Grizzlies spoil career nights by Idaho’s Allen, Quinnett

Idaho star Trevon Allen seemingly couldn’t miss, whether he had space to shoot or not, and neither could Moscow’s own Gabe Quinnett in the first half.

But career nights from the two in-state Vandals couldn’t propel the Idaho men’s basketball team past Big Sky Conference-leading Montana on Saturday at Cowan Spectrum.

The Grizzlies’ deep lineup, flawless passing in the paint and 57 percent shooting from the field resulted in an 82-71 victory.

“They’re in the first place for a reason,” Idaho interim coach Zac Claus said. “That’s a really good team.”

Idaho fell despite 36 points from Allen — surpassing his previous career-high of 29 — and 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range by Quinnett, a walk-on from Moscow High.

Allen, a Lapwai product via Clarkston High, came out on fire from the get-go. The senior guard scored his team’s first 11 points, and the Vandals led the Grizzlies 11-7 just over four minutes into the contest.

Then came the lights-out shooting by Quinnett off the bench. With the game tied at 15, the freshman hit three consecutive 3s — and four total in the first half.

“My teammates were really hyping me up for the game,” Quinnett said. “The energy in the building was ecstatic. I thought everybody was amped, I thought the crowd was really into it.

“That just kinda got me going.”

Fueled by Allen and Quinnett, Idaho (6-17, 2-10 Big Sky) took a 34-33 lead into halftime.

The start of the second half was more of the same in a game that had 13 lead changes and 10 ties, and the regional rivals were tied at 45 with 15:20 to play.

That’s when Mack Anderson took charge for the Grizzlies (14-10, 10-3). The sophomore from Bozeman had zero points in the first half but he exploded for 12 consecutive Montana points, including an old-fashioned three-point play and a thunderous two-hand jam. Add in a layup by Kendal Manuel, and the Grizzlies suddenly led 58-47.

That was Allen’s cue.

Allen went on an 8-0 run by himself, capped by a steal and fast-break layup to cut the lead back to three.

But that was as close as Idaho got in the final eight minutes.

Back-to-back dunks by UM’s Anderson and Manuel put the Grizzlies up again by 10 — 69-59 — with 4:40 to go.

Idaho was burned in the paint, where Montana outscored the Vandals 50-28. Much of the damage came from Anderson (15 points) and UM star Sayeed Pridgett. The senior guard tallied 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

“There is a reason he’s not only an all-league player, he’s arguably the MVP of the league,” Claus said of Pridgett. “He’s that good.”

Idaho shot 52.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3. Allen also tallied a 12-of-14 mark from the free-throw line. He drew nine fouls while committing zero fouls himself.

But the offensive performances by Allen, Quinnett and the Vandals wasn’t enough to out-pace the Grizzlies, who sent the 1,804 Idaho fans home disappointed.

After the game, a throng of fans lined up to receive autographs from Allen and Quinnett.

The game was “Tribal Nations Night” at Cowan, which held special importance to Allen. It included a halftime tribal dance exhibition and youth activities sponsored by Tribal Relations and the Native American Student Center.

“With it being my last Tribal Nations Night, that was a big factor — pretty important to me,” Allen said. “There were a lot of people in the stands I knew. A lot of that is motivation for why I do what I do.”

Not a Chance

Idaho guard Chance Garvin missed his sixth consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.

The last time the junior played? Idaho’s last game against the Grizzlies on Jan. 18 — a 67-63 loss.

Garvin is averaging 5.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 17 games (11 starts).

Up next

Claus is headed back to familiar territory Thursday when the Vandals take on Eastern Washington in Cheney (7:45 p.m., PlutoTV).

UI’s bench boss played two seasons for the Eagles and graduated from EWU in 1998.

EWU (16-7, 9-3) sits a half-game behind Montana in the league standings and is fourth in the nation in scoring offense with 82 points per game.

“I said it before we played them the first time, they’re the best passing team in the league,”Claus said. “We will get ourselves ready to go and get ready to take on the challenge Thursday night in Cheney.”

MONTANA (14-10)

Carter-Hollinger 2-3 2-2 6, Samuelson 2-4 3-3 7, Falls 1-5 2-2 4, Manuel 7-14 0-0 14, Pridgett 8-12 3-5 19, Vazquez 4-7 0-0 11, Anderson 6-8 3-3 15, Owens 1-1 0-1 2, Selcuk 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 32-56 15-18 82.

IDAHO (6-17)

Blakney 3-7 2-3 8, Forrest 0-0 0-0 0, Allen 10-17 12-14 36, Fraser 3-4 1-3 7, Thacker 0-3 0-0 0, Dixon 1-5 0-0 2, Quinnett 4-5 2-2 14, Thiombane 1-1 0-0 2, Wilson 1-1 0-2 2, Christmas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-44 17-24 71.

Halftime — Idaho 34-33. 3-point goals — Montana 3-11 (Vazquez 3-5, Falls 0-1, Samuelson 0-1, Manuel 0-4), Idaho 8-16 (Quinnett 4-5, Allen 4-6, Christmas 0-1, Dixon 0-2, Thacker 0-2). Fouled out — Blakney. Rebounds — Montana 27 (Pridgett 9), Idaho 22 (Blakney, Allen 5). Assists — Montana 10 (Pridgett 4), Idaho 10 (Allen, Dixon 3). Total fouls — Montana 17, Idaho 19. A — 1,804 (7,000).

Stephan Wiebe can be reached at swiebe@dnews.com, by phone at (208) 883-4624 and on Twitter at @StephanSports.