Jan. 17, 2008
Final Stats
Missoula, MT --- Donnie Carson put back his own miss with 3.2 seconds, getting fouled in the process, giving Idaho State the winning points for a 56-54 win over Montana in Missoula, giving the Bengals wins in Missoula in back-to-back years for the first time in 43 years.
Carson's winning basket with 3.2 left exacted a little revenge for the last meeting in Pocatello, when Montana's Andrew Strait scored the game-winner with 2.9 left in a series that has been defined by dramatic finishes and overtimes as of late.
Down 54-53 after Jordan Hasquet missed the second of two free throws with 38.2 left, ISU (6-11, 3-1) calmly moved the ball around until Carson found a lane to drive. His first attempt missed, but the 6-2 Detroit native was able to get the offensive rebound over the 6-9 Hasquet. Carson was fouled on the shot attempt, and his twisting fade away banked in for a 55-54 lead. Carson, who was inadvertently poked in the eye after the play, came out and Logan Kinghorn stepped in for the free throw which made it 56-54.
Hasquet had one last shot for the Griz, who quickly got the ball into decent scoring range, but Hasquet's 28-footer hit the back iron and bounded away, giving ISU back-to-back regular season wins in Montana for the first time since winning 73-72 in 1964 and 71-66 in 1965.
The last second dramatics looked like they would never be necessary early on, as the Bengals raced out to a 23-9 lead in the first half. The Griz (7-10, 1-3) however bounced back, and cut the lead to 25-21 before Logan Kinghorn scored right at the end of the half on a circus three-point play to give ISU a 28-21 lead at the break.
In the second, ISU led for most of the way until Matt Martin hit his only three of the second half with 6:35 to go to give Montana their first lead since 2-0 at 47-45. Montana however would not hit another field goal for the rest of the game. In fact, only Hasquet would score the rest of the way, hitting 7-of-10 free throws.
After Matt Stucki eventually tied the game for the only time at 53 with a free throw, hitting the first of his two with 1:12 left, Montana worked the ball and the shot clock down until Hasquet went inside and was fouled by Demetrius Monroe with 38.2 left. Hasquet hit the first, hitting the back iron and having the ball bound up and in before missing the second, setting up Carson's heroics.
"Donnie continues to show his improvement, and I really thought we were very composed on that final possession," said head coach Joe O'Brien. "We were very patient, and waited for a good scoring opportunity."
"You can see that when we get into these close games, our guys feel very confident," O'Brien added. The Bengals, who with their tough non-conference schedule suffered several large blowout losses, are now are 4-1 in games decided by five points or less, and 3-0 in games decided by two or less.
The Bengals shot the ball well, hitting .522 from the field, but they were just .300 from three-point range, and only 9-of-16 from the free throw line (.563). They did hold Montana to just .395 from the field as ISU has held every conference opponent to under 40% shooting from the field this year. Very quietly, Lucas Steijn had a solid game, leading ISU in scoring with 12 points, most of those coming during ISU's early opening salvo. Steijn hit his first six shots. Carson finished with 10, his third double-figure game in the last four, that coming after never having scored double-figures over the first 43 games of his collegiate career.
Hasquet led everyone with 16, and Strait had 15. Matt Martin chipped in 11. ISU dominated the glass 32-23, getting 26 points in the paint and 22 second chance points. Amorrow Morgan and Monroe each had six to lead ISU, and the Bengals, a game after suffering through 19 turnovers, had just 13 against Montana.
The Bengals now travel over to Bozeman to take on Montana State on Saturday night at 7:05 pm. Montana State dropped a 78-76 decision to Weber State in Bozeman on Thursday night.
NOTES: Prior to O'Brien's arrival, the Bengals were 2-28 in their last 30 games in Missoula. Under O'Brien they are 2-1 ... Carson had four of ISU's 10 offensive rebounds ... the win, combined with the women's 90-77 win over the Lady Griz, marked only the third time in school history that the Bengals swept the Montana teams on the same day ... ISU improved to 13-55 in Missoula all-time ... the Bengals are mow 6-0 when outrebounding their opponent ... O'Brien is 6-4 in his 10 conference road games, equaling the best Big Sky road start for an ISU coach, tying with Lynn Archibald, who also went 6-4 in his first 10 conference road games over the 1978 and 1979 seasons
