Montana Rides Hot Start to Win Over Bobcats

Monday, February 3

Bozeman, MT

7:05 pm

Montana State University

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MONTANA

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Montana

Montana State

Flavien Davis scores against the Grizzlies Monday

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

2/3/2014 11:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Cats close first half of league play with 5-5 mark

By: Bill Lamberty

Kareem Jamar scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading Montana to a 70-66 win over Montana State in Worthington Arena on Monday.

"Obviously we had a hard time with Kareem to start that game," said Bobcat coach Brad Huse. "He was comfortable. (Eric) Hutchison got them going early with some post plays and we didn't match it."

Jamar scored the game's opening bucket, then after a Flavien Davis runner Hutchison, UM's senior center, scored three quick baskets and freshman Mario Dunn added a couple to push Montana's lead to seven. After a layup by Marcus Colbert Jamar hit a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to give the Grizzlies a 10-point cushion less than five minutes into the game.

"We didn't come out as focused as we normally do," said Davis. "We came out pretty sluggish, including myself giving Hutchison a quick six points. We just have to buckle down the from the beginning. We can't always get down then try to come back."

The game see-sawed back and forth throughout the night. MSU used an 8-0 run to draw to within two, but the Grizzlies pushed the lead to 44-32 at halftime. "We gave up 44 points in the (first) half, and that's too many points (to give up) in a half," Huse said.

The Bobcats used a 9-2 run early in the second half to pull to within five, but a layup and three-pointer by Michael Weisner pushed the lead back to 10. A 12-1 run by the Bobcats drew MSU to within 56-55 with 4:50 to play, but two free throws by Weisner and back-to-back three-pointers by Jamar and Weisner gave Montana a nine-point lead with 3:31 to play. The Bobcats pulled to within four twice, but could get no closer.

"They're a hard team to fall behind to," Huse said. "Their guards are all veterans, they make good decisions and take care of the ball. It's a hard matchup."

Huse was pleased with his team's effort in the second half to draw close.

"We did a better job and made it tougher for them to get the kind of looks they wanted," Huse said. "They were probably protecting the lead a little bit, too, but they're a tough matchup. They do a nice job sharing the ball, their veterans made some big shots. We got to where we watned it, we just couldn't get over the hump."

Davis scored 22 points to lead all players, and grabbed six rebounds. He was the only Bobcat in double-digits scoring. Eric Norman led the team with seven boards, and also blocked two shots. MSU turned the ball over only seven times.

The win was Montana's seventh straight against MSU, the longest Grizzly streak in the series since World War II. Montana and the Cats each finish the first half of the league season with 5-5 conference marks. MSU is 10-11 overall, Montana is 10-9.