Eagles grounded at home
Prime time doesn’t start until 8 p.m. for television – or the second half for a basketball game.
Eastern Washington isn’t ready for prime time, but Montana is.
After a dismal first half, the Grizzlies (20-5, 9-3) destroyed the Eagles (12-14, 7-5) in prime time, cruising to a 68-46 win Thursday night that clinched Montana at least second place and a first-round bye in the Big Sky Conference tournament.
The Eagles, who blew a 10-point second-half lead in Missoula to lose by six, are still in third place and can erase this bitter memory when they face Montana State (14-13, 6-6) Saturday night at Reese Court. It might, however, prove difficult to match the season-best crowd of 3,061 after what transpired in this one.
Montana, one of the best-shooting teams in the nation at 49.5 percent, shot 35 in the first half and trailed 26-20. Then the Griz scorched the Eagles with a 65 percent second half – despite a 2-of-7 finish in the last 4 minutes – to end at 52.6 percent. At one point, UM was 20 of 26 in the second half, and after four of the misses scored on the same possession.
In addition to the shooting exhibition, Montana caused 11 turnovers, harassed the Eagles into 38 percent shooting and pounded them on the boards 20-8 – all in the second half. The teams were even in rebounding at 16 and EWU had just five turnovers at halftime while shooting 43 percent.
“We came out sluggish in the second half,” Eastern coach Mike Burns said. “Montana saw a little bit of blood in the water and they pounced on it. They put us on our heels and we played on our heels for the entire second half.”
It was an interesting turnaround for Montana, which has lost three conference road games when leading at the half and won three when trailing.
“A couple of things were shored up,” Montana coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “They absolutely dominated us defensively. They were playing hard on that end of the floor. They dictated the tempo.”
The game was tied at 41 when EWU freshman Matt Penoncello drilled a 3-pointer at the 12:28 mark. After that it was all Montana. The Grizzlies went on a 14-0 run, making 7 of 8 shots in seven possessions while the Eagles, scoreless for a 4:32 stretch, missed three shots and had four turnovers.
That was the game since the Eagles scored just five points in the last 12½ minutes, none in the last 5.
“We had problems focusing in this game,” Burns said. “Montana did a good job changing defenses and we did a good job battling through that in the first half. In the second half they did essentially the same thing, but they did it with more energy than we did.”
It didn’t help that Rodney Stuckey, who had 36 points in the first game, only scored 14 – matching his season low from the opener – while hitting just 6 of 17 shots and 2 of 6 free throws. Despite leading the team in scoring for the 23rd straight game he appeared uncomfortable from the start, continually rubbing his nose and eyes.
“I don’t think anything was wrong with Stuckey,” Burns said. “If there was he didn’t tell me. He may have been a little under the weather, but as far as I know he was feeling fine.”
EWU’s Paul Butorac added 11 points but only had one in the second half.
Meanwhile, Montana leaders Kevin Criswell and Andrew Straight combined for 44 points, 35 in the second half. Strait, fourth in the nation at 63.2 percent, finished 10 of 17 after a 2-of-6 start and had 11 rebounds.
The Grizzlies went on a 10-0 early in the first half for a 14-7 lead, but Kellen Williams brought the Eagles back. After a Stuckey basket, Williams had four points and three assists in a 12-2 run for a 19-16 lead. Criswell hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, but the Grizzlies only scored one point in the final 6 minutes.
“Our guys need to get focused on Saturday’s game against Montana State,” Burns said.
MSU lost 82-59 at Portland State.