Griz rout Lumberjacks for biggest league win in 27 years
MISSOULA — Montana needed to rebound on Saturday against Northern Arizona and they did so in emphatic fashion, routing Northern Arizona 90-47 for the largest Big Sky Conference win since 1997. The Griz shot 52.9 percent from the floor and made a season-high 14 threes on 51.9 percent shooting.
The Grizzlies (11-6, 2-2 Big Sky) outscored Northern Arizona 47-24 in the first half and kept the pressure up in the second half. Montana had 21 assists to just five turnovers and held the Lumberjacks to just 37.0 percent shooting, the lowest by a Montana D1 opponent this year.
There were five different runs of eight straight points or more by Montana in the game, including a game-high 13-0 run in the second half. The game was never in doubt. Northern Arizona scored first, but Montana went ahead 6-2 and it was never within a possession after that.
This is the third straight game that Montana has made at least 10 threes. It’s also the fifth time that Montana has scored 90-plus points. It’s the most 90-point games in a single season since the 1994-95 team did it six times under coach Blaine Taylor.
The Grizzlies also outrebounded the Lumberjacks by 11, had more second chance and bench points, and won the paint 42-30.
Dischon Thomas scored the first 11 points of the game for Montana in a spectacular first half for the forward. He helped Montana build an 11-4 lead and went into the break with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and 5-of-7 from deep.
He nearly outscored the Lumberjacks by himself in a half that saw him match his career high for threes. He scored eight straight points for Montana later in the half, and when he hit a three with five minutes to play had 22 of the first 35 points for Montana.
“He was locked in. We talked about shot selection and that caught us Thursday night,” DeCuire said of Thomas. “We were one pass away from open shots and we make one more and we win that game. I just thought the ball movement was incredible and it found DT in the corner a couple of times and once he makes a shot you kind of give it to him, get out of the way, and let him go.”
The offense excited the crowd of nearly 3,000 fans that braved subzero temperatures to watch the Griz play, but it’s the defense that really stood out to DeCuire. Montana forced NAU into 13 turnovers and held them to just a single made three. They got better as the game went on, holding the Lumberjacks to zero made threes in the second half.
After a 98-92 overtime loss on Thursday, DeCuire enjoyed seeing his defense rebound.
“Defense is all we’ve talked about since Thursday night. It’s just showing up defensively and don’t worry about the offense,” DeCuire said. “We’ve been putting enough points on the board to win games, we just have not defended in conference well enough to be a competitor in the standings. To hold this team under 40 percent is big for us and then we still had the same production offensively, so good balance.”
The Lumberjacks had just a single player in double figures while Montana had an impressive team box score.
Thomas led the way with his 22 points, all of which came in the first half. He’s now just nine points away from scoring 1,000 in his career. Aanen Moody also made five threes and scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
Brandon Whitney facilitated the offense, dishing out a career high 11 assists. He came up short of the double-double with seven points, but also added two steals and three rebounds in his 27 minutes. He is now averaging 7.4 assists per game over the last five.
The Griz will look to keep the momentum from the big win rolling next week against a pair of rivals. Montana heads to Bozeman on Saturday for the Brawl of the Wild before returning home on Monday for a rematch with Weber State.
The Bobcats swept the road trip and are currently in second place in the league at 3-1.
“We’ve got to bring the same defensive intensity we did tonight,” DeCuire said. “If we do that, we’ll have some fun and it will be an entertaining basketball game for the Griz.”