MISSOULA, Mont. – Any question of a letdown following a big road win on Thursday at Eastern Washington quickly dissipated Monday night at Dahlberg Arena. The Montana men’s basketball team continues to elevate its all-around game, and the next step of the evolution was an 85-70 victory over Portland State.
It could easily be argued that Montana’s best two games of the season have come in the past week, with the Grizzlies dominating Eastern Washington, 90-63, on the road last Thursday, before Monday’s impressive showing against the Vikings.
Montana’s 85 points were second only to the Eastern Washington game this season, while its 60.4 percent shooting was a season-best. The Grizzlies had 20 assists on 32 made field goals.
The collective performance was made possible by several elite individual performances.
Sayeed Pridgett nearly had a rare triple-double, coming up two rebounds shy of one of the only feats in school history. The senior scored 17 points while dishing out a career-best 10 assists. Over the past two games, Pridgett is averaging 17.5 points, 9.0 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game. There have only been three triple-doubles by Griz players ever.
Senior Kendal Manuel scored 27 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including hitting five 3-pointers. He is shooting more than 60 percent from the floor over his last four outings.
Freshman Derrick Carter-Hollinger was again in double figures with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Sophomore Mack Anderson made all five of his shots, totaling 10 points. Junior Timmy Falls added five assists.
“We have good attention to detail right now,” head coach Travis DeCuire said. “We’re turning down OK shots for better shots, and I think our ball movement has been really effective.”
Montana trailed by six points early, but quickly erased the deficit and built a 27-17 advantage behind seven straight points from Carter-Hollinger.
The lead was only in jeopardy two other times, as Montana’s final deficit came with 11:36 to play in the first half.
The Vikings used a 14-4 run – taking advantage of five Griz turnovers – to tie the score at 31-31. On the other end, Pridgett hit a three, leading to three consecutive offensive possessions with points to push the lead back up to seven.
The second came in the second half, when Portland State cut the score to 58-56 with 11:59 remaining. The Vikings never got closer, as Montana scored 19 of the next 25 points – including eight consecutive from Anderson – to extend the lead to as many as 19.
“We came out ready to play, which was huge,” DeCuire said. “That was a big concern I had for this group: Can we have the same level of energy, concern and respect for our opponent as we did for Eastern? We did. We came prepared to do what we had to do in order to win.”
Quoting DeCuire
(on the offense finding life of late)
“We went away from trying to run sets. We went more toward ball screen and space play, and putting the ball in Sayeed Pridgett’s hands.”
(on Pridgett’s continued all-around evolution)
“I’ve pushed on his versatility and put the ball in his hands away from the basket. Other guys are becoming effective, making open shots or finishing around the rim, which has allowed us to move Sayeed around a bit and play to his strengths.”
(on the defense limiting Holland Woods to 5-of-13 shooting)
“Timmy (Falls) wore him out. Timmy did a good job making him work for every touch.”
(on Manuel’s big night)
“He had to let it come, and that was difficult for him early, because he wasn’t sure when he was going to get shots. Guys are doing a better job of finding him, and he has more patience now. He’s a shot-maker, and I think he’s done a nice job.”
Looking Ahead
Montana will stay in Missoula for its final home game in the month of January. The first-place Grizzlies host Idaho on Saturday (7 p.m.).