THE MATCHUP
Montana defeated Southern Utah 78-67 on February 7 in Missoula in a makeup game. That was one of just two wins for the Griz in the month of February.
Over the last 10 days, Southern Utah blew a 17-point lead in the final four minutes of what resulted in a 100-95 loss to Northern Colorado, lost 76-71 to first-place Montana State and ripped Northern Arizona 79-49 on Monday.
THE RESULT
Montana built a 44-28 first half lead behind a shooting spree that included nailing 7-of-11 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. In the second half, SUU senior point guard John Knight III took over the game, relentlessly taking Montana’s guard to the rim on a night where he finished 10-of-13 from the floor for 26 points, including 16 points after intermission as Southern Utah won the second half 54-30 during an 82-74 victory.
The Griz have now lost five of their last seven games to fall to 10-7 in Big Sky play. The Griz sit alone in fifth place in the Big Sky Conference. Southern Utah moved to 12-5 in league play to sit a game ahead in the loss column of Weber State for 2nd place in the league standings.
THE STANDOUTS
Knight gave the Griz a flashback to last December when he took the rookie guards of Montana to the rim at will. The former Utah State transfer who hails from Mississippi replicated that domination from what was the first league contests for the Griz sophomore backcourt of Brandon Whitney and Robby Beasley III back when they were freshmen and making their league debuts. Knight poured in a game-high total and didn’t miss a shot until his 9th field goal attempt as SUU captured the last regular-season contest between the two schools as Big Sky members.
SUU center Jason Spurgin added 15 points and 14 rebounds as SUU owned a 38-27 advantage on the glass. SUU senior Maizen Fausett added 13 points and seven rebounds for the hosts.
Josh Bannan went 8-of-16 from the floor and made all six of his free throws on the way to a team-high 23 points for Montana, who started 8-2 in league before it’s recent struggles. Beasley scored 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor and 4-of-7 from the charity stripe while Whitney added 13 points, but it took him 13 shots (he made 3) and a 7-of-8 clip from the free throw line to get there.
QUOTABLE
“For stretches of games, we’ve shown we can play with anyone. But our maturity is in question right now in terms of our ability to play through adversity, make adjustments or handle success.”
Montana eighth-year head coach Travis DeCuire
“You can’t get out-scored by 26 in a half. We didn’t have guys making shots or going to get loose balls. We weren’t playing hard enough to win. I thought, maybe, we were playing to hold on to a lead instead of to extend it.”
Montana eighth-year head coach Travis DeCuire
“You want them upset. You want them angry. We’re aggressive and play better when we’re angry. I think we made it very obvious that we were good enough to win this game, but we didn’t because we didn’t sustain it.
Montana eighth-year head coach Travis DeCuire
“Now we have two days to prepare for a rivalry game, where we have to play good basketball, play together and execute.”
STANDINGS
| SCHOOL | CONF | PCT | OVERALL | PCT | HOME | AWAY | NEUTRAL | STREAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana State | 13-3 | .812 | 21-6 | .778 | 10-1 | 9-5 | 2-0 | W1 |
| Southern Utah | 12-5 | .706 | 18-9 | .667 | 11-3 | 5-6 | 2-0 | W2 |
| Weber State | 12-6 | .667 | 19-10 | .655 | 9-5 | 7-5 | 3-0 | L2 |
| Northern Colorado | 11-6 | .647 | 16-13 | .552 | 8-4 | 7-8 | 1-1 | L1 |
| Montana | 10-7 | .588 | 17-11 | .607 | 13-1 | 4-10 | 0-0 | L2 |
| Eastern Washington | 9-8 | .529 | 15-13 | .536 | 7-3 | 8-9 | 0-1 | W1 |
| Portland State | 7-9 | .438 | 9-15 | .375 | 5-7 | 4-8 | 0-0 | W1 |
| Northern Arizona | 5-12 | .294 | 9-19 | .321 | 5-9 | 4-9 | 0-1 | L4 |
| Idaho | 5-12 | .294 | 8-19 | .296 | 7-6 | 1-11 | 0-2 | L1 |
| Idaho State | 5-12 | .294 | 7-19 | .269 | 5-7 | 2-12 | 0-0 | W1 |
| Sacramento State | 4-13 | .235 | 8-16 | .333 | 4-8 | 3-8 | 1-0 | W2 |
SOCIAL
WHAT’S NEXT
Montana hosts Montana State on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena. The Bobcats’ victory over the Griz in early January in Bozeman ended a six-game win streak for Montana in the series. MSU’s last win in Missoula came on Feb. 27, 2010, when the Bobcats earned a 73-67 win over the Grizzlies. That is also the last time MSU earned a regular season sweep over its rival. Since that contest, Montana has won 19 of 21 meetings between the two sides.
Southern Utah’s next opponent is also Montana State. The Thunderbirds play MSU in Bozeman on Tuesday March 1.
