MISSOULA — Jeff Linder knew his team would encounter a drained Griz squad in Missoula on Monday. But Northern Colorado’s head coach also knew to have success , his young players would have to handle the trying environment at Dahlberg Arena even if the frozen Garden City would surely be prone for a letdown following Saturday’s emotionally charged win over rival Montana State.
So Linder decided to give his team, specifically the three true freshmen in his starting lineup, a little inspiration in fearlessness.
Northern Colorado watched the Academy Award-winning documentary about elite climber Alex Honnold’s quest to free solo climb El Capitan, one of the most intimidating rock faces in the world. Linder made sure true freshman starters Bodie Hume, Kur Jockuch and Sam Masten all paid particularly close attention to the courage showed by Honnold.
““If that guy (Honnold) is not scared climbing El Cap with no ropes, you have nothing to be scared of,” Linder said. “Our guys came in with that mindset and they didn’t play scared.”
On Monday night in Missoula, Jordan Davis sprinted in transition and downhill right at Bobby Moorehead relentlessly, particularly during a second half in which the Big Sky MVP candidate scored 17 of his game-high 23 points.
But the fearlessness shown by Hume and Masten proved to be the X-factor as Northern Colorado snapped Montana’s 10-game winning streak. UNC prevailed with a 74-72 win in front of 3,773 fans that braved a Western Montana blizzard to watch the defending league champions less than 48 hours after its rivalry win over the Bobcats.
“After watching that movie, it gave me a whole new perspective of what you should and shouldn’t be scared about of,” said Masten, who scored nine points, including seven in the first half and a bucket at the shot clock buzzer with 80 seconds left to boost the Bears . “To make plays in front of a hostile crowd, that’s what you practice for, that’s what you play for. It was a ton of fun to come out here tonight, get the win, and stay in the race on top of that.”
The race for the Big Sky Conference title is very much alive after Northern Colorado found a way to split the season series. UM drilled UNC 88-64 in Greeley on January 12. Monday’s UNC win moves the Bears to 12-4 in league play, 18-9 overall. Northern Colorado is now a game behind Montana for first place with four games left to play.
“We treated this like a boxing match,” said Davis, a two-time All-Big Sky selection that leads the conference by averaging 23.5 points per game. “The first time around, they punked us (88-64 Montana win in Greeley). Flat out. We knew they would throw punches and we had to give our best shot.”
Since Montana senior big man Jamar Akoh went down with a knee injury, the Griz have revamped their style, upping the tempo and spreading its offense. The transition hit a peak against Montana State. The Griz dished out 23 assists on 34 made field goals, shot 55.4 percent from the floor and hit 15-of-30 shots from beyond the arc.
Linder favors a defensive style content on chasing teams off the 3-point line or forcing contested shots. Monday, UM missed six of its first seven 3-pointers. Behind another explosion from Donaven Dorsey — the former Washington transfer hit a career-high six 3-pointers — Montana finished 9-of-22 from deep. Dorsey has hit 10 of his last 14 3s and 17-of-33 since Akoh fell out of the rotation.
Montana senior Donaven Dorsey drives to the rim against Bodie Hume/ by Jason Bacaj
“Without Akoh, it’s actually harder because now they play faster,” Davis said. “And they have tremendous players. Ahmaad Rorie, tremendous player. (Senior) Michael Oguine, Sayeed Pridgett those guys are wonderful athletes. You throw Dorsey in the equation, who can really shoot, and they have tremendous pace. I have to tip my hat to those guys because they gave us their best game.”
The Griz got off to an 8-2 start only to see the visitors rally for a 12-3 run to take the lead for the first time. From that point, it seemed every time Linder called a timeout with the home team building momentum, the Bears would answer with a run of their own. They went on the initial 12-3 run to take their first lead, a 7-0 run to take a 35-32 lead at halftime and an 11-1 spurt to help them build a 57-47 lead, their largest, in the second half.
“The response, we talk about that with our team all the time,” Linder said. “How are you going to respond? We used a few boxing analogies for this game. We knew they were going to come out and throw a big punch. To be the champs, you have to beat the champs. I thought our guys had a great mindset and we knew in the game, we would have to show what we were made of.”
Sayeed Pridgett, who continued his tear with Akoh by scoring 17 points, converted another ridiculous bucket in the lane to give the Griz their last lead, 43-41, with 15 minutes left.
The Bears answered with Hume, who finished with nine points, drilling a 3-pointer to give his team the lead for good. Hume, one of the league’s leading candidates for Bgi Sky Freshman of the Year, finished 4-of-7 from the floor, including a two-handed baseline slam early to spark the Bears and hard-nosed defense late as UNC got the stops it needed down the stretch.
Montana junior Sayeed Pridgett struggled at the free throw line against Northern Colorado/ by Jason Bacaj
Part of those stops came because of Montana’s struggles at the free throw line. The Griz went 9-of-17 from the charity stripe, including Pridgett going 3-of-9.
Dorsey’s final 3-pointer, a spot-up swish that came off of Rorie’s sixth assist, tied the game at 70 with 1:54 left. Masten beat the shot clock buzzer on the next possession with a circus shot off the glass from the block.
“I got the ball and I fumbled it and I wasn’t even supposed to have the ball,” Masten said. “I looked ujp and there was four seconds left. I didn’t know if I was going to get it off on time so I laid it up as high as I could off the glass and it went in.”
Pridgett drew a foul 12 seconds later, missing the second of two free throws. The Griz forced Davis, who finished 8-of-17 from the floor, into one of his four misses in five attempts from deep. Rorie corralled his seventh rebound and got Montana into its offense.Dorsey appeared to endure contact on a drive on the following possession but missed with no foul called. Oguine secured his 10ht rebound of the night. UM called a timeout with 19.4 seconds.
On the ensuing possession., DeCuire ran a quick set to get Pridgett slashing to the rim. He missed but again, Ogune secured the rebound. He missed the put back and the ball eventually landed with Pridgett. He was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws tie the game at 72.
Davis, who scored a game-high 23 points, hit two free throws in the final seconds to seal the UNC win. One of the best scorers in the league finished 8-of-17 from the floor but just 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. Yet in the second half, he adjusted to Moorehead’s length, turned mistakes into points.
“My team and my coaches stayed on me about being aggressive and they also got on me when there was a couple times when I thought I should’ve gotten a call,” Davis said. “They forced me to fight through it. When you have those guys pump confidence in you, it’s toxic in a good way. That helped me pick my play up and dominate.”
The Griz will play Southern Utah on Saturday in Missoula and NAU on Monday. Montana does not want to let the loss linger and let the Bears close the gap any further.
“They just played harder than us and they wanted us more,” said Rorie, who scored a team-high 22 points. “We have to bounce back.”
“We got complacent. We got on a streak and we wasn’t playing hard. They were taking the ball from us and they were taking the ball from us. We have to get better from there.
“We are not going to make any excuses. They did have a lot longer break than us be we have to come out and play harder.”
Photos by Jason Bacaj. All Rights Reserved.
