RENO — Montana ended Idaho’s season a year ago, stopping the Vandals’ first 20-win season under Don Verlin in its tracks in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament.
During the first half of the postseason rematch between two storied Big Sky programs, the Vandals had a look of revenge in their eyes.
Idaho converted 13 of its first 15 shots thanks to energetic play on both ends, the smooth inside moves of junior post Arkadyi Mkrtychyan and senior Pat Ingram’s inspired play defensively and on the glass. The Vandals built a 31-21 lead 13 minutes into the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal contest between the No. 4 seed from Moscow and the No. 5 seed from Missoula.
“That motivation of getting revenge, we didn’t have a good feeling last year so everybody came in with the same mindset,” Ingram said. “We want to do big things and we wanted to get revenge. When we see Montana as our opponent, that sparks us.”
But in what has reemerged as one of the league’s fiercest rivalries, Walter Wright and the Griz came storming back. Wright, Montana’s senior point guard, went on a 7-0 run to close the first half gap and continued penetrating the lane after halftime to help Montana erase a 13-point deficit to set up a chance for the win in the final 10 seconds.
Idaho senior Pat Ingram
After a Trevon Allen missed free throw, Wright secured the rebound and jetted past Travis DeCuire. UM’s head coach had given Wright the option to call a timeout or push the pace. Wright decided to go for the win. He got into the paint and released his trademark floater but Idaho’s Vic Sanders blocked the shot. Montana sophomore Bobby Moorehead corralled the rebound but his attempt was off, landing in Allen’s hands.
The freshman stepped to the line and knocked in two free throws to sew up a hard-fought 81-77 Idaho victory to end Montana’s season. The Vandals will play top-seeded North Dakota in the first semifinal Friday here.
“I thought our guys played extremely hard tonight with a lot of heart,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “Pat coming up with those offensive rebounds…the game plan was to go down early and Ark delivered early time and time again. I thought Montana did a really nice job of pressuring us and not letting us get it down there. One thing we have been working all year long is sustaining our intensity and playing to the final horn. I thought our guys did that tonight.”
“Last year, they sent us home,” Mkrtychyan added after scoring 19 points. “This year, it’s different.”
The loss means Montana will not play in the Big Sky Tournament title game for the first time in DeCuire’s three seasons as the helm. The Griz campaign saw peaks and valleys. UM stumbled to an 0-4 start but posted five wins in its first six league outings. A four-game losing streak in January pushed the team to the brink but Montana bounced back to win six of eight down the stretch to earn a first-round bye.
Idaho’s Vic Sanders gets a loose ball from Montana’s Fabijan Krslovic
Wright finished his career with a stellar showing, scoring a game-high 22 points, including two different go-ahead possessions in the final 2:30 of the game. But Sanders hit two key buckets in the final 33 seconds and his block of Wright ended Montana’s hopes of its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2013. Montana finishes 16-16.
“A roller coaster ride,” DeCuire said of the year. “It was up and down all year. It took us awhile to get our first win but I don’t think that defined this team or was descriptive of our talent. I think it was our schedule. I think that we rose to the level of competition but it was very difficult for us to find ways to win games and that carried over. We had some growing pains. We always use the term family and there’s some tough love in families. Every family has adversity and we had our fair share of it. But we grew up through it. I think these guys will be greater men in the future because of it.”
Wright, Jack Lopez, Brandon Gfeller and Mario Dunn played their final games as Grizzlies on Thursday.
“The younger guys on our team wanted it for me and Mario and Jack and Brandon,” Wright said as he fought back tears when asked about Montana’s comeback. “You can’t ask for better teammates than these guys. They fought for me all night. I wouldn’t want to be on another team with nobody else because these are my brothers.”
With their season hanging in the balance, the Vandals did what they have done so many times before: Idaho turned to Sanders.
Verlin put the ball in his first-team all-conference guard’s hands. Sanders scored eight of his team-high 19 points in the game’s final seven minutes. The rangy 6-foot-5 combo guard hit two clutch shots in the game’s final 93 seconds to keep Idaho in control. And Sanders’ fearless defensive play to block Wright’s go-ahead attempt in the lane with five seconds to play proved to be the deciding factor.
Idaho forward Brayon Blake
“I’m used to that,” said Ingram after an inspired effort that included 10 points and six rebound, including five offensive boards. “He does that literally every day in practice.”
When Montana all-league point guard Ahmaad Rorie buried a 3-pointer erase what was a 13-point Idaho lead and tie the game at 61, Sanders answered back, coming off a screen and hitting a fall-away 3-pointer as Rorie fell on his face trying to close out to put Idaho up 64-61 with seven minutes left.
Wright, a preseason All-Big Sky selection who morphed into one of the league’s top reserves, gave UM its first lead since four minutes into the game with a layup for a 72-71 advantage with 2:33 left. Wright’s free throws with less than two minutes again put UM up one.
Then Sanders took over. Operating isolation high pick and roll plays, Sanders shook Montana defensive specialist Michael Oguine twice, reading each screen to get UM’s Bobby Moorhead switched onto him. Sanders kissed a contested one-handed shot off the glass to give Idaho a 75-74 lead with 1:49 left. He hit a double-pump 10-footer on the baseline on Idaho’s next possession to push the advantage to 77-74 with 48 seconds left.
UM cut the lead to one, 77-76, on two Fabijan Krslovic free throws with 33 seconds left, then found new life when Idaho freshman Trevon Allen missed one of two free throws. With 15 seconds left, Rorie got the rim and drew a foul but missed the first of two free throws to keep UM down 78-77.
Sanders, an 84 percent free throw shooter, made the first of two free throws to push the lead to two but missed the second. Wright secured the rebound and screamed up the court, declining to take a timeout in favor of pushing the final possession.
Idaho junior Vic Sanders
“Trav put the decision in my hands for the last possession whether I wanted to call a timeout or whether I wanted to make the play,” Wright said. “I decided to make the play.”
Wright penetrated into the paint but Sanders rejected his floater with less than five seconds left.
“That’s Vic Sanders,” Verlin said. “Vic does what he does. For us, it’s something that happens every day. The thing I love about Vic is he plays with his emotions on his sleeve. He’s a heck of a player, a heck of a competitor and a heck of a teammate.”
The win is Idaho’s 12th in its last 14 games and 18th overall. The Vandals take on top-seeded North Dakota, a 95-72 victor over Portland State in the opening game of Thursday’s quarterfinals. UND blasted Idaho 88-65 in Grand Forks on Feb. 11 in the only matchup of the season between the two teams.
“We didn’t play well when we went to North Dakota,” Verlin said. “We will be prepared, we will be ready. I guarantee it.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
