In the aftermath of the Montana State Bobcats’ first-round Big Sky Conference playoff victory before 5210 fans at Dahlberg Arena, much of the post-game analysis focused on Bobcat guard Will Bynum’s steal of an errant pass by Montana point guard Anthony Johnson, which Bynum converted into an insurmountable 56-52 MSU lead with 9 seconds remaining.
While that stellar play gave the Bobcats their final winning edge, MSU coach Brad Huse lauded the efforts of Bynum at a point much earlier in the game.
“Will did a great job for us getting into the key and making good decisions,” said Huse. “Will was really focused to stick to the game plan we had in place for him. He was the catalyst tonight.”
Though Johnson bore the brunt of that costly turnover – one of only two he commited all game – it was Johnson whose eight points over the game’s last six minutes rallied Montana from a 50-42 deficit to within a single point of the Cats at 53-52 with 57 seconds left to play.
PHOTO RIGHT: Montana point guard Anthony Johnson is guarded by Montana State point guard Will Bynum. Johnson scored a game-high 19 points, had four assists, and two turnovers while Bynum scored 15
points, had five rebounds and five assists... and the game-winning steal.
Montana coach Wayne Tinkle described Johnson’s game-long effort as MVP-caliber.
Though the game was lost... and won, in the game’s final nine seconds, both coaches pointed to other factors that added up to victory for the Bobcats.
Huse stressed the importance of the Bobcats’ ability to score in the paint in the game’s early stages.
And that’s where the Bobcats established the tone of the contest.
In a game where the teams were evenly balanced in several statistical areas, the Bobcats dominated the paint at both ends of the court, out-rebounding the Grizzlies 40-29 and wresting a dominant 10-rebound edge over Montana on the offensive glass.
PHOTO RIGHT: Montana's Johnson has
his shot blocked by MSU senior post Divaldo Mbunga, who had five
blocked shots in addition to 11 rebounds and nine points for the
visiting Bobcats.
“We kind of set the tone I thought in the first half with our ability to get on the offensive glass and create second shot opportunities, even if they weren’t (all) going in,” said Huse.
The result, by game’s end, was a 34-10 Cat scoring margin in the paint... a whopping 24 point margin.
PHOTO RIGHT: Montana State head coach Brad Huse and Montana assistant coach Bill Evans shake hands after Huse's Bobcats defeated Montana in the first round of the Big Sky post-season tourney. The Bobcats will face regular season champ Weber State in semifinal action Tuesday.
There’s more to the disparity than offensive rebounds, however. That’s because the Bobcats also got the job done early at the defensive end. The Grizzlies didn’t score in the paint because the Bobcats did not allow Montana low-post players ball-possession down low. And when Montana did work the ball down low, Bobcat senior post Divaldo Mbunga was a monstsrous force, blocking five Griz shots and altering several more.
That meant the Griz had to convert from other areas.
And the perimeter was truly a dead zone for Montana.
The Cats barricaded the paint and then seemed to dare the Griz to score from outside. The resulting slew of Montana shots – many of them wide-open looks – caromed off the rim.
Excluding Johnson, who had several opportunities inside, Montana’s outside shooters Ryan Staudacher, Jack McGillis and Michael Taylor made 6-for-19 from the perimeter, less than a 30 percent average.
With each missed Montana shot, the Bobcats had more time to patiently work on their own offensive game plan.
“I thought we had great balance tonight in terms of inside and out, better than we’ve had in recent time,” said Huse. “On top of that, I thought we made good decisions when we drove the basketball.
“Then we had a nice run there (early in the second half), we hit a couple of threes and got a couple nice point-blank shots,” said Huse.
It became more than a scoring edge for the Cats; it swung momentum and confidence into the visitors’ favor.
“You know, when you’re on the road like this, the home team has the advantage and they’re the higher seed and all those things...” said Huse.
“You feel like the pressure’s on their shoulders and... you know, our guys played relaxed there to get that lead and held on.”
Tinkle didn’t buy the notion that his Montana players should be pressured and tight.
“Well, that’s what everybody always says, you know it’s tough playing, beating a team a third time... I don’t really necessarily buy into it,” said Tinkle.
“If you’re the better team, you should beat them all three times,” said Tinkle. “But tonight, with everything that they were up against, they were just a little bit better than us,” said Tinkle. “On this night, they out-played us.”
In spite of those dynamics, Montana rose up on defense and held the Bobcats to a single free throw for all but the last nine seconds of the game’s final six-plus minutes.
Bobcat forward Bobby Howard drained an arcing trey from the left corner to give the Cats a 50-42 lead with 6:28 remaining.
But from there Johnson – while his teammates stiffened up on defense – single-handedly took control of Montana’s offense, scoring 10 straight points on eight free throws and a 12-foot jumper with 1:35 remaining. Two free throws by Staudacher with 57 seconds remaining made it 53-52 Bobcats.
Spurred by the cacophonous Montana crowd, the Griz made one final defensive stop and, with 21 seconds remaining, called time out to set up the final play.
“Well, we pretty much knew who was going to have the basketball...” said Huse. “One of two guys.”
“We threw the ball to our fifth-year senior (Jordan Hasquet),” said Tinkle. “We ran our MVP (Johnson) off to get the handoff... cleared out that side to get a little two-man game.”
“And we just didn’t make the play,” said Tinkle.
“Great anticipation by Bynum on the steal...” said Huse.
