The saying about it being tough to keep a good man down for long... or a good team down for that matter, was true on Sunday.
Montana junior guard Anthony Johnson -- who, along with his teammates, had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night in Montana’s Thursday loss to Weber State -- erupted for 20 second-half points to lead the Grizzlies to a 79-64 Big Sky Conference victory over the Idaho State Bengals before 3821 fans in Missoula’s Dahlberg Arena Sunday.
The victory upped Montana’s record to 17-10, 11-4 in league play, and solidified the Grizzlies’ hold on second place in the Big Sky, while also improving its chances of earning a first-round bye in the post-season tournament.
PHOTO: Montana Guard Anthony Johnson is cut off by Idaho State's Matt Stucki. Johnson scored 26 points to lead Montana past the Bengals.
Johnson, who had been limited by the Bengals to just six first-half points on 3-of-5 shots, was unstoppable over the
final 20 minutes.
The flashy, slashing Griz point guard dialed the game tempo up several notches during second half action and made 4-for-5 shots on a variety of full-throttle drives to pace the Griz. When the Bengals did stop Johnson, they usually fouled him. The result was a perfect 12-of-12 from the free-throw line for the Big Sky’s leading scorer and free throw shooter.
PHOTO: Senior post Kyle Sharp posts for two of his 10 points. Sharp also pulled down 10 rebounds and had two steals.
ISU Coach Joe O’Obrien and Montana Coach Wayne Tinkle were equally in awe of Johnson’s performance.
“He’s a bear to guard,” said O’Brien. “I mean, man... he can turn the corner in a heartbeat. I think he’s leading the league in free throw
attempts per game, he might be leading the league in free throw percentage. You just can’t afford to foul him.”
“I put Donnie (Carson) on him, who’s our best on-the-ball defender,” Obrien added. “I brought Phil (Taylor) off the bench for a couple of minutes to give Donnie a blow. Amorrow (Morgan) tried to guard him...
“And when you do get him stopped, he’s good at drawing help and then he kicks to somebody like Ryan Staudacher,” said O’brien, shaking his head.
“I tell you, he (Johnson)
had quite a performance.,” said Tinkle. “Seven for 10 from the field, 12 of 12 from the free throw line, six assists, only one turnover,”
“We were disappointed in his effort the other night,” said Tinkle. “And so we challenged him to be better and he certainly answered the call.”
Meanwhile, senior post Kyle Sharp, playing his final league game as a Grizzly, hammered out a blue-collar double-double in the low blocks, scoring 11 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and nabbing two key steals during a critical late stretch where Montana expanded a
four-point lead to 12.
“I wasn’t doing a very good job playing post defense,” said Sharp. “My man was scoring a little too much, so I knew I needed to try to make some plays, especially something that we could get going, where I could get the ball to AJ and let him go,” Sharp added.
Building from Sharp’s solid defensive play, Johnson became catalyst of the late Montana run. Johnson fed junior guard Ryan Staudacher for a three-point conversion from the right corner, then grabbed a rebound and was fouled on his outlet drive.
His free throws extended Montana’s lead from 62-58 to 67-58 with 3:31 remaining, which was expanded to 70-58 just 20 seconds later on Jack McGillis’ trey from the right elbow.
PHOTOS: (three above) Jordan Hasquet is ambushed by four Bengals as he posts up for a shot in the first half. Hasquet scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds. (Above, middle) Reserve guard sophomore Michael Taylor scored 10 points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting night. (above) Junior Ryan Staudacher scored 12 points on four three-point shots, three in the second half.
Johnson said his coaches told him to take charge in the second half... to “Just attack.”
“They told me to attack at the free throw line,” said Johnson. “I’m a play-maker, so if I didn’t have the lane then I found someone else who had the shot. Luckily Mike (Taylor) was on early, Ryan Staudacher was on early and especially late in the game, so that was it... being aggressive,” said Johnson.
“I knew if I had it in transition I could just use my speed and try to capitalize. Luckily I was getting to the free throw line a little bit and it just worked out for us,” said Johnson.
Taylor had perhaps his best game of the year, scoring 10 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the field -- eight of those points coming during a critical first-half run that extended Montana’s lead to from 17-14 to 27-17 in a brief two-minute span midway through the first half.
Staudacher equaled Taylor’s effort with similar second-half play. Staudacher made 4-of-7 treys for the game, three of them at critical second-half junctures that stemmed mini-runs by ISU.
The Bengals -- despite shooting a blistering 52 percent from the field for the game -- were never able to draw any closer than four points, after Montana’s first-half surge and 10-point lead.
But every time Montana appeared poised to break the game open, the Bengals responded with their own runs. Reserve guard Austin Kilpatrick was particularly effective, nailing 4-of-6 three-point shots in two stretches that catapulted the Bengals back into contention.
And Montana defenders seemed incapable of stopping Bengal post Lucas Steijn, who scored 14 points, most of them mid-key jumpers over Montana defenders.
Five Bengals scored in double figures, led by Steijn. Chron Tatum had 13, Kilpatrick and Amorrow Morgan 12 each, and Matt Stucki 10.
“Credit goes to Idaho State,” said Johnson. “I mean, they’re always a tough, physical team. They’re an in-your-face, long, big, physical team. They’re bigger than we are, especially their guards. That Amorrow Morgan... Oh, man. He’s a tough guard. Tough physical guard,” said Johnson.
Tinkle agreed. “That’s a very good defensive team, they’re physical and athletic. They don’t give up percentages like that, and I’m really proud of the way our guys responded tonight.”
The win, Tinkle admitted, shook a huge monkey off the coach’s back. It was just a year ago, on senior night, that Portland State mauled the Griz 108-56.
Asked about that game, Tinkle laughed and said, “I had my arm around Sharpie and Jordan on the way up the tunnel and I said ‘Guys, what a difference a year makes as far as senior night goes.’ “
“It’s big,” said senior Jordan Hasquet. “You always want to go out with a win, no matter where you’re at. It was real cool to get a standing O... That was awesome.”
The Bengals slipped to 10-18, 7-7 in conference standings at fourth place. ISU maintained its chances to host a first-round tourney game.
Montana now travels to Northern Colorado for its final conference game of the year, while the Bengals will host the league’s cellar-dwellers Northern Arizona (8-17) and Sacramento State (2-25).
