Griz bounce back to beat Idaho, split opening weekend

THE MATCHUP

Idaho visited Montana on Saturday with both teams coming off a loss in their conference opener. Idaho, one of the surprises of non-conference play with a 6-7 record, didn’t trouble defending conference champion Montana State on Thursday in a 72-58 loss. Meanwhile, Montana led for most of the second half against Eastern Washington on Thursday before crumbling to an 87-80 loss to the Eagles.

THE RESULT

After a back-and-forth first seven minutes, Montana put together a 14-0 run kicked off by back-to-back 3-pointers by Brandon Whitney to take a 23-10 lead. The Griz led 33-20 at halftime and kept that margin for most of the second half before fending off a late Idaho run to win 67-56. The Vandals got as close as six points, at 62-56 with 1:16 left, but Josh Vazquez answered with a dagger 3-pointer on Montana’s next possession. The Griz held Idaho to 16 of 46 shooting (34.8%), turned the ball over just six times and, after being bullied inside against Eastern Washington on Thursday, won the rebounding battle 35 to 34 and had 32 points in the paint.

THE STANDOUTS

After struggling to just five points in the loss to Eastern Washington on Thursday, Whitney came out attacking, scoring Montana’s first six points and 14 of their first 17. The junior guard added six more points in the second half to finish with 20, his third time reaching that plateau this year.

Junior forward Josh Bannan poured in 12 of his 16 points in the second half as Whitney started to cool off. Bannan also grabbed seven rebounds.

Junior forward Isaac Jones, the leading scorer in the conference entering the game, scored 25 of Idaho’s 56 points, with 19 coming in the second half. He shot 9 of 14 from the field. Every other Idaho player combined to go 7 for 32.

BOX SCORE

QUOTABLE

“I don’t think we played with enough pace offensively. I’ll give our share of credit on that with what Montana did defensively, but I thought we weren’t as crisp offensively, for whatever reason, when we were running our stuff in the half-court. It allowed us to be easier to guard, especially in the first half.” – Idaho head coach Zac Claus

“That Thursday game was an important reality check, I think, for everyone. If we come in any game and we don’t bring it, it’s going to be really hard. Credit to (Eastern Washington), they played a good game, but I just think we knew we could have been better than that, we could have left more out there, and I think that’s a feeling that’s pretty hard to live with. But we got it done today.” – Montana forward Josh Bannan

“Defense wins. If you get stops, hold your opponent to a low field goal percentage, you don’t have to be perfect offensively to win. … Winning plays, contesting shots, loose balls, defensive rebounding, minimizing their opportunities for high-percentage shots.” – Montana head coach Travis DeCuire

“We definitely wanted to get him going early. Different teams defend differently, so you have to take what they give as well. I think the biggest thing is he was confident shooting the ball and when they left him open, he made them pay. … You want to show a level of confidence. He’s a good shooter, he can put the ball in the basket. He’s just so good at getting to the rim that people are trying to stop him from getting there.” – DeCuire on Brandon Whitney

UP NEXT

Montana (7-7, 1-1) hits the road for the first time this Big Sky season, traveling to Northern Arizona on Thursday and Northern Colorado on Saturday. Idaho (6-9, 0-2) will get a chance to bounce back at home, hosting Sac State and Portland State next week.

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