Montana holds Georgia 26 points below scoring average in road loss

Tuesday, December 8

Athens, Ga.

5 PM (MT)

Montana

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Georgia

4-0,0-0SEC

Montana

Georgia

Montana holds Georgia 26 points below scoring average in road loss

12/8/2020 7:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

ATHENS, Georgia – Despite holding Georgia to a season-low 63 points, Montana fell on the road Tuesday night, 63-50, inside Stegeman Coliseum. The undefeated Bulldogs entered the game ranked 29^th nationally, averaging 89.0 points per game.

While Montana's defense was strong, the Grizzlies struggled to get much going on the offensive end, being limited to .353 shooting.

Montana looked to be doomed from the start after Georgia's quick-paced offense scored nine points in the game's first 98 seconds. The Bulldogs made their first four shots and forced a turnover during that stretch, and jumped out to leads of 13-2 and 21-7.

After Georgia made 10 of its first 14 shots, though, Montana's defense settled in and held the Bulldogs to 5-of-22 shooting to close the half. Aided by a 10-0 run midway through the period, the Griz got within a single possession multiple times, and out-scored the Bulldogs 17-11 over the final 12 minutes, to enter the locker room trailing by just eight.

Montana scored on its first possession of the second half to make it a 32-27 game, but then the Grizzlies went cold again, allowing the Bulldogs to rebuild a 16-point lead, 49-33. Montana got within nine points several more times, but never closer.

Sophomore Kyle Owens was again phenomenal, scoring a game-high 17 points. He has been in double figures each game this season, also adding six rebounds and a steal in 37 minutes of action. Sophomore Eddy Egun was also a spark off the bench, scoring a career-high 11 points – including nine in the second half on 3-of-3 shooting from deep.

Egun hit a big 3-pointer to push Montana's first-half run to 10-0 and cut the deficit to 21-17 with 7:07 to play. After the Bulldogs scored on the other end – their first points in 6 minutes – Egun responded with another 3-pointer, and then had an assist on Montana's next possession to make it a 25-22 game with 4:31 to play in the half.

Freshman Brandon Whitney was also in double figures (10 points), with Owens, Egun and Whitney combining to score 38 of Montana's 50 points, as the Grizzlies struggled to get production from its post players.

As good as the Griz defense was, limiting Georgia to .397 shooting and forcing the Bulldogs into 18 turnovers, Montana was undone on the glass (49 to 30) and committed 20 turnovers of its own.

Game Notables

After allowing Georgia to score on its first four possessions and take leads of 9-0, 13-2 and 21-7, the Grizzlies out-scored the Bulldogs over the game's final 32 minutes.
- After scoring 19 points in the first 5:18, Georgia followed with a stretch of 6 minutes without a basket, and 8 minutes with just two points.
- Montana used a 10-0 run midway through the half to turn a 21-7 deficit to a 21-17 score. The Grizzlies would get within three points on several occasions over the next few minutes, including 25-22 with 4:31 remaining in the first half.
- Montana got within five points on the first play of the second half (32-27), before Georgia pushed its lead back to a game-high 16 points (49-33). From that point forward, the closest the Griz got was nine points.
Georgia opened the game shooting 10-of-14 from the floor, but closed the half just 5-of-22, and finished the game 27-of-68 (.397).
In addition to a season-low 63 points, Montana also limited Georgia to .397 shooting and forced the Bulldogs into 18 turnovers.
- Georgia's 63 points were a season low by 21, with the Bulldogs entering the contest averaging 89.0 points per game (29^th in NCAA), and no fewer than 84.
- Georgia entered the game ranked 34^th nationally for shooting (.508) and 42^nd in the NCAA with a +21.7 scoring margin.
Montana shot 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Kyle Owens led all players with 17 points, in addition to six rebounds and one steal in 37 minutes of action.
- Owens has been in double figures in every game this season.
Sophomore Eddy Egun was a spark off the bench, scoring a career-high 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting. Egun made all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half, with two coming during a Montana run to cut the deficit to a single possession.
While Michael Steadman was held to four points and just four shot attempts, the senior did record a team-best eight rebounds, in addition to three blocked shots.
Junior Darius Henderson, who was a midyear transfer a year ago from UMass Lowell, made his Griz debut on Tuesday. He played 3 minutes and recorded one rebound.
Montana was out-rebounded 49 to 30, surrendering 18 offensive rebounds and 14 second-chance points. The Bulldogs also had 24 fast-break points and 16 points off of Montana's 20 turnovers.
Montana was once again playing short-handed, without two of its starters from Thursday's contest (Derrick Carter-Hollinger and Cameron Satterwhite) and two freshmen (Robby Beasley III and Hunter Clarke).
Montana is still in search of its first win of the season, falling to 0-4 for just the third time in the past 50 seasons. The other two times (1973-74 and 2016-17) the Grizzlies finished the season with a .500 record or better.
Tuesday was Montana's first-ever meeting against the Bulldogs and the program's second-ever trip to the state of Georgia.
Montana was playing for the first time this season with the general public allowed into the arena. A total of 1,638 fans were announced inside Stegeman Coliseum, which holds 10,523.
Montana is 0-9 all-time against SEC competition, including 0-4 in the past six seasons.

Looking Ahead
In a season full of fluidity, Montana has added a non-conference home game for Saturday afternoon against Yellowstone Christian (2 p.m.). The Grizzlies previously didn't have a home game scheduled until Jan. 2.