Bobcats solve Griz again, 82-71
Daily Inter Lake | Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 3 months AGO
MISSOULA — For the second time this season, Montana State shook off a rough start with two solid halves, beating Montana 82-71 in Big Sky Conference men’s basketball Saturday.
Jed Miller scored 19 points — including a huge shot midway through the second half — to lead six Bobcats in double figures. Jaden Steppe added 15 points off the bench for MSU.
Coupled with the Bobcat women scoring a 72-55 win earlier Saturday at Adams Field House, Montana State scored a season sweep for both basketball programs.
Montana (14-12, 8-5 in Big Sky games), which jumped out to a 23-13 lead in the first meeting, led this one 25-14 on Brooklyn Hicks’ 3-pointer at 11:29 of the first half. Then the Bobcats clawed back to lead 35-33 on a three from Jeremiah Davis at the 3:57 mark.
Montana State (15-12, 9-4 in league) led 38-37 at the break, then scored the first seven points of the second half — Chris Hodges’ dunk put the Cats up 45-37 — to push ahead for good.
The gap stayed 5-to-9 points before MSU’s Jed Miller converted a four-point play that made it 62-52 with 9:43 left in the game. The Grizzlies did not make any major push from there.
Patrick McMahon and Christian King added 12 points each for the Bobcats, and Jeremiah Davis and Hodges — Hodges was 5-for-5 from the floor — had 10 apiece.
Money Williams poured in a game-high 25 points before fouling out for Montana, and Te’Jon Sawyer added 22. Kenyon Aguino chipped in 10 points. Hicks had eight points and six rebounds.