Post by griz on Jan 31, 2011 12:11:32 GMT -5
montanagrizzlies.com/news/?n=2011/95/9533&m=36
Griz steamroll past Montana State
The list of reasons the Montana men's basketball team manhandled Montana State on Saturday night is 14 feet long, or tall, depending on how you look at it.
The Grizzlies' bookend towers of 6-foot-11 Brian Qvale and 7-foot Derek Selvig combined for 47 points and 21 rebounds and carried Montana to a dominating 79-58 win over the Bobcats in front of 6,956 quiet fans at Worthington Arena.
The win, coupled with Northern Colorado's loss at Weber State, vaulted the Griz into first place in the Big Sky Conference standings at 8-1, 16-5 overall. Montana State fell into a pack of three teams with four league losses at 5-4, 11-10 overall.
There are plenty of other reasons the Griz beat the Cats other than Selvig (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Qvale, who had his fifth straight double-double with 26 points and 11 boards. Montana shot 67 percent from the field overall, 58 percent from 3-point range, grabbed 40 rebounds to the Cats' 21, all while limiting MSU to 40 percent shooting.
"They were really efficient," MSU coach Brad Huse said of the Griz, who missed just 15 shots for the game. "They got the ball to the right spots. They really, really, really did a nice job of moving the basketball and getting point-blank shots. Over the course of 40 minutes that wore us down."
Montana's numbers were almost equally as impressive at halftime - 63 percent shooting, a 19-10 edge on the boards - but the Griz found themselves deadlocked at 33-33, largely because they turned the ball over eight times and gave up six 3-pointers.
"The guys we keyed on - Bobby Howard, Shawn Reid and Erik Rush - we're supposed to make them put the ball on the floor and we didn't," Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said. "They got it going. We just said, ‘Guys, hang in there. We're on the road, we're not playing great and we're tied. Let's take care of the ball, let's get to their shooters and let's keep pounding it at them.
"I thought our physicality and our size wore on them. We know they're banged up ... but we just wanted to stay relentless."
Howard said the plan worked.
"They wore us down and we couldn't score," said Howard, who led the Cats with 18 points. "They go 7-foot, 7-foot. And when you have to chase guards around and play with those guys you might get a little worn down. They're a good team. Shoot, they didn't miss much tonight, I'll tell you that. Guys play like that and sometimes it's just their night."
The Cats were still within 46-41 after a bucket inside by Howard with 14:39 to play. The Griz, though, put together a 16-5 burst that turned that lead into a 62-46 cushion with 8:23 to play. Selvig scored nine of his points during the run, showing his versatility by knocking down a 3-pointer, then later putting the ball on the floor and driving for a layup.
"He's like a point forward," Huse said. "He's a 7-foot guy who can handle the basketball. There's nobody like him in our league and there's few, if any, like him in the country. Those are two guys who are awfully good at their trade. ... They're playing with a lot of confidence right now, playing off one another."
The Cats drew within 12, the last time at 64-52 on another inside move by Howard, but that was as close as they could get. The Griz closed it out with layup after layup, accounting for their 38-18 edge in points in the paint.
Tinkle is happy the two big trees are on his side.
"It's great now that I figured out how to coach them," Tinkle joked. "The neat thing is ... these guys love playing together, they bring it every day and that makes it fun to coach them. We're not that talented individually, but collectively when we're on page, with our chemistry, we've proven we can be pretty good."
Besides moving the Griz atop the league standings, the win gave the Griz a season sweep of the Cats after being on the short end of that scenario last season.
"I've lost some games here and even lost a few at home since I've been here," Qvale said. "This team is great to play with and it feels great to get the win at home and then come here."
Griz sophomore point guard Will Cherry played through a tweaked ankle and finished with eight points and seven assists. Art Steward added 10 points and six rebounds.
NOTES: MSU tried to draw Qvale away from the basket by using Jeff Budinich in the post. It worked well in the first half, when Budinich had 10 of his 14 points, but the freshman went cold in the second half. ... The Griz had 15 turnovers to nine for MSU. ... The Griz dished out 16 assists on their 30 field goals.
Griz steamroll past Montana State
The list of reasons the Montana men's basketball team manhandled Montana State on Saturday night is 14 feet long, or tall, depending on how you look at it.
The Grizzlies' bookend towers of 6-foot-11 Brian Qvale and 7-foot Derek Selvig combined for 47 points and 21 rebounds and carried Montana to a dominating 79-58 win over the Bobcats in front of 6,956 quiet fans at Worthington Arena.
The win, coupled with Northern Colorado's loss at Weber State, vaulted the Griz into first place in the Big Sky Conference standings at 8-1, 16-5 overall. Montana State fell into a pack of three teams with four league losses at 5-4, 11-10 overall.
There are plenty of other reasons the Griz beat the Cats other than Selvig (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Qvale, who had his fifth straight double-double with 26 points and 11 boards. Montana shot 67 percent from the field overall, 58 percent from 3-point range, grabbed 40 rebounds to the Cats' 21, all while limiting MSU to 40 percent shooting.
"They were really efficient," MSU coach Brad Huse said of the Griz, who missed just 15 shots for the game. "They got the ball to the right spots. They really, really, really did a nice job of moving the basketball and getting point-blank shots. Over the course of 40 minutes that wore us down."
Montana's numbers were almost equally as impressive at halftime - 63 percent shooting, a 19-10 edge on the boards - but the Griz found themselves deadlocked at 33-33, largely because they turned the ball over eight times and gave up six 3-pointers.
"The guys we keyed on - Bobby Howard, Shawn Reid and Erik Rush - we're supposed to make them put the ball on the floor and we didn't," Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said. "They got it going. We just said, ‘Guys, hang in there. We're on the road, we're not playing great and we're tied. Let's take care of the ball, let's get to their shooters and let's keep pounding it at them.
"I thought our physicality and our size wore on them. We know they're banged up ... but we just wanted to stay relentless."
Howard said the plan worked.
"They wore us down and we couldn't score," said Howard, who led the Cats with 18 points. "They go 7-foot, 7-foot. And when you have to chase guards around and play with those guys you might get a little worn down. They're a good team. Shoot, they didn't miss much tonight, I'll tell you that. Guys play like that and sometimes it's just their night."
The Cats were still within 46-41 after a bucket inside by Howard with 14:39 to play. The Griz, though, put together a 16-5 burst that turned that lead into a 62-46 cushion with 8:23 to play. Selvig scored nine of his points during the run, showing his versatility by knocking down a 3-pointer, then later putting the ball on the floor and driving for a layup.
"He's like a point forward," Huse said. "He's a 7-foot guy who can handle the basketball. There's nobody like him in our league and there's few, if any, like him in the country. Those are two guys who are awfully good at their trade. ... They're playing with a lot of confidence right now, playing off one another."
The Cats drew within 12, the last time at 64-52 on another inside move by Howard, but that was as close as they could get. The Griz closed it out with layup after layup, accounting for their 38-18 edge in points in the paint.
Tinkle is happy the two big trees are on his side.
"It's great now that I figured out how to coach them," Tinkle joked. "The neat thing is ... these guys love playing together, they bring it every day and that makes it fun to coach them. We're not that talented individually, but collectively when we're on page, with our chemistry, we've proven we can be pretty good."
Besides moving the Griz atop the league standings, the win gave the Griz a season sweep of the Cats after being on the short end of that scenario last season.
"I've lost some games here and even lost a few at home since I've been here," Qvale said. "This team is great to play with and it feels great to get the win at home and then come here."
Griz sophomore point guard Will Cherry played through a tweaked ankle and finished with eight points and seven assists. Art Steward added 10 points and six rebounds.
NOTES: MSU tried to draw Qvale away from the basket by using Jeff Budinich in the post. It worked well in the first half, when Budinich had 10 of his 14 points, but the freshman went cold in the second half. ... The Griz had 15 turnovers to nine for MSU. ... The Griz dished out 16 assists on their 30 field goals.