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Montana Grizzlies solidify second place in league
January 23, 2012
Editor@montanaliving.com
Great shooting has its rewards.
The University of Montana men's basketball team shot 65 percent from the field, 83 percent from the free-throw line and forced 17 turnovers in their 85-56 demolition of Sacramento State in a Big Sky Conference men's basketball game in front of 3,709 fans at Dahlberg Arena.
Montana's eighth win in its last nine games boosted the Grizzlies to 6-1 in league, one game behind first-place Weber State, and 13-6 overall. Sac State (0-7, 5-13) lost its eighth straight.
When garbage time began with 3:35 to play, the Griz were shooting 75 percent from the field and led 81-52.
Senior Art Steward, a 6-foot-4 forward, continued his remarkable shooting in league play. He led the Griz with 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting, boosting his field goal percentage to a league-best 73.3 percent in seven Big Sky games.
"He's strong as an ox and he knows how to post up," Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said of Steward. "His teammates screened well for him to get him open and the perimeter guys got him the ball in good areas. When he's dialed in he's a really good finisher down there. He has big, broad shoulders and he's a tough matchup when he's guarded by a perimeter player."
Junior post Mathias Ward added 16 points, junior guard Will Cherry had 12 and sophomore wing Kareem Jamar added 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and a pair of steals.
"I thought (Jamar) was a big difference in the second half," Tinkle said. "We got a little sluggish and careless at times and played with a little lack of emotion. He made some great plays defensively, blocking shots, getting rebounds, and then being our floor general with the ball in his hands. His leadership was huge for us in the second half along with the way (Steward) responded."
The second half wasn't quite academic, but it didn't take long before it was.
The Griz made their first five shots of the game and when they finally missed, they got a second chance and Cherry nailed a 3-pointer to give them a 19-8 lead. The margin grew to 16 twice, the last time on a 3-pointer by Shawn Stockton, making it 41-25 with 1:57 left in the half. Montana settled for a 43-29 lead at the break.
Ward had 10 of his 16 points in the opening 7:17.
"We have a lot of unselfish guys on the team who will pass up a good shot for a great shot," Ward said. "We did a good job moving the ball and getting shots where we needed them."
A 10-1 run to start the second half, fueled by 4-for-4 shooting from the floor, increased the margin to 53-30 with 15:37 to play. The lead was less than 20 just once the rest of the way.
Senior guard Heath Hoffman scored 12 points for the Hornets and junior center Konner Veteto came off the bench to add 11. Sac's leading scorer, junior forward John Dickson, did not start for just the fourth time in 18 games and finished with six points. Freshman point guard Dylan Garrity, who scored 18 points against Montana State on Thursday, was limited to two points on two shots by Cherry's defense.
The Griz outscored the Hornets 36-24 in the paint, 27-15 off of turnovers and 12-0 in transition.
"We turned it over 17 times, which led to a lot of transition baskets," Sac State coach Brian Katz said. "Anytime you get transition baskets, you're going to shoot a good percentage. They executed their offense well, got it down low, got it inside for high percentage shots."
Steward scored 16 of his points in the second half. His final bucket came after Cherry stole the ball from Kendell Groom and rolled the ball out of a pile of players while on his backside. Steward took it from there for a layup and was fouled by Jackson Carbajal. Steward's free throw made it 81-52 and ended his night.
"I put it more on my teammates," Steward said of his season-best scoring night. "They know where to give me the ball and Coach Tinkle runs plays that get me in a good position to score. I just work hard every day in practice and it pays off in the game."
In this week's sweep of Northern Colorado and Sac State, the Griz shot 54 percent from the field, forced 45 turnovers and held their opponents to 43 percent shooting. That should provide some momentum for a team that plays five of its next six games on the road beginning Thursday at Eastern Washington, which dropped an overtime decision at home to Portland State on Saturday.
"We knew we weren't going to be home for a while, so we had to take care of business this weekend and our guys responded," Tinkle said.
NOTES: The Griz won the rebounding battle 27-24. ... Montana had 12 steals, led by Derek Selvig's four. The Griz have 27 steals in their last two games. ... Montana was 24 for 29 at the line, led by Ward's 8-for-8 effort.
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