Thursday, February 10
Missoula, Mont.
7 PM
Montana
16-9, 9-5BSC
67
vs
72
Northern Arizona
9-15, 5-8BSC
1
2
OT 1
F
Northern Arizona
27
34
11
72
Montana
25
36
6
67
Photo by: Derek Johnson
Lumberjacks upset Griz at home in overtime
2/11/2022 12:03:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MISSOULA, Mont. – The Montana Grizzlies had a home unbeaten streak that dated back nearly a full calendar year – a streak tied for the eighth-longest in the nation – snapped on Thursday as Northern Arizona took advantage of cold shooting by UM to win 72-67 in overtime.
Despite shooting just 38-percent from the floor – the team's third-lowest percentage of the season – the No. 4 Griz had their chances to beat the No. 8 Lumberjacks but couldn't get buckets to fall at key times as Montana lost its first game in Dahlberg Arena this season.
The loss drops the Griz to 16-9 on the year and 9-5 in conference play, with Montana having now lost three of their last four, sitting 1-3 in the month of February.
Sophomore guard Brandon Whitney paced the Griz with a game-high 25 points in 43 minutes of action (also a game-high). Fellow sophomore Robby Beasley III added 19 points, and Josh Bannan overcame a slow start to finish with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Grizzly defense held the Big Sky's second-leading scorer Jalen Cone, who entered the night averaging nearly 20 points per game, to just 13 points on the night. UM also held NAU big man Carson Towt to 16 and six rebounds – three fewer than his season average.
The Griz suffered their third-lowest scoring first half of the season, trailing NAU by a bucket at the break, 25-27. Entering the game, UM only had a lower first-half output against Mississippi State (16) and Oregon (24) to date.
But the defense came to play.
It was slow from the start for both teams in the opening 10 minutes as the Griz started going 2-8 from the field and 1-5 from three-point land while the Jacks eked out an early 8-7 lead headed into the second media timeout.
The score would remain locked at 8-7 until the eight-minute mark of the opening half when NAU's Nik Mains connected from short range to extend the visitors lead to 10-7 as Montana went without a field goal for over nine minutes.
To compound the Grizzlies' problems, Mack Anderson went down with an injury with 17 to play in the half while getting called for a foul in a scrum for the ball, and the senior from Bozeman wouldn't return until late in the first half, leaving UM shorthanded in size. Anderson would return but only stay in the game for a total of 13 minutes before fouling out.
"In the first half, I didn't think our energy and enthusiasm was necessarily at a high enough level, and we got off to a slow start offensively," said head coach Travis DeCuire.
"When you've got a team stuck at eight points halfway through the first half, you should be up pretty big. Then we got hesitant and missed a couple shots early, got a couple turnovers, then the fouls started racking up."
Gallery: (2-10-2022) MBB: vs. NAU (02.10.22)
After being held to a single point in the first half Bannan came alive early in the second, scoring the remainder of his 13 points in the first eight minutes of the period, including a layup at the 12:25 mark that put UM up 41-37.
Beasley then added more cushion for the Griz ahead of the 12-minute media timeout, collecting an assist from Cam Parker on the fast break and draining a three from the corner to extend UM's lead to 44-37 and get the crowd on its feet into the break.
After more back and forth, NAU went on a run to tie the game at 51.
Parker then took a steal coast to coast and finished at the rim while collecting an intentional foul with eight minutes left to play. He'd then connect on the pair of free throws to put UM up by three, 54-51.
Like a boxer trading blows, both teams would respond after being hit down the stretch.
"They got some contested threes that that got them back in the game, and we knew that what's the one thing that would beat us if they were going to come in here and win. That's what they do. They make threes," said DeCuire.
Montana made six of their last eight from the field take a 61-59 lead, but Cone would hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 61.
Then came Montana's chance to seal the deal.
With 20 seconds to play, possession of the ball, and the scoreboard knotted at 61, Parker found a lane to the hoop, but his layup attempt would rattle out.
Bannon then gave the Griz a second chance at a win with a clutch offensive rebound, kicking it out to Whitney, who also found a lane to the rim, but also watched his layup roll out as time expired, and the Griz were going to overtime.
"We got the shots we wanted. It's how we drew it up. Parker kicked to his left hand and gets a shot off the backboard that goes in 50-percent of the time – really higher than that, he's 50-percent from the floor – but that shot was a pretty high percentage," said DeCuire.
"Whitney got a really good look on the other side with a shot he'd been making all night and normally makes too, but then you kind of got the feeling of oh boy. But we still had an extra five minutes to play."
Playing in their first overtime period this season, the Griz went cold at the wrong time, going 0-4 from the field in extra time, while the Jacks had everything go right, making all four of their shots and hitting two of three from the charity stripe.
Whitney made it a two-point game with 45 seconds to play on a pair of free throws, but with pressure on, Cone found Towt in an open lane who threw down a dunk with 11 seconds to play to seal the 71-67 win for the visitors.
Montana will now have to regroup and turn its attention to a surging Portland State Vikings squad that has won four of its last five, a run that includes wins over NAU and Northern Colorado. The Vikings visit Missoula on Saturday after dropping a narrow 77-74 matchup at Montana State on Thursday.
"That's is why we do this. The bounce back. The adversity. All those things make this what it is. We've got a quick turnaround time, we've got to rest, take care of our bodies, and get ready to go," added DeCuire.
"Nothing better than to play two days later with a little bad taste in your mouth."
Tipoff from Dahlberg Arena is set for 7 p.m.
Despite shooting just 38-percent from the floor – the team's third-lowest percentage of the season – the No. 4 Griz had their chances to beat the No. 8 Lumberjacks but couldn't get buckets to fall at key times as Montana lost its first game in Dahlberg Arena this season.
The loss drops the Griz to 16-9 on the year and 9-5 in conference play, with Montana having now lost three of their last four, sitting 1-3 in the month of February.
Sophomore guard Brandon Whitney paced the Griz with a game-high 25 points in 43 minutes of action (also a game-high). Fellow sophomore Robby Beasley III added 19 points, and Josh Bannan overcame a slow start to finish with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Grizzly defense held the Big Sky's second-leading scorer Jalen Cone, who entered the night averaging nearly 20 points per game, to just 13 points on the night. UM also held NAU big man Carson Towt to 16 and six rebounds – three fewer than his season average.
The Griz suffered their third-lowest scoring first half of the season, trailing NAU by a bucket at the break, 25-27. Entering the game, UM only had a lower first-half output against Mississippi State (16) and Oregon (24) to date.
But the defense came to play.
It was slow from the start for both teams in the opening 10 minutes as the Griz started going 2-8 from the field and 1-5 from three-point land while the Jacks eked out an early 8-7 lead headed into the second media timeout.
The score would remain locked at 8-7 until the eight-minute mark of the opening half when NAU's Nik Mains connected from short range to extend the visitors lead to 10-7 as Montana went without a field goal for over nine minutes.
To compound the Grizzlies' problems, Mack Anderson went down with an injury with 17 to play in the half while getting called for a foul in a scrum for the ball, and the senior from Bozeman wouldn't return until late in the first half, leaving UM shorthanded in size. Anderson would return but only stay in the game for a total of 13 minutes before fouling out.
"In the first half, I didn't think our energy and enthusiasm was necessarily at a high enough level, and we got off to a slow start offensively," said head coach Travis DeCuire.
"When you've got a team stuck at eight points halfway through the first half, you should be up pretty big. Then we got hesitant and missed a couple shots early, got a couple turnovers, then the fouls started racking up."
After being held to a single point in the first half Bannan came alive early in the second, scoring the remainder of his 13 points in the first eight minutes of the period, including a layup at the 12:25 mark that put UM up 41-37.
Beasley then added more cushion for the Griz ahead of the 12-minute media timeout, collecting an assist from Cam Parker on the fast break and draining a three from the corner to extend UM's lead to 44-37 and get the crowd on its feet into the break.
After more back and forth, NAU went on a run to tie the game at 51.
Parker then took a steal coast to coast and finished at the rim while collecting an intentional foul with eight minutes left to play. He'd then connect on the pair of free throws to put UM up by three, 54-51.
Like a boxer trading blows, both teams would respond after being hit down the stretch.
"They got some contested threes that that got them back in the game, and we knew that what's the one thing that would beat us if they were going to come in here and win. That's what they do. They make threes," said DeCuire.
Montana made six of their last eight from the field take a 61-59 lead, but Cone would hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 61.
Then came Montana's chance to seal the deal.
With 20 seconds to play, possession of the ball, and the scoreboard knotted at 61, Parker found a lane to the hoop, but his layup attempt would rattle out.
Bannon then gave the Griz a second chance at a win with a clutch offensive rebound, kicking it out to Whitney, who also found a lane to the rim, but also watched his layup roll out as time expired, and the Griz were going to overtime.
"We got the shots we wanted. It's how we drew it up. Parker kicked to his left hand and gets a shot off the backboard that goes in 50-percent of the time – really higher than that, he's 50-percent from the floor – but that shot was a pretty high percentage," said DeCuire.
"Whitney got a really good look on the other side with a shot he'd been making all night and normally makes too, but then you kind of got the feeling of oh boy. But we still had an extra five minutes to play."
Playing in their first overtime period this season, the Griz went cold at the wrong time, going 0-4 from the field in extra time, while the Jacks had everything go right, making all four of their shots and hitting two of three from the charity stripe.
Whitney made it a two-point game with 45 seconds to play on a pair of free throws, but with pressure on, Cone found Towt in an open lane who threw down a dunk with 11 seconds to play to seal the 71-67 win for the visitors.
Montana will now have to regroup and turn its attention to a surging Portland State Vikings squad that has won four of its last five, a run that includes wins over NAU and Northern Colorado. The Vikings visit Missoula on Saturday after dropping a narrow 77-74 matchup at Montana State on Thursday.
"That's is why we do this. The bounce back. The adversity. All those things make this what it is. We've got a quick turnaround time, we've got to rest, take care of our bodies, and get ready to go," added DeCuire.
"Nothing better than to play two days later with a little bad taste in your mouth."
Tipoff from Dahlberg Arena is set for 7 p.m.
Team Stats
NAU
UM
FG%
.431
.380
3FG%
.333
.211
FT%
.750
.833
RB
36
27
TO
17
11
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
11
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
8
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
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