Griz dominate Bengals for biggest win of the season

Saturday, January 14

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

9-9,3-3Big Sky

Idaho State

6-12,3-2Big Sky

Idaho St.

Montana

Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino

Griz dominate Bengals for biggest win of the season

1/14/2023 10:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Coach DeCuire Postgame Interview Box Score (PDF)

By: Montana Sports Information

There is one thing you can't deny about this year's Montana Grizzlies. They know how to respond. After a heartbreaking loss on Thursday, the Griz bounced back for a Saturday win to get them back to .500 in conference play. Sound familiar?

Montana won for the third straight Saturday, defeating Idaho State 84-55 to move to 3-3 in conference play in 9-9 overall. The win is the largest of the season for Montana, and it came against a team that entered the night 3-1 overall in Big Sky play.

It would have been easy to hang their heads after the loss. Instead, they delivered perhaps their most complete performance of the season. A double-digit lead for the final 27 minutes. A season-high 84 points on better than 50 percent shooting. 18 more rebounds and six more assists than the Bengals. It's the 13th straight win at home in the series for Montana, who haven't lost to Idaho State at home since 2008.

It all made for a fun night inside of Dahlberg Arena for head coach Travis DeCuire and his team.

"The two things that are going to jump out to me on that stat sheet, the glass is definitely number one," DeCuire said. "That means we got into transition, which is where some of our threes came. We held them to 33 percent from the floor, so that's transition again."

Josh Bannan recorded his fifth double-double of the year with 10 points and 14 rebounds, and the forward also led the Grizzlies with five assists.

The key to the game for Montana might have been the play of starting guard Brandon Whitney. After battling illness the past few weeks and struggling to find his flow, the junior shook off his recent slump in impressive fashion, looking like himself with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

An attacking guard, he had seen some different defensive schemes from league opponents on top of his illness to contribute to the struggles. DeCuire had a talk with him Friday, and it seems to have paid off. Not only did he get to the rim, he also knocked down multiple threes for just the second time this season and pulled down four rebounds.

"Our conversation was, you're good enough to be an all-conference guard. When people guard you the way they do that's a compliment because they can't guard you the other way," DeCuire said. "Don't let that effect how you play. You should become more aggressive and it should be easier for you to do what you do, and he was ultra-aggressive tonight."

There was a shaky moment early on. After Dischon Thomas hit a three to open the game, Idaho State responded with an 8-0 run. Then Thomas hit another three and Bannan converted a three-point play at the rim to put Montana on top.

They went to the bench early with Jaxon Nap, who drove the lane for a smooth finish as part of an 8-0 Griz run that put them up 17-10. It was the start of a special night for the true freshman as he scored a career-high nine points in 18 minutes of action. He made 3-of-4 shots, including a pair of triples, and pulled down three rebounds.

The freshman Jaxon Nap with a beautiful drive for the score! It's 13-10 Griz early on here in Missoula!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/YUXiDffa5B
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 15, 2023

Nap's performance highlighted another good effort from the Grizzly bench. After failing to score more than 16 points against a D-1 opponent all season, they have now done it in three of the last four games. They had their second highest total of the year with 22, getting nine points from Josh Vazquez as well as four from Laolu Oke. While he didn't score, Mack Anderson also grabbed three rebounds and played tough defense.

"It's huge," DeCuire said of his bench performance. "Jaxon, we keep trying to find ways to get him more minutes there is just so many upperclassmen. There are some things he does better than some other guys, I think he's one of our better passers and he's got a really good feel for the game. Then obviously at 6-7 there is just length, so each game we just try to find new ways. He's been playing better each month that passes."

Montana built the double-digit lead behind a fantastic shooting display. The Grizzlies made nine of 10 shots during a stretch in the middle of the first half, and capped it off with the highlight of the night. After a steal created a fast break, Lonnell Martin Jr. lobbed a perfect pass to the rim for Bannan. The Aussie did the rest, slamming it home to push the lead to 29-17 and get all of Dahlberg Arena on their feet.

𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑬! Martin Jr. tosses it up and Bannan throws it DOWN!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/L3lJZFZa7B
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 15, 2023

The lead grew all the way to 18 points in the first half after an Aanen Moody three made it 42-24. They led 42-28 at the break, a seemingly safe lead. But the Grizzlies have led at the half in every Big Sky game coming into Saturday and have a 2-3 record to show for it. They needed to come out of the locker rooms and establish control.

They did just that, getting the lead up to 20 points in the first three minutes. Whitney hit a three, then stole the ball on the next Bengal possession and hit Martin Jr. for a fastbreak triple to make it 58-34. The foot stayed firmly on the pedal the rest of the way. Whitney and Moody hit a pair of threes for a 6-0 run, part of a fantastic shooting night for Montana.

They hit 13-of-27 from the arc, the second highest total in a game this year. It came against a team allowing barely five per game, the top mark in the conference and a top 15 number in the NCAA. The Grizzlies weren't afraid. They had six different players hit from deep, including five players with multiple makes from the arc.

The bench was cleared early, but kept up the intense pressure. Montana closed the game on a 13-4 run, getting the lead up to 30 in the final minute before settling on the 84-55 final score.

Defense turns into offense here as Whitney starts the break, then Martin Jr. finishes it with the three! The lead is all the way up to 24 points here in the second!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/xhu7Cw7ViH
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 15, 2023

It looked like the performance you'd expect out of a team picked third in the preseason polls. Montana has several new pieces this year, and finding the consistency has been difficult. But they proved on Saturday that at their best they are a championship-caliber team.

"We had a conversation earlier today about guys being in roles they've never been in on a winning team. Some of it is that and consistency. There has to be a level of confidence and trust in one another to be consistent with your effort and how you play basketball," DeCuire said. "You tend to do a better job of it when you're back is against the wall.

"But also, we got off to a good start and made shots. One thing leads to another, but we've just got to find a way to put two of these together. Once we do that, I think we could be on to something."

Moody had 15 points on 50 percent shooting both from the floor (5-10) and three-point range (3-6). Thomas also joined in double-figures with 13 points and three made triples, grabbing six rebounds to go along with it. The big four for Montana all reached double-figures, a key for the Griz this season.

Gallery: (1-14-2023) MBB: Montana vs Idaho State

There will be no time to rest on the victory. Montana gets right back into action on Monday night in Cheney for a rematch against Eastern Washington. Despite not playing three other league opponents, they will have a chance at revenge against the Eagles.

In the first game in Missoula Montana led at the half and by as many as seven points in the second half, but couldn't close out the victory. They have up 87 points in that game, and suffered the only defeat of the year when scoring 80 themselves. The key for Montana is to just be themselves.

"Do what we do. When you watch that game, we played well enough offensively to win," DeCuire said. "You can't give up 50 percent on the defensive side of the ball. We've got to be a more physical team, we have to be more aggressive in tems of how we defend and we have to rebound the ball. We just need to go play Grizzly basketball, and there's no better opportunity to do it than now."