Men's Basketball

Second half TOs doom Griz in upset bid at Arizona

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The Griz led for nearly 20 consecutive minutes and appeared to be in line for a second consecutive upset of a Pac 12 opponent before turnovers and poor offensive execution ultimately doomed Montana on Tuesday night.

The University of Montana men’s basketball team played its fourth Power 5 conference opponent of its eight-game non-conference schedule, taking on the 12th-winniest program in college hoops history in Tucson.

UM built a 36-29 halftime lead thanks to crisp offensive execution and a defensive urgency that kept the Wildcats on their heels for the first 20 minutes. But Montana shot just 34.8 percent from the floor and committed 11 turnovers in the second half in falling 70-64 at the University of Arizona.

The loss drops Montana to 3-5. But the record is secondary to the fact that UM got eight non-conference games in. That’s more than any other team in the Big Sky Conference to this point other than Southern Utah and Idaho State, although two of Montana’s games were a pair of one-point conference losses at Southern Utah in the second and third games of the season for the Griz. UM next takes the court on January 2 against Northern Colorado in Missoula.

TUCSON, ARIZ. — Men’s Basketball vs. University of Montana in McKale Center. Dec. 22, 2020. Photo by Simon Asher / Arizona Athletics

UM true freshman Brandon Whitney swished a 3-pointer with 13 minutes left in the first half to help the visitors take a 13-11 lead. The Griz led for the next 19 minutes, 50 seconds before Jordan Brown helped tie the game at 44 with 14:10 left in the game.

It took until the 2:44 mark of the game for UA to get its first lead of more than two possessions; Azuolas Tubelis hit a 3-pointer to push the gap to 64-56, essentially sealing up a victory for the hosts and denying Montana squad of a second straight Pac 12 upset. UM won 66-58 at Seattle against the University of Washington six days ago.

Montana shot 52.2 percent in the first half and turned the ball over eight times. Eight Griz who played scored in the first 20 minutes of action. Following intermission, UM converted just 8-of-23 field goal attempts, including missing three of its four tries from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies turned the ball over 11 times as UA adjusted its defense and denied Montana its sharp ball movement of the first 20 minutes.

Montana head coach Travis DeCuire was not able to conduct a post-game interview with Voice of the Griz Riley Corcoran because of the inaccessibility via the concourse at the McKale Center.

Voice of the Griz Riley Corcoran’s seat at the McKale Center on Tuesday December 22, 2020/ courtesy of Corcoran

After falling behind by eight points (Arizona’s largest advantage), the Griz kept fighting. True freshman Robby Beasley III, who scored a team-high 17 points in just his second collegiate appearance, scored six points in the final eight minutes. Beasley, sophomore guard Josh Vazquez, freshman post Josh Bannan and sophomore forward Kyle Owens all scored in the final three minutes to keep the gap at a single possession.

The Wildcats, who missed 15 of their 34 free throw attempts, made six straight free throws after Bannan’s second-chance bucket with 35 seconds remaining cut the gap to 64-60. James Akinjo, who finished with a game-high 18 points, made all six free throws in the final minute for the hosts.

With 5:20 to go, Brown, who finished with 15 points, got called for an offensive flagrant foul when he elbowed Owens in the face on a post move. Owens, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds, made a free throw to cut the lead to 56-54. But Montana could not convert on the ensuing possession, leading to an Akinjo 3-pointer that pushed the gap to 59-54 with 4:22 left. UM would never get any closer than four points thereafter.

Vazquez joined Beasley and Owens in double figures scoring with 10 points. Bannan had nine rebounds to lead the Griz, who narrowly lost the battle of the boards 35-33. Senior post Michael Steadman had eight rebounds but only four points before fouling out in 23 minutes of action.

TUCSON, ARIZ. — Men’s Basketball vs. University of Montana in McKale Center. Dec. 22, 2020. Photo by Simon Asher / Arizona Athletics

A Griz team with nine new players entering the season that started 0-4 this season won three of four to enter a 10-day break leading up to hosting UNC. Northern Colorado swept the Griz last season, beating Montana 74-66 in Greeley on January 4 and earning a 71-64 victory in Missoula on March 5, part of a regular-season finish that saw Montana lose three of its last four regular-season games.

The Griz and the Bears would not play again last season as each earned first-round byes in the Big Sky Tournament, an event ultimately cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photos attribution noted. All Rights Reserved.

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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