Montana flattens Vandals
<p>Idaho guard Shawn Henderson, a former North Idaho College standout, attempts to pass above Montana's Will Cherry (on floor) during Monday's game in Missoula, Mont.</p>
MISSOULA, Mont. - It started bad, then things got worse for Idaho in a 75-33 road loss at Montana on Monday at Dahlberg Arena.
The Vandals shot just 6-of-50 (.120) from the floor, committed 16 turnovers and allowed the Grizzlies to hit their shots at 48.3 percent (29-of-60) clip in their worst loss since a 92-42 setback at Gonzaga on Nov. 25, 2000 and scored their fewest points since a 31-point outing at Montana State in 2000.
"I think what's most disappointing about this game is we didn't compete," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "The bottom line is that they made the first two 3-pointers of the game, and we didn't compete."
Junior forward led Idaho with 16 points on 4-of-10 shooting, with eight rebounds. He hit eight of his 10 attempts from the free throw line. Junior guard Deremy Geiger added nine points, all of which came from the free throw line, but no other Vandal had more than five points and only five total Vandals registered a basket.
Idaho's bench went a combined 0-for-14 from the field, while Toledo, Brandon Wiley and Kyle Barone were the only Vandals to register a made field goal.
Montana was led by Will Cherry's 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while Brian Qvale added 21 with makes on eight of his 10 attempts.
In the first half, the Vandals turned the ball over 12 times, shot just 13.6 percent (3-of-22) and scored just 12 points.
Montana turned a 6-2 lead into a 16-2 advantage with a 10-0 run starting at 18:04. A pair of Toledo free throws broke up the run at 14:29, but the Grizzlies rattled off 16 unanswered points over the next six minutes to go up 32-4 at the 8:10 mark of the half.
"It will get better, I guarantee it, but this team did not line up in their first road game, but we've got to learn from this," Verlin said. "We obviously aren't that bad, but there's no excuse for the way we played tonight."
Idaho travels to Cheney on Saturday to face Eastern Washington.
IDAHO (1-3)
Henderson 0-7 1-2 1, Wiley 1-6 2-6 5, Toledo 4-10 8-10 16, Geiger 0-8 9-11 9, Barone 1-5 0-0 2, Ledbetter 0-2 0-0 0, Tatum 0-2 0-0 0, Bandoumel 0-4 0-0 0, Madison 0-3 0-0 0, Kammerer 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 6-50 20-29 33.
MONTANA (2-2)
Cherry 9-12 4-5 24, Wood 2-5 0-0 5, Selvig 1-7 0-0 3, Jamar 3-5 0-1 7, Qvale 8-10 5-6 21, Autry 0-2 0-0 0, Steward 2-6 0-0 4, Adams 0-2 0-0 0, Stockton 1-2 1-2 3, Ward 2-4 2-2 6, Hutchison 0-2 0-0 0, Reader 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-60 12-16 75.
Halftime_Montana 47-12. 3-Point Goals_Idaho 1-13 (Wiley 1-2, Madison 0-1, Ledbetter 0-2, Henderson 0-2, Geiger 0-6), Montana 5-15 (Cherry 2-3, Jamar 1-1, Selvig 1-3, Wood 1-3, Stockton 0-1, Autry 0-2, Adams 0-2). Fouled Out_Selvig. Rebounds_Idaho 40 (Toledo, Wiley 8), Montana 41 (Jamar 9). Assists_Idaho 3 (Barone, Henderson, Tatum 1), Montana 14 (Selvig 4). Total Fouls_Idaho 17, Montana 21. A_2,530.