Sunday, December 19
Santa Clara, Calif.
3 PM (MT)
Montana
8-5, 1-1BSC
64
at
79
Santa Clara
9-5, 0-0WCC
1
2
F
Montana
26
38
64
Santa Clara
33
46
79
Griz close non-conference with road loss at Santa Clara
12/19/2021 5:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara earned a 79-64 home win over Montana on Sunday afternoon in a battle of two elite mid-major programs.
Montana didn't lead once over the final 34 minutes, but for a brief period in the second half, it looked as if the Grizzlies were poised to pick up a big road win.
After trailing by 11, 37-26, just 65 seconds into the second half, the Grizzlies caught fire, starting with a Robby Beasley III 3-pointer. That shot was followed up by back-to-back baskets from junior Derrick Carter-Hollinger, and then an and-one from junior Kyle Owens – his 500th career point.
Beasley again took over from there, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 43-43 with 14 minute, 45 seconds to play.
In less than 4 game minutes, Montana scored 17 points and turned a double-digit deficit into a tie score (17-6 run).
"I think the biggest thing is that we kept them out of the paint," DeCuire said of Montana's run. "DJ (Carter-Hollinger) took a charge and Mack (Anderson) did a good job one-on-one in the block. Their field-goal percentage dropped and we got into transition and got some things going. Beasley got some transition 3's and picked a good time to get going."
Over the next 5 minutes, Montana made just one shot as the Broncos at one point scored 12 consecutive points, not only taking control of the game again but building their largest lead up to that point (61-47 with 8:54 to play).
Santa Clara led by double figures for the remainder of the contest.
"We took them completely out of their half-court offense and forced them into ball screens," DeCuire said of Montana's defensive pressure. "Overall, we got stops in a lot of areas that they were trying to get offense from. We just didn't parlay them into points like we should have."
Montana shot just .354 from the floor while Santa Clara shot .453. The Grizzlies were a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line, but free-throw shooting became one of the key differences, as Santa Clara took 22 more shots from the charity stripe and made more free throws (25) than field goals (24).
Santa Clara had four players in double figures, including two with 20-plus points. However, the Grizzlies held Jalen Williams – the nation's leading point-scorer – to just one made basket.
"If you would have told me that Jalen Williams made one shot, I'd tell you we'd at least be in there down the stretch, but they made up for it at the free-throw line," DeCuire said. "They did a good job of drawing fouls."
The Grizzlies had eight players make multiple baskets, led by Carter-Hollinger, whose 17 points were the third-most of his career and most since January 2020. He also added five rebounds.
Despite Sunday's loss, Montana posted its fourth winning non-conference record in the past five seasons, going 7-4 including a win over Air Force and a Zootown Classic tournament title. The Grizzlies will now have the holidays off before jumping fully into Big Sky Conference play, which picks back up at home against Idaho State (Dec. 30) and preseason favorite Weber State (Jan. 1).
"I'll take eight wins going into Christmas," DeCuire said. "We know we can play better basketball. We need to figure out ways to build the same fire on the road that we have had at home. We'll hit the reset button, get it going and start conference play at home trying to get a little streak going again."
Montana didn't lead once over the final 34 minutes, but for a brief period in the second half, it looked as if the Grizzlies were poised to pick up a big road win.
After trailing by 11, 37-26, just 65 seconds into the second half, the Grizzlies caught fire, starting with a Robby Beasley III 3-pointer. That shot was followed up by back-to-back baskets from junior Derrick Carter-Hollinger, and then an and-one from junior Kyle Owens – his 500th career point.
Beasley again took over from there, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 43-43 with 14 minute, 45 seconds to play.
In less than 4 game minutes, Montana scored 17 points and turned a double-digit deficit into a tie score (17-6 run).
"I think the biggest thing is that we kept them out of the paint," DeCuire said of Montana's run. "DJ (Carter-Hollinger) took a charge and Mack (Anderson) did a good job one-on-one in the block. Their field-goal percentage dropped and we got into transition and got some things going. Beasley got some transition 3's and picked a good time to get going."
It couldn't be sustained, though. Montana and Santa Clara alternated baskets on their next trips up the floor before the Broncos took over.Of course the stream would glitch at the biggest moment... 🤦♂️
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 19, 2021
Down 11 just moments ago, Montana is on a 17-6 run to tie the game!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/9vVlTx5uJ8
Over the next 5 minutes, Montana made just one shot as the Broncos at one point scored 12 consecutive points, not only taking control of the game again but building their largest lead up to that point (61-47 with 8:54 to play).
Santa Clara led by double figures for the remainder of the contest.
"We took them completely out of their half-court offense and forced them into ball screens," DeCuire said of Montana's defensive pressure. "Overall, we got stops in a lot of areas that they were trying to get offense from. We just didn't parlay them into points like we should have."
Montana shot just .354 from the floor while Santa Clara shot .453. The Grizzlies were a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line, but free-throw shooting became one of the key differences, as Santa Clara took 22 more shots from the charity stripe and made more free throws (25) than field goals (24).
Santa Clara had four players in double figures, including two with 20-plus points. However, the Grizzlies held Jalen Williams – the nation's leading point-scorer – to just one made basket.
"If you would have told me that Jalen Williams made one shot, I'd tell you we'd at least be in there down the stretch, but they made up for it at the free-throw line," DeCuire said. "They did a good job of drawing fouls."
The Grizzlies had eight players make multiple baskets, led by Carter-Hollinger, whose 17 points were the third-most of his career and most since January 2020. He also added five rebounds.
Beasley scored nine points on three 3-pointers – all in the second half – while senior Cameron Parker – the reigning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week – continued his torrid pace, scoring eight points while dishing out eight assists. Sophomore Josh Bannan pulled down nine rebounds while scoring seven points.A nice feed from @CameronParker23 to @DJ_Carter35 gives the Griz two points and five players in the scoring column.#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/xNzjQ2CWu8
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 19, 2021
Sunday also saw the return of sophomore Brandon Whitney (five points, two assists, one steal, one blocked shot) after missing the past two games with a foot injury. However, the Grizzlies were without senior forward Scott Blakney.Just because he's a pass-first guy doesn't mean he can't score... @CameronParker23 drives around traffic for two more!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/gspEM0K3yb
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 19, 2021
Despite Sunday's loss, Montana posted its fourth winning non-conference record in the past five seasons, going 7-4 including a win over Air Force and a Zootown Classic tournament title. The Grizzlies will now have the holidays off before jumping fully into Big Sky Conference play, which picks back up at home against Idaho State (Dec. 30) and preseason favorite Weber State (Jan. 1).
"I'll take eight wins going into Christmas," DeCuire said. "We know we can play better basketball. We need to figure out ways to build the same fire on the road that we have had at home. We'll hit the reset button, get it going and start conference play at home trying to get a little streak going again."
How about that ball movement setting up the @beaziii 3-pointer⁉️❗#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/yYuVmztEVH
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 19, 2021
Team Stats
UM
SCU
FG%
.354
.453
3FG%
.346
.545
FT%
1.000
.806
RB
31
43
TO
10
12
STL
5
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
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