Griz come from behind again for second straight win

Thursday, February 1

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

15-7,6-3Big Sky

Idaho

7-14,1-7Big Sky

Idaho

Montana

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/ University of Montana

Griz come from behind again for second straight win

2/1/2024 10:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

For the second straight game, Montana found itself trailing in the final minutes of a close game. And for the second straight time, the veteran Grizzlies found a way to get it done. Montana led for just four minutes on Thursday night, but they did enough for a 73-70 win over the Idaho Vandals.

The Grizzlies (15-7, 6-3 Big Sky) survived a hot shooting night from the Vandals and finally made a breakthrough in the closing minutes. The Vandals led for much of the night, and the Grizzlies just couldn't stage a long enough run to re-take the lead.

Montana cut the lead to one point nine different times in the second half, and it took until the final try for them to finally get over the hump. Brandon Whitney converted an and-one with one minute to play to give Montana its first lead of the second half, and Jaxon Nap sealed the win with some late free throws.

"Idaho is pretty efficient offensively in terms of how they operate," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "Five shooters on the floor with speed in the back court makes it very difficult to contain guards when the posts can shoot. That team has been up at halftime against most of their opponents and you have to find a way to hang in there and it took us a little longer, but we got it."

Dischon Thomas had his fifth double-double of the season and led Montana with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He also blocked a career-high four shots, all of which came in the first half.

"Dischon was steady for two halves," DeCuire said. "Even when he wasn't scoring, I thought defensively he was as good as anyone on the team."

"It's like chopping wood. It's going to take some time. It's going to take some energy. And you're going to be sore when you're done."

The postgame report ⏬ pic.twitter.com/K5zynHczXI
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 2, 2024

The Grizzlies also got 14 points out of Whitney, which included that final three-point play to take the lead, to go with four assists. Te'Jon Sawyer came off the bench and matched them with 14 points of his own on 5-of-6 shooting.

Idaho threw a haymaker early on in the game with a 15-0 run that put them ahead by double figures about eight minutes into the game. The Grizzlies went over four minutes without scoring as Montana's basket had a lid on it.

The Vandals took advantage, continuing to increase the lead and maintaining it for most of the first half. They led by a dozen points at the nine-minute mark, but Montana slowly started to claw back into it. Aanen Moody hit a triple that cut the lead to 33-28, and Laolu Oke made it a one-possession game a minute late with a jump hook through the lane.

Montana couldn't get the shots to fall from the floor, but they did a good job getting to the free throw line. Even there, Montana shot an uncharacteristic 63 percent in the first half. Idaho's defense did a good job slowing the Grizzlies down, and Montana helped them out by missing open looks.

"It was harder to get the ball movement that we wanted, but we got shots," DeCuire said. "In the first half we got open threes, we got balls around the rim, we missed layups, free throws, open threes. Then I think it backed guys off. They weren't as aggressive because the ball wasn't going in the basket so they weren't hunting those same shots that were available to them."

Despite that, Montana entered the halftime break trailing by just three at 40-37. The Vandals shot 55.2 percent from the floor and made 6-of-11 three-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, Montana started to force the Vandals off the three-point line and generate some more steady offense. Oke threw down a two-handed slam on the first possession of the half to cut the lead to just one point.

In the moment, it felt like Montana was one solid run away from busting the game open against the last-place Vandals. But the visitors took every shot that Montana threw at them in the second period. They built the lead back up to four before Whitney hit a pair of free throws to knock it down to 44-43.

Moody hit a jumper to make it 46-45. Giordan Williams entered to hit a layup to cut it to 48-47. Te'Jon Sawyer went to work in the post and scored to make it 50-49. The Grizzlies would get it to one point, but Idaho would build it right back up.

In the entire game, Montana didn't have a scoring run of more than five points, which was a season-low. The crowd started to build nervous energy in the second half as the Grizzlies kept cutting the lead down to one. They did it at 55-54, and again at 57-56. Whitney converted an and-one to make it 60-59, and it felt like the highlight play surely would open the game up.

The next time down, Idaho drilled a three. They made one on the next possession as well, and all of a sudden Montana trailed 66-59 with five minutes to play.

Back-to-back threes and Dahlberg Arena has come alive 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pXqbjyOjfy
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 2, 2024

It was Montana's turn for a pair of big shots following a timeout. Josh Vazquez connected on a three, the Griz forced a stop, and then Thomas knocked one down from the wing to once again make it a one-point game at 66-65.

But after the triple from Thomas, Montana went nearly three minutes without a point. Jaxon Nap, who earned some minutes in crunch time down the stretch, finally ended the drought with a driving layup. Then Whitney gave Montana its first lead since 11-9, and the Griz did enough to hold on down the stretch.

𝑮𝑹𝑰𝒁 𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑫 ‼️ pic.twitter.com/IoL4QHyKTa
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 2, 2024

"I don't know that we were tough enough to win the game until late," DeCuire said. "We got more physical, they forced us into a lot of different ball screen coverages, and we finally found one down the stretch to get some stops and finally got the lid off the basket."

The Grizzly defense forced Idaho into 2-of-8 shooting in the final five minutes of the game, which allowed them to overcome their own scoring drought. Nap and Giordan Williams both played big minutes down the stretch and impacted the game in big ways.

"Nap and Giordan Williams off the bench defensively gave us some things and they were rebounding," DeCuire said. "I thought they did a good job down the stretch for us and allowed us to play small, and also spread the floor on the offensive side."

Montana outrebounded Idaho 29-27 and had six more bench points in the win. The biggest discrepancy in the statistics came at the foul line, where Montana made 12 more free throws and shot 74 percent in the game.

Gallery: (2-1-2024) MBB: Idaho (2.1.24)

This is Montana's first win on a Thursday this season. They were previously 0-4. The Grizzlies also improved to 15-1 when scoring at least 70 points. The 12-point deficit was the largest that they have overcome for a win this year.

Montana is now 9-2 at home and will take a winning streak into Saturday's contest with league leaders Eastern Washington. The Eagles are coming off a Thursday night loss in Bozeman. The game will also be Montana's N7 Game. Nike's N7 program aims to inspire and enable Native American and Aboriginal youth in North America, and in addition to turquoise uniforms there will be in-game elements that celebrate Native American history in Montana.