points)
"Hard work is paying off. I don't know that there's anyone in our program who put more time into his game in the offseason. We met in April about some things that he needed to get better at, he had already met with his father and our strength coach and had jotted those things down, and it's working for him. The most important thing he did was he changed his shot. He's gotten stronger and he's more aggressive around the basket."

Seriously, is someone going to guard this guy??@CameronParker23 already has 13 points and is 3-for-3 from deep! #GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/vcvGsToN9m
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 5, 2020

(on Parker making all three 3-pointers he attempted)
"He was focused. He knew they were going to give him that shot, and he was prepared to knock them down. He got us going. We did a good job of establishing the post, and they were leaving him (open), and we made them pay."

Looking Ahead
The Grizzlies will have a short turnaround, traveling home to Missoula on Saturday night, before hitting the road again to play at Georgia on Tuesday (5 p.m. MT on SEC Network).

Montana once trailed 31-23. The Grizzlies now lead 46-33. For those who struggle at math, that's a 23-2 run!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/koW9uVAyet
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 5, 2020