Idaho rallies from big deficit, but still loses

MISSOULA – Will Cherry had 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead Montana to a 57-52 victory over Idaho on Thursday night.

Kareem Jamar added 13 points for the Grizzlies (2-1).

Stephen Madison had 14 points and Kyle Barone 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Vandals (1-2), who lost by 42 points on a visit to Montana last season.

This game was much more competitive, as the Grizzlies led 55-52 and Idaho had two possessions with a chance to tie in the last minute. But Deremy Geiger missed a 3-point attempt on both trips, and after the second, Cherry grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws with a second remaining.

Idaho rebounded in the second half after shooting just 21.4 percent in the first half.

Montana built an early lead on the strength of hitting seven of its first 12 attempts from 3-point range.

“It was a rough-and-tumble game,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “It was a well-played game on both ends.’’

Defensive mistakes and late fouls were among the factors that hurt the Vandals.

“Those are the plays we’ve got to make if we’re going to win a game like this on the road against a good team,” Verlin said. “It comes down to boxing out and getting rebounds, working on your defensive assignments and doing the little things. You have to come up with those plays, and we weren’t able to.”

Idaho shot 34.7 percent and the Grizzlies finished at 31.6 percent.

Idaho held a 44-36 rebounding edge, but the Vandals also turned it over 15 times. The Grizzlies had only eight turnovers for the game.

The Vandals trailed 34-19 at the half but opened the second half with a 15-4 run to close to 38-34. The game remained the close the rest of the way.

“Last year, when we got in this situation, we didn’t respond, and this year we did,” Verlin said. “Our guys played really hard and showed fight in the second half. You take some positives, but the bottom line is which column it goes in, and this one went in the wrong column.”

Idaho returns to action in a neutral-site game against Lewis-Clark State at CenturyLink Arena in Boise at 6 p.m. PST Wednesday.