NAU men down Griz in OT to snap 12-game league losing streak

THE MATCHUP

The Montana men’s basketball team bounced back for its first Big Sky Conference win of the season after dropping its opener to Eastern Washington by beating Idaho in Missoula to ring in the New Year. The Griz played their first league road game on Thursday in Flagstaff, Arizona against a Northern Arizona squad that had lost 12 straight Big Sky games dating back to its last conference victory. 

THE RESULT

Montana pushed to a nine-point lead midway through the first half but needed a pair of Josh Vazquez free throws late in regulation to force overtime. In the extra period, Northern Arizona only made two shots…but the final conversion was a huge 3-pointer by sharpshooting guard Jalen Cone with a hand in his face to lift NAU to a 75-74 victory. 

NAU lost its final eight conference games last year and went one-and-done at the league’s post season tournament before getting swept in the opening weekend of conference play this year. Northern Arizona’s first conference win pushed Montana to 1-2 in conference play, 7-8 overall. 

THE STANDOUTS

Cone, a former Virginia Tech transfer who was one of the league’s leading scorers last season and entered the game averaging 18 points per game, continued filling it up. He hit four 3-pointers and converted 8-of-15 overall while also hitting all six of his free throws on the way to a game-high 26 points. 

Bruising power forward Carson Towt had 17 points and six rebounds for NAU, who also got 13 points and five assists Liam Lloyd, the son of Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd. 

Montana junior power forward Josh Bannan piled up 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 44 minutes of action. Vazquez hit three of UM’s nine 3-point makes and all four of his free throws on the way to season-high 17 points. Aanen Moody, a former Southern Utah transfer, had 14 points in 40 minutes. 

UM junior point guard Brandon Whitney had just two points in 19 minutes of action despite not battling foul trouble because of what UM athletics said in a press release was a “non-covid illness”

BOX SCORE

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“That was the best defensive performance of (Vazquez’s) career in my opinion. He did a phenomenal job on Cone, he deflected the ball, forced some turnovers and got us some extra possessions. We just didn’t turn them into points. And he shot the ball well. He’s been on a really strong streak here the last three or four games of being consistent and giving us points off the bench, but also just being really solid defensively.”

Montana head coach Travis DeCuire

“Defensive breakdowns. You give almost 50 percent from the floor and you just can’t win like that. 75 points is just too much. They average in the 70s, but we’re a better defensive team than that. We just had a lot of breakdowns where we had moments where we could have gone up four or six at that two-minute mark and we just didn’t execute very well.”

Montana head coach Travis DeCuire

“You have to find a way to put some wins together. It’s still one game at a time, but what you can’t do is beat yourself and I feel like we did that tonight. And that’s all of us, including myself. We have to get better at being solid and being a more disciplined group when it matters most and right now that’s what we struggle with.” 

Montana head coach Travis DeCuire

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What’s next

Montana plays at Northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon in Greeley, Colo. UNC lost 77-56 to Montana State on Thursday night to drop to 0-3 in league play.