Montana's comeback falls short in Bozeman

Saturday, February 18

Bozeman, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

14-13,8-7Big Sky

Montana State

19-9,12-3Big Sky

Montana

Montana St.

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke

2/18/2023 10:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

Montana's five-game winning streak came to an end Saturday night in Bozeman as the Bobcats held off a late Griz rally for a 72-68 win. The first loss for Montana in nearly a month drops them to 14-13 overall and 8-7 in Big Sky play.

The free throw lined proved to be the difference maker in the game. Montana State finished 32-of-41 from the charity stripe, shooting and making over two times as much as Montana from the line. The Griz were 15-of-17.

It led to a game that lacked much flow on either side as the fouls started to add up. The Grizzlies trailed at the half despite allowing just five made field goals in the opening 20 minutes, two of which came in the final 63 seconds. Yet the Bobcats took a 32-24 lead into the locker rooms.

"It was a physical basketball game. They took us out of our offense," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "They beat us to spots, they were physical. They blew through screens. This game should be a physical game, but usually in these types of games when both teams are trying to play physical and there is contact, the whistle gets swallowed and it's mutual physicality."

The lead would extend to as many as 15 points in the second half, but the Grizzlies never went away. A three-pointer from Aanen Moody late made it a one possession in the final minutes, but Montana State fittingly put it away by making its final five free throws.

Moody closed the game strong, and combined with Josh Bannan to lift Montana back into it. The duo combined for 46 total points on the night, including 36 of Montana's 44 second half points. They paced a Montana offense that had just four players score, as Josh Vazquez added 13 off the bench and Brandon Whitney scored nine.

The tone of the game was set very early on, as Montana State scored the game's first six points all from the free throw line. Montana's offense had a cold opening, turning the ball over four times while missing their first two shots to spot the Bobcats an eight-point headstart.

Moody started the scoring for the Griz with a three and Vazquez added another off the bench to cut the Bobcat lead to 10-6. Moody then hit what looked to be the start of a four-point play, but was whistled for an offensive foul instead in a momentum swing. It was the sixth turnover of the game in the first five minutes.

The offense would eventually get flowing for the Grizzlies, as a 6-0 run cut the Bobcat lead to 17-16. Montana State added another free throw, making 14 of its first 18 points from the line. Bannan would tie the game up at 18-all, but the Bobcats seemed to have an answer for every Griz run.

𝙀𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩. Bannan keeps the play alive and puts it back. Vazquez adds a layup, and it's down to a three-point lead.

Montana are holding the Cats to 2-8 shooting, but Montana State have made 13 free throws in the opening 10 minutes.#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/UWliWWTmim
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 19, 2023

A dunk, the first made field goal for the hosts in over 10 minutes, would extend the lead to 24-21. The Bobcats would then finish the half on a 10-3 run, hitting a pair of threes late for a 32-24 advantage at the break.

The Grizzly defense held MSU to just 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) shooting in the opening 20 minutes.

"I told the guys at halftime, we held them to five field goals and two of them came in the last seconds," DeCuire said of his message to the team. "We made an adjustment on the ball screen and I would love to take that back. We shouldn't have gone under, and then the one in transition. You look up and they would have made three field goals for the half, so we defended well enough but offensively we need to be better."

The Bobcats went 20-of-24 from the free throw line in the opening period. It created not only a lead on the scoreboard, but a foul problem for the Grizzlies. Montana had six players pick up at least two fouls in the first half. It forced DeCuire to get creative with his rotations all game long against the bigger Bobcats.

"Playing small against that group isn't necessarily the formula for success. You typically want to match size with size, but all the size had fouls."

Early in the second period, Montana State was able to extend the lead. After missing their first seven threes of the game, the Bobcats would close it out by making six of their final eight. Bannan and Moody buoyed the Grizzly offense, but Montana couldn't get stops on the other end as the lead grew to 15 points with 10 minutes to play.

Montana's offense flowed through Bannan as the primary ball-handler, with Moody looking to shake a tough Bobcat defense. They did all they could to keep the ball out of the Grizzly sharpshooter's hands, but it opened up lanes to the hoop that Bannan exploited.

"They were face guarding him, they weren't leaving him, so we put him in some screening situations where he freed up some other people," DeCuire said. "He does a good job of moving without the ball and we found a couple things that we took advantage of. We found some staggers and he was able to curl and get into the paint and get fouled."

The Griz scored six straight points to get the game back within single digits at 56-47. The defense started to get stops, and Josh Vazquez knocked the lead down to seven a few minutes later on a second-chance three-pointer.

Second chance trey for Josh Vazquez! Montana hanging around here in the second.#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/NGu95Y3nLa
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 19, 2023

The lead bounced between seven and nine points for several minutes before some Bannan free throws cut it down to just four points at 67-63, the closest Montana had been since the game was 26-23 in the first half.

Free throws the other way built the lead back to five and the Bobcats took possession of the ball inside the final minute. The Grizzlies were able to force a turnover at halfcourt, and Moody hit a transition three that silenced the crowd inside Worthington Arena and made it just a two-point game with 42 seconds to play.

𝘼𝘼𝙉𝙀𝙉 𝙈𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝘿𝙔! Defense to offense for Montana and it's a two point ball game!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/EG3fmUM7Qo
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 19, 2023

The Grizzlies elected to play out the next possession without fouling. They were able to force a miss, but an offensive rebound by the Bobcats forced Montana to send them to the line. Both went in, extending the lead back to four points.

Moody hit a jumper for Montana to cut it back to two, but they couldn't get a steal on the inbounds and Montana State were able to put it away from the free throw line.

It was a strong finish to the game for Montana, who felt similar heartbreak in the game played in Missoula. They pushed a Montana State team that is now 23-2 at home over the previous two seasons to the brink thanks to the second half rally.

"We started scrapping," DeCuire said of his team. "The key was keeping them out of the paint, and the first three possessions of the second half they got in the paint for uncontested layups and dunks. Once we took the paint away they started taking low percentage shots, a couple of guys settled, and then we were able to get into transition and scrap our way back into the game. I just wish we could have played that way the first six minutes."

Bannan and Moody were terrific for the Grizzlies, combining for 46 of the 68 points. Bannan also had eight rebounds, while Moody was second on the team with six. For Moody, it was the fourth time in the last five games that he scored at least 20 points.

Montana also received great bench minutes again from Laolu Oke, who was plus-eight in his 10 minutes of action. He grabbed a couple of boards and played physical defense before fouling out down the stretch.

The Grizzlies outshot Montana State (48.0/43.6 percent) and outscored them 28-18 in the paint, but it wasn't enough to extend the winning streak to six games.

Montana now return home for games with Portland State and Sacramento State. They close out the regular season on the road against Idaho before heading to the Big Sky Championships in Boise.

"You win five in a row again, you're where you want to be," DeCuire said. "The biggest thing for us is our level of physicality has to increase. We've got to do it better without fouling."