Fouls, turnovers doom Vandals at Montana

From wire and news services

MISSOULA, Mont. - Foul trouble and turnovers always are costly - even more so on the road as the University of Idaho Vandals found out Saturday night at Montana where 17 turnovers and 23 fouls were big factors in their 70-56 Big Sky Conference men's basketball loss before 3,861 at Dahlberg Arena.

"We just couldn't get any continuity in this game," said Idaho coach Don Verlin, who had to move players into less familiar roles to combat their early foul trouble. "We weren't nearly as good as we should have been offensively."

Idaho's 56 points were more than 20 fewer than its season average of 77.1; the turnovers were five more than its season average.

Still, Verlin said, credit the Grizzlies, who improved to 12-10 overall and 8-3 in the Big Sky to Idaho's 9-12, 4-6.

"This is a good Montana team," he said. "They took it to us."

Jordan Gregory scored 17 points and three other Montana players reached double figures.

Montana finished the first half on a 14-3 run to build a 32-24 halftime lead. Idaho pulled within 60-54 with 2:58 left before Montana closed on a 10-2 surge to seal it.

Idaho had leads of as many as seven points in the first half but wound up allowing a 14-0 Montana run as the Grizzlies took a 32-24 halftime lead. The Vandals made repeated runs at the Grizzlies throughout the second half - to within four on two Connor Hill free throws with 4:37 to play, only to have Montana always find a way to stop the run and preserve its advantage.

Hill led Idaho with 15 points, and true freshman Arkadiy Mkrtychyan added 11. Idaho, one of the Big Sky's top rebounding teams, lost that battle, too, 38-32. Paulin Mpawe had a team-high four for the Vandals.

Idaho plays host to Portland State on Thursday.

IDAHO (9-12)

Seck 2-6 0-0 4, Mpawe 2-2 0-2 4, Wiggs 0-1 2-2 2, Hill 4-5 4-6 15, M. Scott 3-7 3-4 11, Callandret 3-8 0-0 7, Sanders 0-2 0-0 0, Mkrtychyan 3-5 5-9 11, George 0-0 0-0 0, Egbert 0-1 0-0 0, J. Scott 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-39 14-23 56.

MONTANA (12-10)

Breunig 6-9 0-0 12, Krslovic 1-1 4-5 6, Dunn 3-6 4-6 10, Gregory 4-8 7-7 17, Gfeller 4-11 0-0 11, Bradshaw 1-4 0-0 3, Nwosu 0-0 0-0 0, Kemp 2-2 0-0 4, Lopez 1-1 0-2 2, Weisner 2-6 0-2 5. Totals 24-48 15-22 70.

Halftime_Montana 32-24. 3-Point Goals_Idaho 6-13 (Hill 3-4, M. Scott 2-4, Callandret 1-3, Sanders 0-2), Montana 7-22 (Gfeller 3-9, Gregory 2-3, Bradshaw 1-2, Weisner 1-4, Breunig 0-1, Dunn 0-3). Fouled Out_Seck. Rebounds_Idaho 26 (Mpawe, Seck 5), Montana 27 (Krslovic 7). Assists_Idaho 9 (M. Scott 5), Montana 14 (Gregory 7). Total Fouls_Idaho 23, Montana 19. A_3,861.

from B1

"It showed that we are able to execute down the stretch and get stops when they really matter," Wiltjer said. "We don't like close games obviously. But I think it really is helping us find an identity and what we can do and where we can go in late-game situations."

Kevin Pangos added 17 points and Byron Wesley had 12 for the Bulldogs (24-1, 11-0 West Coast Conference), who are off to the best start in school history.

Gonzaga swept the weekend in the Bay Area despite trailing near the midpoint of the second half at Santa Clara on Thursday and being tied 29 minutes into this game against USF (9-16, 3-10).

"We made winning plays," Pangos said. "We executed at the end and got some stops. It was good. We'll need to do that in games. It's not always going to be comfortable leads."

Mark Tollefsen scored 18 and Corey Hilliard added 13 for the Dons, who have lost five straight for the first time since losing the first five conference games in 2012-13.

"It was definitely a winnable game," USF coach Rex Walters said. "We just fouled too much and got them on the line too much."

USF tied the game on Tollefsen's shot at the halftime buzzer. The Dons then took their first lead when Matt Glover stole the ball from Gary Bell Jr. on the opening possession of the second half and fed Tim Derksen for a layup that made it 40-38.

Pangos answered with a 3-pointer and the game went back and forth from there with neither team leading by more than three points until Wiltjer hit a 3-pointer that made it 61-56 midway through the second half.

Przemek Karnowski added a basket on Gonzaga's next trip and then Wiltjer hit another 3 to make it 66-56 with an 11-1 run.

Wiltjer's big shots came after he briefly left the game with an injury. He limped to the bench after scoring on a goaltending call earlier in the half and was tended to by the trainer before returning to the game.

The Dons responded with a 9-2 run before the Bulldogs sealed the game at the foul line.

TIP-INS

Gonzaga: Pangos passed Matt Bouldin for seventh place on the school's career scoring list with a 3-pointer in the second half. Pangos has 1,689 career points. Next up is Ronny Turiaf with 1,723. ... Gary Bell Jr. missed all seven shots he took, marking the first time this season he failed to make a basket.

San Francisco: Leading scorer Kruize Pinkins did not start for the first time this season after being held to eight points and three rebounds against Portland on Thursday. Pinkins finished with 11 points. ... The Dons have not beaten a top 5 team since knocking off No. 5 Iowa in the NCAA title game in 1956.

ZONING IN

After watching his team struggle to stop the Dons with their man defense, coach Mark Few switched to a zone for the first time in about a month. It paid dividends as USF missed six of eight shots during a late-game stretch that decided the game.

"We just couldn't stop them," Few said. "Our man defense has been excellent this year but they were torching us pretty good so we had to try something."

UP NEXT

Gonzaga: Host Loyola Marymount on Thursday.

San Francisco: Host Santa Clara on Thursday.

GONZAGA (24-1)

Pangos 5-9 4-4 17, Bell Jr. 0-7 2-4 2, Wesley 3-4 6-8 12, Karnowski 3-5 0-1 6, Wiltjer 10-18 6-7 29, Melson 1-1 0-0 2, Nunez 1-1 1-2 3, Dranginis 0-1 0-0 0, Sabonis 2-5 2-2 6, McClellan 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 26-52 23-30 81.

SAN FRANCISCO (9-16)

Christiansen 3-5 0-0 6, Glover 1-2 0-1 2, Watson 3-10 2-2 9, Tollefsen 7-9 2-2 18, Derksen 3-7 0-0 8, Hilliard 5-9 1-2 13, Ofoegbu 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 1-2 0-0 3, Pinkins 3-8 4-6 11. Totals 26-52 9-13 70.

Halftime_Tied 38-38. 3-Point Goals_Gonzaga 6-17 (Wiltjer 3-6, Pangos 3-7, Bell Jr. 0-4), San Francisco 9-15 (Tollefsen 2-2, Hilliard 2-2, Derksen 2-3, Pinkins 1-1, Adams 1-2, Watson 1-4, Glover 0-1). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Gonzaga 37 (Wiltjer 11), San Francisco 22 (Tollefsen 4). Assists_Gonzaga 12 (Pangos 4), San Francisco 14 (Glover 5). Total Fouls_Gonzaga 18, San Francisco 24. Technical_Glover. A_4,000.