Montana Survives Against Idaho to Advance to Quarterfinals
Game Book (PDF) | Photo Gallery
BOISE, Idaho (March 10, 2021) -- The No. 6 seeded Montana Grizzlies survived a strong effort from the No. 11 seeded Idaho Vandals on Wednesday afternoon, and ultimately prevailed to advance to the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinals with a 69-64 victory.
“It was a hard-fought victory,” Montana head coach Travis DeCuire said following the contest. “Idaho did what they did all year really, they played a lot of teams close but have not found a way to pull off the W’s. … It was a gritty win, and we’ll take them how we can get them.”
Early on the Vandals looked ready to pull off an upset, as they jumped out to an 11-2 lead to start the contest. The Grizzlies were quick to respond, however, embarking on an 11-0 run to take a 13-11 advantage.
Over the final 14-and-a-half minutes of the first half, the Griz outscored the Vandals 36-19 to hold a 38-30 lead at the break.
Montana found success down the stretch of the first half by taking care of the ball, and forcing the Vandals into mistakes. The Griz had just three turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, but forced the Vandals into 10.
In the second half the Griz took a solid punch from the Vandals, as Idaho was able to outscore Montana 34-31 over the final 20 minutes, but they were never able to climb all the way back and the No. 6 seed prevailed 69-64.
Montana shot just 28 percent in the second half, but hitting 15-of-18 from the free throw line in the period helped propel them to the victory.
Josh Vazquez led the scoring for Montana, finishing with 21 points. He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Brandon Whitney finished with 13 points, while Robby Beasley III scored 12 to finish as the third Griz in double figures.
Montana’s bench played a major role in the contest, outscoring Idaho’s 26-9. UM also had nine fastbreak points in the game, compared to zero for Idaho.
Scott Blakney was the leading scorer for the Vandals, finishing with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.
Idaho held a strong advantage in the paint, outscoring the Griz 34-18.
The Grizzlies will now move on to face off against the No. 3 seeded Wildcats of Weber State University at 8:00 p.m. MT on Thursday evening.
Follow the Big Sky Conference on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat at @BigSkyConf – and use the hashtag #ExperienceElevated. Fans can also follow Big Sky men's basketball on Twitter at @BigSkyMBB.