Same Old Bad Ending For Vandals Idaho Can’t Finish Job, So Montana Does, 76-71

Idaho men’s basketball coach Joe Cravens saw a rerun on Friday night.

He’s getting mighty sick of the same ending.

Mirroring earlier Big Sky Conference losses to Boise State and Idaho State, the Vandals wasted another game effort with a crunch-time pratfall, losing to Montana 76-71 at the Kibbie Dome.

“We play everybody tough and we don’t make the plays down the stretch,” Cravens lamented.

Idaho, awaiting tonight’s 7:05 visit from surging Montana State, dropped to 2-4 in the Big Sky and 8-10 overall. The Grizzlies are 4-2, 13-6.

Montana’s win, viewed by 3,113, was fueled by two late 3-pointers by Jeremy Lake and a conventional three-point play by Shane Belnap.

The Vandals had held slim leads through most of the first 30 minutes, the largest margin being six. UM’s only leads were by one - at 5-4, 44-43 and 46-45.

But Montana moved in front when forward Matt Kempfert wheeled around UI’s Harry Harrison, who was saddled with four fouls, for a layup with 6:28 left.

That gave Montana a 61-59 lead and the Grizzlies went on to complete a 9-1 run for a 66-60 advantage.

UI rallied on Shawn Dirden’s four-point play and Mark Leslie’s 3-pointer to lead 67-66 with 4 minutes remaining.

Lake then hit a 3-pointer that particularly riled Cravens.

“They run a play we’d worked on defending; we knew the play,” he said. “We were right where we were supposed to be but we didn’t finish it off.”

Sort of like the game itself.

With 2:07 left, Belnap drove around Leslie for a layup and was fouled. His free throw put UM up 72-67.

“I had Leslie off balance and I saw him look back (for a Grizzly screener) for just a second,” said Belnap, who led UM with 18 points. “I saw an opportunity.”

Opportunity knocked for Idaho as well in the closing minutes, but UI answered with mistakes.

The Vandals missed a layup, a one-and-one free throw, turned the ball over on an errant pass 40 feet from the hoop and unwisely fouled after allowing UM to run 20 seconds off the shot clock.

And finally, trailing 73-69, UI fouled Lake, an 83-percent free thrower, with 32 seconds left. He hit both shots to seal UM’s first win in the Dome since the 1984-85 season.

Grizzly coach Blaine Taylor recalled his last game as a UM player as a loss in the 1981 Big Sky championship game at the Dome.

“I haven’t left this building with a lot of good feelings,” he said. “This one is a little extra special. Call Steve Young and ask him about getting the monkey off his back.”

Or maybe call UI guard Ben Johnson. After being challenged to improve his production by Cravens earlier this week, the inconsistent senior guard responded with 18 points.

Johnson’s effort was aided by Harrison (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Dirden (20 points, five rebounds).

But other Vandals struggled. Sophomore center Nate Gardner was in foul trouble throughout and was held scoreless. He had 18 points in UI’s win over Northern Arizona last Saturday. Leslie scored 12, but had a key late turnover.

Due to previous player defections, Idaho continues to use an eight-man rotation with only three interior players. Fatigue may be a factor in UI’s late-game collapses.

“That’s always going to be a factor,” Cravens said. “But that’s all we got. That’s going to be constant.”

UI hit just 30 percent from the floor in the second half to finish at 39 percent. UM made 45 percent.

Montana 76, Idaho 71 , MONTANA (13-6)

Spoja 2-7 1-2 5, Samuelson 4-10 0-1 8, Kempfert 5-11 4-6 14, Belnap 6-10 3-3 18, Lake 2-5 2-2 8, Walker 1-2 0-0 2, Dade 0-0 7-8 7, Camel 3-7 2-4 8, Olson 0-0 0-1 0, Covill 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 25-55 21-29 76.

IDAHO (8-10)

Dirden 5-12 7-7 20, Harrison 3-9 9-15 15, Gardner 0-4 0-0 0, Johnson 7-11 2-2 18, Leslie 4-11 1-2 12, Spike 0-3 0-0 0, Coates 3-6 0-0 6, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 19-26 71.

Halftime-Idaho 41, Montana 38. 3-Point goals-Montana 5-17 (Belnap 3-7, Lake 2-5, Spoja 0-4, Samuelson 0-1), Idaho 8-24 (Dirden 3-7, Leslie 3-9, Johnson 2-5, Spike 0-2, Gardner 0-1). Fouled out-Harrison, Leslie. Rebounds-Montana 40 (Kempfert, Covill 7), Idaho 34 (Harrison 11). Assists-Montana 15 (Spoja 4), Idaho 13 (Gardner 5). Total fouls- Montana 20, Idaho 24. A-3,113.