The Montana Grizzlies hung tough in Los Angeles for 32 minutes before the Trojans of the Pac 12 pulled way.
The Griz jumped out to a 12-3 lead behind the hot shooting of sophomore point guard Ahmaad Rorie. Senior Brandon Gfeller’s 3-pointer with eight minutes, 46 seconds to play cut the Southern Cal lead to 53-50. USC proceeded to go to a 13-1 run to take a 66-51 lead with five minutes to play en route to a 75-61 win in the season opener for both teams.
Rorie, a sophomore transfer from Oregon who sat out last season, hit all five of his made 3-pointers in the first half and scored half of Montana’s 30 first-half points. The point guard finished with 21 points but zero assists and shot 8-of-15 from the floor, 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in his Griz debut.
Montana played tough defense throughout, limiting the more athletic Trojans to 41.2 percent shooting. The hosts earned a 39-32 rebounding advantage and converted 27-of-38 free throws. Montana shot 11 and made seven from the charity stripe. UM fell victim to 29 personal fouls and 18 turnovers in the loss.
Senior Walter Wright, Gfeller and senior Mario Dunn were all whistled for four fouls. Freshmen Sayeed Pridgett and Jared Samuelson, Rorie and sophomore Bobby Moorehead all picked up three fouls.
Rorie’s 21 points led the Griz. USC junior guard Elijah Stewart led all scorers with 30 points and added a game-high seven rebounds. Stewart hit half of his 12 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and also knocked down 14-of-16 from the stripe. USC sophomore guard Shaqquan Aaron, a Louisville transfer originally from Seattle, finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. Chimezie Metu, a 6-foot-11 forward, chipped in 14 points and seven boards.
Gfeller hit three of Montana’s 10 3-pointers off the bench. Senior forward Fabijan Krslovic added 10 points and seven rebounds while Moorehead chipped in nine points and seven rebounds.
