Griz go cold down the stretch in loss to Northern Arizona

Saturday, January 16

Missoula, Mont.

11 AM

Montana

6-7, 2-4BSC

Northern Arizona

4-9, 3-4BSC

Northern Arizona

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino

Griz go cold down the stretch in loss to Northern Arizona

1/16/2021 4:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

MISSOULA, Mont. – Coming out of a timeout on Saturday afternoon, freshman Brandon Whitney drove to the basket, stopped at the left elbow and buried a floater as the shot clock was winding down. The basket gave Whitney 22 points on the day, a career high, and extended Montana's lead to 58-50 with 5 minutes, 32 seconds to play.

The Grizzlies, however, wouldn't score again, allowing Northern Arizona to close the game on a 12-0 run and earn a road upset over Montana, 62-58.

Montana led for more than 33 minutes on the afternoon, including by as many as 17 points, but couldn't convert down the stretch for its fourth Big Sky Conference loss by eight total points.

"Experience is the name of the game right now for us," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "You have to have some success, and as you do that, you start to have more confidence. At the end of the day, you have to have more energy and be more aggressive down the stretch, and we're just not there yet."

Montana led by double figures throughout the game, including by 15 at halftime. Five minutes into the second half, freshman Robby Beasley III connected on two free throws to extend Montana's lead to 43-32, but Northern Arizona began its surge after that, making four consecutive shots to cut the score to 45-42. After getting a stop on defense, the Lumberjacks finally missed, but secured an offensive rebound and made the second chance count to make it a one-point game, 45-44, with 11:36 remaining.

After going 5 minutes without a basket, sophomore Josh Vazquez responded on the other end by connecting on a 3-pointer, the first of three triples Montana made during a 3-minute stretch to extend the lead back to three possessions. Montana led 58-50 with 5:32 to play, but went 0-for-4 with two turnovers on its final six possessions.

The Lumberjacks were just 3-of-9 during that span, but made five free throws in a row and extended possessions with four offensive rebounds over the final 2:05.

The Grizzlies, on the other hand, struggled to put up shots. Montana took just 19 shots in the second half – 13 fewer than Northern Arizona. Part of that was due to the Grizzlies' eight second-half turnovers, with Northern Arizona's seven offensive rebounds also contributing.

"You learn from experience, and you learn from losses more than wins," DeCuire said. "When we go back and look at this one, we have an opportunity to see what's working and what's not, and hopefully the right things stick and we grow from this."

Gallery: (1-16-2021) MBB: vs. Northern Arizona (01.16.21)

Montana trailed minutes into the game, 8-6, but the Grizzlies broke the game open after that by scoring 11 consecutive points over the next 4:33, scoring on five of six possessions while NAU was 0-for-4 with two turnovers. Whitney scored seven of Montana's 11 points during that run, and at that point had scored nine of Montana's 17 on the day.

The Grizzlies' lead would hold for the next 29 minutes, before the Lumberjacks took a 59-58 advantage with 1:50 to play. On the day, the Grizzlies never trailed by more than the final margin of four points.

The freshman is on FIRE! 🔥#GrizHoops #GoGriz #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/M5XhAGAGTZ
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 16, 2021

Game Notables

Montana led for 33:27 on Saturday, including 29 consecutive minutes until Northern Arizona regained the lead, 59-58, with 2:05 to play. The Lumberjacks led for just 2:10, and never by more than four points.
- All four of Montana's Big Sky Conference losses have come by four points or fewer, and have all been decided in the final seconds.
- Seven of Montana's 10 Division-I games have been decided by single digits, including five of the past six.
- Montana has led for at least 20 minutes in four of its past five losses.
Montana led by as many as 17 points, doubling up Northern Arizona 34-17 with under 1 minute to play in the first half.
Montana used an 11-0 run midway through the first half to turn an 8-6 deficit into a double-digit lead. During that run, the Grizzlies converted on five of six offensive possessions, while holding Northern Arizona to 0-for-4 shooting with two turnovers.
Freshman Brandon Whitney set a career high with 22 points, eclipsing the 17 he scored at USC, which set a Montana school record for most points ever by a freshman in a season opener. Whitney shot 8-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from deep and a perfect 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. He made his first six shot attempts.
- Whitney also led Montana for assists (four), steals (two) and minutes played (34).
Senior Michael Steadman narrowly missed his third consecutive double-double against Big Sky competition, finishing with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds. He also played a season-high 31 minutes.
Montana continues to excel defensively, holding Northern Arizona to 62 points. It marked the 10^th consecutive game that Montana's opponent has been held to 70 points or fewer.
For the second consecutive game, Montana tied a season high with eight made 3-pointers. The Grizzlies were also efficient, connecting at a 50-percent clip from deep (8-of-16).
- Four of Montana's first five made baskets in the second half were 3-pointers.
- After going more than 5 minutes without a basket midway through the second half, the Grizzlies connected on three 3-pointers in a 3-minute stretch to build a 56-50 lead with under 6 minutes to play.
Northern Arizona secured nine offensive rebounds on the day, including four in the game's final 2:10. Overall, the Lumberjacks had 13 second-chance points compared to Montana's three. They also had 18 points off of Montana's 14 turnovers (compared to six for the Griz, off of nine Lumberjacks miscues).
Montana forced Northern Arizona into seven turnovers through the game's first 10 minutes, but just two over the final 30.
- Similarly, the Grizzlies had 10 more shots than the Lumberjacks through the first 10 minutes (17 to seven), but were -22 (50 to 28) from that point forward.
- Montana went 5 minutes without a made field goal on two separate occasions in the second half.
After Northern Arizona was held to .360 in the first half (9-of-25), the Lumberjacks shot .500 in the second half (16-of-32).
The two teams combined to go a combined 15-of-18 from the free-throw line.
For the second consecutive game, Montana forced a shot-clock violation on its first defensive possession. The Lumberjacks were held scores through their first four possessions (two misses and two turnovers).
- On Thursday, NAU was held without a point for the game's first 4:26.
Montana is 11-2 against Northern Arizona under Travis DeCuire. Saturday's loss was its first in Missoula since 2013, snapping a seven-game home winning streak against the Lumberjacks.

DJ with the spin move!#GrizHoops #GoGriz #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/9sZGjbEfCy
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 16, 2021

Quoting The Griz
"We had a lid on that rim for a little while. Same as last game, scoring droughts, and then your offense affects your defense. They attacked us in some areas – they went one-on-one – and I don't think we did a good enough job on some guys." – Travis DeCuire on the closing minutes

"Down the stretch, it just came down to execution on both ends. We weren't executing on offense, and offensive boards killed us at the end." – Brandon Whitney on the closing minutes of the game

Being up by so much and losing a lead and losing a game, it's tough. As a team, it hurts because we know we can win these games and we didn't get done. At the end of the day, we are a team. We do this together. No one is by themselves. We just make sure we have each other's backs." – Derrick Carter-Hollinger on the team's mentality

"We're learning how to stay together. We have to finish off possessions, because the games we've lost have been by one possession. Stay together, get together and finish off." – Brandon Whitney on what his team is focusing on

"Your mental toughness gets challenged in these types of games. This is conference, these teams aren't going to go away. They're all big games for everyone. We have to be tougher down the stretch. We've got to come up with balls. We were down one, we get the stop and all we have to do is get the rebound and see if we can make a play, and they get the offensive rebound." – Travis DeCuire on his team's mental toughness

"Aggression. We're trying to get this team to play together and share, and I think that backed him off. We really emphasized his aggression today." – Travis DeCuire on Whitney

"We play really good defense. We've gotten to a point where we can play really good defense, but we have to get to the point where we do it for 40 minutes straight. We can't break down defensively." – Derrick Carter-Hollinger on the team's defensive success

"It feels good. For me, it's getting back into the groove of the game, getting some more minutes and getting my confidence back up." – Derrick Carter-Hollinger on finding his rhythm after battling injuries

Looking Ahead
After five consecutive home games, Montana will hit the road for five of the next six, beginning this week against Sacramento State (Thursday at 6 p.m. (MT), Saturday at 12 p.m. (MT)).

New career high for Whitney! The freshman now has 20!#GrizHoops #GoGriz #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/0t0lyGAl59
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 16, 2021