It didn’t appear Sayeed Pridgett needed any extra motivation, but a friend sitting courtside gave it to him.
With Montana trailing Cal State Northridge 26-23 midway through the first half Sunday, Pridgett slashed to the basket for his 10th point and as he made his way back up court, he looked for his friend who prior to the game told Pridgett he couldn’t get a double-double. Pridgett assured him, “I’m getting a double.”
Pridgett wasn’t just a prophetic – he earned his first career double-double with 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds – he was a nightmare for the Matadors in Montana’s 86-68 win at Dahlberg Arena. Pridgett displayed every facet of his versatile skill set: he hit jumpers, got to the rim with relative ease, worked off the block, dished out a team-high four assists, blocked two shots and registered a steal.
But that’s not what impressed Montana coach Travis DeCuire the most.
Montana head coach Travis DeCuire helped his team move to 5-3 Sunday night/ UM Athletics
“I think the fact that he went and got eight defensive rebounds led to eight transitions that he got to push on and that created his scoring opportunities,” DeCuire said after Montana improved to 5-3 with a trip to UCLA looming Wednesday. “He’s going to go 1-on-1, he’s going to post up, he’s going to do some stuff. But when he can get some garbage in transition is when he’s going to have big nights.”
DeCuire’s characterization of his 6-foot-5 sophomore, supposedly extends to Montana, too. After finally taking control of a game down the stretch, the Griz manufactured points in ways DeCuire has always hoped they would. Montana turned 13 offensive rebounds into 19 points and cashed in 16 Matador turnovers into 17 points. It helped the Griz take a halftime lead despite CSUN’s 62 percent first-half shooting, and then runaway from their for former conference foe as that percentage plummeted over the final 20 minutes.
“That’s what we’re trying to get better at is scoring off our scrap,” DeCuire said. “We’ve been forcing turnovers and we’ve been getting offensive rebounds, but sometimes we don’t get them back in the basket or we’re getting steals, forcing turnovers, but not really getting a bucket all the time.”
Two of Montana’s most memorable highlights came off that scrap.
Right after he canned a jumper to push Montana’s lead to 58-50 with 12:08 to play, Ahmaad Rorie trapped Terrell Gomez with Jamar Akoh and leaked out for an uncontested dunk and a 10-point lead.
Montana junior point guard Ahmaad Rorie scored 27 points on Sunday/ UM Athletics
About five minutes later, Rorie’s jumper rimmed out allowing Michael Oguine to sprint in from the 3-point line for a thunderous two-handed, put-back slam that electrified the 2,734 fans at Dahlberg Arena and put the Griz up 16.
Following a disappointing 70-54 loss to Stanford three days earlier in which the Griz let a late lead slip away, DeCuire implored his team to relax and let the game come to them. The Griz certainly appeared relaxed, but they didn’t exactly let the game come to them: Montana attacked from the opening tip, often slashing to the basket for high-percentage shots, or taking advantage of the mismatches Pridgett created.
By halftime, Pridgett had already set a new season-high with 16 points and pulled down six rebounds. He paired with Rorie to stave off the Matadors. Rorie had 13 first-half points on his way to a season-high 27.
“He was getting it going so I was clearing out for him,” Rorie said of the two-man game he and Pridgett played in the opening half. “He was finding me on some looks and I feel like he was giving me some passes too.”
Rorie broke out of a season-long slump as his effortless jumper started falling like he always expects it to. Rorie said he put his phone away, ignoring his friends’ pregame texts, and listened to music hoping to zero in on the challenge presented by CSUN. It worked in the first half and carried over into the second.
With the Matadors hanging around, Rorie hit a jumper, added the fastbreak dunk and then cashed in three free throws during a 13-3 run in which Montana hit 6 of 7 shots and turned a four-point lead into a 14-point advantage.
“We doing a better job of playing with pace and attacking the rim,” DeCuire said. “Tonight you saw the results of that work.”
NOTES: Oguine finished with 13 points, 10 of which came in the second half. … Montana’s 86 points are a season high. … Montana hit 20 of its 25 free throws. … After shooting 62 percent in the first half, CSUN managed just 39 percent in the second half. … Jamar Akoh added 11 points. … Freshmen Timmy Falls and Karl Nicholas did not play for the first time this season.
