Saturday, February 8
Moscow, Idaho
7:30 PM (MT)
Montana
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82
at
71
Idaho
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Montana
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Idaho
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Photo by: Derek Johnson
Montana pulls away to earn another road win
2/8/2020 10:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MOSCOW, Idaho – A career performance from Mack Anderson erased a slow start for Montana, as the Grizzlies beat Idaho, 82-71, on Saturday night. The win maintains Montana's hold of first place in the Big Sky standings.
Anderson, who was saddled with early foul trouble, played just 2 minutes in the first half. The sophomore took full advantage in the second half, though, setting a career high with 15 on 6-of-8 shooting.
Montana led for less than 3 minutes in the first half, and trailed 45-43 with 15 minutes to play before Anderson took over. The Bozeman native scored 11 consecutive Griz points, including a personal 7-0 run in just 54 seconds which gave the Grizzlies the lead for good.
"When you're about the right things, things work out your way more often than not," head coach Travis DeCuire said about Anderson. "He's playing very well for us on the defensive end, his emotions are in the right place. He was doing the right things for us tonight, and he had a great game."
Idaho had one more counterpunch, with Trevon Allen scoring eight straight points to get back to within three, 58-55, but Montana once again responded with 11 of the next 15 points – shooting 5-of-7 from the floor during the stretch – to take full control.
Montana led for the final 15 minutes, including by as many as 12 points.
Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor, including .571 for the Grizzlies. Montana limited the Vandals to just 23 rebounds and forced 16 turnovers (26 points off of turnovers).
In addition to Anderson's 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, three other Grizzlies were in double figures for scoring. Sayeed Pridgett scored 19 points, in addition to nine rebounds, while fellow senior Kendal Manuel scored 14. Freshman Josh Vazquez made all three of Montana's 3-pointers, finishing with 11 points – including several big shots and plays in the first half.
(on overcoming a first-half deficit)
"We told the guys prior that this was going to be a grind. This team (Idaho) has been playing well, they played well on the road at Sac State. They had some confidence, and we had to grind it out in the second half."
(on four players scoring in double figures)
"They were keying on Sayeed (Pridgett) early and trying to take him away. We had to find our guys, and thanks God Josh (Vazquez) got things going off the bench. He gave us some energy. That's when we've been good, when other guys have stepped up and made plays."
(on where his team stands with four weeks to play)
"I asked the team, 'If I said we had 10 wins after 13 games, would you take it?'. They said, 'Yes'. Then I said, 'If I said we were in first place after 13 games, would you take it?'. They of course said, 'Yes'. That's where we are, now what are we going to do with it? You have to bring the energy every night. I don't necessarily know that we did that tonight, but we found it."
Looking Ahead
Montana will play its next two games in Missoula, hosting Weber State (Thursday) and Idaho State (Saturday). With four weeks remaining in the regular season, the Grizzlies (10-3) have a half-game lead over Eastern Washington (9-3) and a full game lead over Northern Colorado (8-3).
Anderson, who was saddled with early foul trouble, played just 2 minutes in the first half. The sophomore took full advantage in the second half, though, setting a career high with 15 on 6-of-8 shooting.
Montana led for less than 3 minutes in the first half, and trailed 45-43 with 15 minutes to play before Anderson took over. The Bozeman native scored 11 consecutive Griz points, including a personal 7-0 run in just 54 seconds which gave the Grizzlies the lead for good.
"When you're about the right things, things work out your way more often than not," head coach Travis DeCuire said about Anderson. "He's playing very well for us on the defensive end, his emotions are in the right place. He was doing the right things for us tonight, and he had a great game."
Prior to Anderson's outburst, the two teams were in a tight battle. The first 25 minutes featured 12 lead changes and nine ties, with neither team being able to lead by more than four points. That changed with a 15-2 run over 4 minutes of action, which turned a two-point deficit into a double-digit lead.@mack_anderson11 with the thunderous dunk! The sophomore from Bozeman has 7 points in the past 54 seconds to give Montana its largest lead of the night! pic.twitter.com/jkdfAvuLjd
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 9, 2020
Idaho had one more counterpunch, with Trevon Allen scoring eight straight points to get back to within three, 58-55, but Montana once again responded with 11 of the next 15 points – shooting 5-of-7 from the floor during the stretch – to take full control.
Montana led for the final 15 minutes, including by as many as 12 points.
Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor, including .571 for the Grizzlies. Montana limited the Vandals to just 23 rebounds and forced 16 turnovers (26 points off of turnovers).
In addition to Anderson's 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, three other Grizzlies were in double figures for scoring. Sayeed Pridgett scored 19 points, in addition to nine rebounds, while fellow senior Kendal Manuel scored 14. Freshman Josh Vazquez made all three of Montana's 3-pointers, finishing with 11 points – including several big shots and plays in the first half.
Game NotablesYou can't be serious! @JoshVazquez3 with the steal and score!
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 9, 2020
He has 8 of Montana's first 19 points. pic.twitter.com/yEBx50VAVG
- Montana earned a season sweep over Idaho and has won four straight over the Vandals.
- Montana's last three wins have been by double figures.
- Montana reached 80 points for the sixth time in the past nine games. The Grizzlies did so just once through the season's first 15 contests.
- Montana shot .571 from the floor, making two-thirds of its shots in the second half (20-of-30). The .667 shooting percentage was the Grizzlies' highest in a half this season.
- Montana has made at least half of its shots in five consecutive games.
- After leading for less than 3 minutes in the first half, Montana led for the final 15 minutes of the game, taking control following a 15-2 run, including 11 points from Mack Anderson.
- Montana forced Idaho into 16 turnovers, turning the mistakes into 26 points.
- Montana won the rebounding battle for the third game in a row, limiting the Vandals to just 23 rebounds (UM had 29).
- The Grizzlies were efficient from the free-throw line, connecting on 15 of 18 attempts (.833).
- Montana scored 52 points in the paint, compared to 32 for the Vandals.
- After playing just 2 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Mack Anderson exploded in the second half with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
- Anderson's previous season high was 10 points, and career high was 12 points.
- Trailing 45-43, Anderson scored seven straight points in just 54 seconds, making three free throws, a layup and a dunk which forced an Idaho timeout. The 7-0 run turned a deficit into Montana's largest lead at the time (50-45).
- Following the timeout, Anderson remained hot, scoring Montana's next four points, to give the sophomore 11 consecutive Griz points.
- Senior Sayeed Pridgett finished with a team-high 19 points, despite playing just 11 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. He shot 8-of-12 from the floor while also leading the Grizzlies for rebounding (9) and assists (4).
- Josh Vazquez scored 11 points, making all three of Montana's 3-pointers.
- Vazquez connected on back-to-back triples in the first half to give Montana its first lead of the night, 13-11.
- The freshman scored eight of Montana's first 19 points, also adding a behind-the-back assist to Kyle Owens, which tied the score at 27-27.
- After shooting 2-for-7 in the first half, Kendal Manuel bounced back to make five of his final seven shots and finish with 14 points and three assists. The senior had six of 10 Montana points late to put the Griz on top, 77-66 with 2:11 to play.
- Junior Timmy Falls made an impact in a variety of ways, totaling two assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
- After trailing 45-43 with 15:20 to play, Montana went on a 7-0 run – all by Anderson – to take a 50-45 lead and force a Vandals timeout. The run extended to 15-2, giving Montana its first double-digit advantage.
- Idaho answered Montana's run with eight consecutive points of its own to get to within three, 58-55, but Montana against answered back with 11 of the next 15 points to reclaim a double-digit advantage.
- Through the game's first 25 minutes, there were 12 lead changes and nine tie scores, with neither team leading by more than four points.
- Montana led for less than 3 minutes in the first half, taking its first lead at 13-11. The Grizzlies also led at 15-13 (19 seconds) and 31-29 (25 seconds).
- Montana scored 43 points through the game's first 25 minutes, before scoring 39 points in the final 15 minutes.
- Idaho's Trevon Allen scored a game-high 36 points. He scored Idaho's first 11 points to open up the game, and then eight in a row in the second half.
Quoting DeCuireLooks like someone's been learning a thing or two from TImmy!@JoshVazquez3 to @kodoesit and we're all tied up! pic.twitter.com/P4qN4Wo0H8
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 9, 2020
(on overcoming a first-half deficit)
"We told the guys prior that this was going to be a grind. This team (Idaho) has been playing well, they played well on the road at Sac State. They had some confidence, and we had to grind it out in the second half."
(on four players scoring in double figures)
"They were keying on Sayeed (Pridgett) early and trying to take him away. We had to find our guys, and thanks God Josh (Vazquez) got things going off the bench. He gave us some energy. That's when we've been good, when other guys have stepped up and made plays."
(on where his team stands with four weeks to play)
"I asked the team, 'If I said we had 10 wins after 13 games, would you take it?'. They said, 'Yes'. Then I said, 'If I said we were in first place after 13 games, would you take it?'. They of course said, 'Yes'. That's where we are, now what are we going to do with it? You have to bring the energy every night. I don't necessarily know that we did that tonight, but we found it."
Looking Ahead
Montana will play its next two games in Missoula, hosting Weber State (Thursday) and Idaho State (Saturday). With four weeks remaining in the regular season, the Grizzlies (10-3) have a half-game lead over Eastern Washington (9-3) and a full game lead over Northern Colorado (8-3).
After being limited to 11 minutes in the 1st half due to foul trouble, @SP4THABOY is starting to take over in the 2nd half. He has Montana's last two buckets. pic.twitter.com/Z8Y6YhOnzG
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 9, 2020
Back-to-back triples from @joshvazquez3! This one gives Montana the lead! pic.twitter.com/QcpX95Jv8q
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 9, 2020
Team Stats
UM
UI
FG%
.571
.523
3FG%
.273
.500
FT%
.833
.708
RB
29
23
TO
9
16
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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