Jones superb, Weber State wallops Montana in 2nd half to win Big Sky quarterfinal 68-56
-
- Weber State forward Dillon Jones (2) pushes up a shot against Montana’s defense in a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal game Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
-
- Weber State guard Koby McEwen (15) rises for a jump shot over Montana’s Lonnell Martin (1) in a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal game Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
-
- Weber State forward Dillon Jones (2) dribbles the ball against Montana in a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal game Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
-
- Weber State center Dontay Bassett, right, rises for a hook shot against Montana’s Derrick Carter-Hollinger in a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal game Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
-
- Weber State guard Koby McEwen (15) holds off Montana’s Brandon Whitney in a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal game Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
-
- Weber State guard Seikou Sisoho Jawara (5) brings the ball up the court in a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal game against Montana on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
-
- Weber State players, from left, Koby McEwen, Seikou Sisoho Jawara, Alex Tew, Dillon Jones and JJ Overton take the court during a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal game against Montana on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
As Weber State men’s basketball was 1-7 in its last eight contests against Montana in the Big Sky Conference tournament, it sure felt a certain way when the Griz jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first 3 minutes Thursday afternoon.
But what happened from there was nothing short of Weber State pitching defensive gem. Montana could only muster 27 points over the next 25 minutes as the Wildcats unearthed some of the disrupt-and-score swagger that once had them rolling during the regular season.
Dillon Jones was nearly perfect, leading WSU with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and the Wildcats went on to a 68-56 victory in the tournament quarterfinals in Boise, Idaho.
WSU advances to play No. 1 Montana State, who drop-kicked No. 8 Sacramento State earlier in the day, in Friday’s semifinals at 5:30 p.m.
“It could have been any of my teammates sitting up here,” Jones said in a postgame press conference. “I’m going to enjoy my night, but I know our team is more than capable of carrying the torch like I did tonight.”
Derrick Carter-Hollinger scored seven early points, and a Robby Beasley 3-pointer made it 12-2 at the 16:45 mark of the first half. Weber State called timeout and immediately started working back into the contest on a 12-3 run where Jones scored at the rim and hit from 3.
“We haven’t shown a lot of resilience and a lot of perseverance through adversity when we were up and down before this game,” senior guard Koby McEwen said. “We got tested, we passed the test, we stayed together, made sure everyone’s heads were in the right space … all we had to do was stay together, trust our system, trust our coaches, trust each other, and things would fall into place for us.
“Coach can say whatever he wants, but it’s up to us to band together and trust each other … and play the right way.”
Zahir Porter rattled home an elbow jumper to put WSU ahead 20-19 with 8:25 left in the half, and the Wildcats (21-11) never trailed again. The lead got to 25-19 before Brandon Whitney scored on consecutive drives to make it 30-25 at halftime.
Unfortunately for Montana (18-14), those would be its last field goals for nearly 12 minutes.
Jones hit another 3 out of halftime. Dontay Bassett scored twice inside. McEwen converted two baseline drives at the rim. Then Jones poked away one of his three steals and threw ahead to JJ Overton, who beat a defender to the rim and dunked emphatically with two hands. Overton then knocked in a jumper and Porter banked in a layup on a long throw-ahead from Jones.
After all that, Scott Blakney ended Montana’s field-goal drought with a score in the paint — and that made it 51-31 with 11 minutes left. It ended a Weber State streak of 21-4 out of halftime.
Not long after that, the game devolved into a free-throw contest. Bassett and Whitney each eventually fouled out and the Griz shot a whopping 24 free-throws in the second half. Beasley made a meaningless layup at the buzzer for Montana’s sixth field goal of the half (6 of 19) and, otherwise, UM got 18 of its 31 second-half points at the foul line.
The Griz shot 20 of 27 from the line, the Wildcats 15 of 22.
Montana made one last push when Josh Vazquez made it 60-48 with 2:50 left with a 3-pointer, only the team’s fourth triple and first since the 14-minute mark of the first half. Seikou Sisoho Jawara answered with his only make on an otherwise tough night, swishing home a smooth, stepback 3 to answer and effectively put the game away.
The game paid back last year’s stunning quarterfinal when Montana somewhat convincingly upset No. 2 WSU to end what was a 17-5 season to that point.
“It’s one of those feelings you don’t forget. We don’t have to say it, but it gives you an extra battery in your back,” Jones said. “When you put so much into the season, you want to reach the top every time you go. So losing in the first round was tough … we fought hard to get back to this moment.”
It was WSU’s first win over Montana in the tournament since the 2016 title game.
“It’s no secret, they’ve been their nemesis,” WSU head coach Randy Rahe said. They’re always good, we’re always pretty dang good, too, but they’ve got the best of us, there’s no doubt.
“But I didn’t even think about that getting these guys ready to play. We just knew this was our next basketball game, knew that they had a good basketball team … just stay in the present and get our team ready to play. Our guys were really ready to play today. We defended really, really well.”
Sisoho Jawara shot 1 of 8 while all other Wildcats were a scorching 24 of 38 — though that triple was the only one not made by Jones, who had two.
McEwen finished with 17 points for WSU. Overton had 10 points and six rebounds, and Porter added six points. Reserve center Alex Tew had five points and one rebound in 20 minutes, logging a team-high plus-14 in the plus-minus ledger.
Jones shot 7 of 8 from the field, including 2 of 2 from deep, and 7 of 8 from the foul line.
Beasley, Whitney and Carter-Hollinger each scored 12 points for Montana, who shot 16 of 39 from the field. Second-team post player Josh Bannan did not score for the game’s first 28 minutes and was 1 of 8 from the field. He shot 9 of 10 from the foul line in the second half on the way to 11 points.
McEwen and Rahe said after the game that their defensive focus was making Bannan inefficient from the field and keeping Beasley from hurting them from behind the arc (he shot 2 of 6 from 3, the team was 4 of 14).
