Griz clinch tourney bid with 81-66 win over Northern Colorado
Editors Note: Heh, I thought I'd toss this in there as some sort of retro homage to Danny Davis. I wrote this article for a class, so for a bit I had to pretend not to be the biased blogger who spent the entire game yelling from the student section. Enjoy.
With two games left in the regular season, the Montana Grizzlies—who were favored by the media to win the conference—had yet to clinch a spot in the Big Sky Tournament. Thursday night they kicked down the door with an 81-66 victory over the University of Northern Colorado.
"This is a game to clinch," said sophomore guard Cameron Rundles, "it doesn't matter if we're playing Duke or Northern Colorado, you have to be fired up because if we lose this game or lose Saturday, it's possible we don't make it into the tournament."
Rundles, who finished with 16 points in 21 minutes, was part of an overwhelming opening run that put the Grizzlies up by as many as 22 in the first half. After the game's opening 20 minutes, the Griz (14-14, 8-7) were on pace to score 96 points.
"I made some shots on Saturday [against Idaho State] in overtime and I was making some shots in warm-ups so I just thought, 'what the heck, I'm going to put some up and see what happens,'" Rundles said.
Early in the first half, it seemed as though no matter what the Griz did with the ball, it would end up going through the hoop. At one point, Ceylon Elgin-Taylor made a crisp pass to junior forward Kyle Sharp, who wasn't ready to receive it. The ball ricocheted of Sharp's flat hands right to Andrew Strait, who laid it up and in for a 20-4 advantage.
Both Rundles and head coach Wayne Tinkle credited Elgin-Taylor's play with getting the Griz going early. The junior point guard had 10 assists in the first half and finished with 8 points and 11 assists for the game.
"I knew he was getting guys involved," said Tinkle of Elgin-Tayor, "but then I saw the stat sheet at half-time and told him to go out and get 10 more in the second half...Maybe that was a mistake because we stopped running offense and it looked like he was just trying to make plays out there."
Things were rosy in the first half, but in the second Northern Colorado (12-16, 5-10) cut what was once a 26-point lead all the way down to 9 with a 26-9 run that stunned but didn't quiet the crowd.
"It's easy to come back, it's hard to come back and win," said Northern Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle, "I told my team I was proud of them for for about 6 minutes of this 40-minute game, but other than that I was really disappointed with our effort and execution. It's just disheartening."
On Saturday night, the Griz will bring a historic lineup into their match-up with first-place Portland State as senior guard Matt Martin's 7 points gives him 1,001 for his career. Jordan Hasquet and Andrew Strait—who along with Martin were part of the 2004 recruiting class—make this year's Griz team the first ever with three 1,000-point scorers.
"We all came in together and we're all in it together, it's pretty neat," Martin said. "The coolest part is that we all played on some really good teams."
Saturday night will be more than just Senior Night and the trio's first appearance as 1,000-point scorers. The Griz will have a chance to clinch the fourth seed in the tournament and a home game in the opening round with a win over Portland State, who blew out Montana State by 28 to ensure that the Big Sky Tournament would be held in the city of roses.
Coach Tinkle made sure that everyone knew there was still work to be done in the regular season.
"We'll see if we can send a message Saturday night...We've got bigger things in front of us and it starts with Portland State."
With two games left in the regular season, the Montana Grizzlies—who were favored by the media to win the conference—had yet to clinch a spot in the Big Sky Tournament. Thursday night they kicked down the door with an 81-66 victory over the University of Northern Colorado.
"This is a game to clinch," said sophomore guard Cameron Rundles, "it doesn't matter if we're playing Duke or Northern Colorado, you have to be fired up because if we lose this game or lose Saturday, it's possible we don't make it into the tournament."
Rundles, who finished with 16 points in 21 minutes, was part of an overwhelming opening run that put the Grizzlies up by as many as 22 in the first half. After the game's opening 20 minutes, the Griz (14-14, 8-7) were on pace to score 96 points.
"I made some shots on Saturday [against Idaho State] in overtime and I was making some shots in warm-ups so I just thought, 'what the heck, I'm going to put some up and see what happens,'" Rundles said.
Early in the first half, it seemed as though no matter what the Griz did with the ball, it would end up going through the hoop. At one point, Ceylon Elgin-Taylor made a crisp pass to junior forward Kyle Sharp, who wasn't ready to receive it. The ball ricocheted of Sharp's flat hands right to Andrew Strait, who laid it up and in for a 20-4 advantage.
Both Rundles and head coach Wayne Tinkle credited Elgin-Taylor's play with getting the Griz going early. The junior point guard had 10 assists in the first half and finished with 8 points and 11 assists for the game.
"I knew he was getting guys involved," said Tinkle of Elgin-Tayor, "but then I saw the stat sheet at half-time and told him to go out and get 10 more in the second half...Maybe that was a mistake because we stopped running offense and it looked like he was just trying to make plays out there."
Things were rosy in the first half, but in the second Northern Colorado (12-16, 5-10) cut what was once a 26-point lead all the way down to 9 with a 26-9 run that stunned but didn't quiet the crowd.
"It's easy to come back, it's hard to come back and win," said Northern Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle, "I told my team I was proud of them for for about 6 minutes of this 40-minute game, but other than that I was really disappointed with our effort and execution. It's just disheartening."
On Saturday night, the Griz will bring a historic lineup into their match-up with first-place Portland State as senior guard Matt Martin's 7 points gives him 1,001 for his career. Jordan Hasquet and Andrew Strait—who along with Martin were part of the 2004 recruiting class—make this year's Griz team the first ever with three 1,000-point scorers.
"We all came in together and we're all in it together, it's pretty neat," Martin said. "The coolest part is that we all played on some really good teams."
Saturday night will be more than just Senior Night and the trio's first appearance as 1,000-point scorers. The Griz will have a chance to clinch the fourth seed in the tournament and a home game in the opening round with a win over Portland State, who blew out Montana State by 28 to ensure that the Big Sky Tournament would be held in the city of roses.
Coach Tinkle made sure that everyone knew there was still work to be done in the regular season.
"We'll see if we can send a message Saturday night...We've got bigger things in front of us and it starts with Portland State."
Alright, I'm heading downtown. If you see me say hello. I will have 4 minutes of audio from Tinkle's postgame presser up by tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
- Colin
Congrats to Matt Martin on achieving the 1000 point membership.
Excellent work tonight GRIZ. The way all of you played together, Northern Colorado didn't stand a chance.
Gar and Jack,
You also get congrats for the nice job on doing your stats homework.
Gar,
I'm with you on hoping Martin gets the minutes needed to break the long ball record. The stats you listed were very interesting.
Jack,
The assist top 10 slipped by me. Thanks for pointing it out.
Just in case some of you missed Gar's and Jack's homework.
GAR'S HOMEWORK
Kevin Criswell, is the current Career three point record holder for the Griz. Criswell made 218 three pointers in 3664 minutes.
Matt Martin, is currently in second place for the Career three point record. So far, Martin has made 208 three pointers in 2653 minutes.
The surprising thing about this stat:
Kevin Criswell ... 3664 minutes
Matt Martin ......2653 minutes
TOTAL difference.. 1011 minutes
1011 divided by 40 minutes (40 mins is the length of a game) equals 25.275 FULL games.
It took Criswell 25 and a quarter more COMPLETE games to be just ten 3 point field goals ahead of Martin.
One can only imagine what Martin could have done in his four years, if he would have had a good coach for his last two years and an extra 25 and a quarter games worth of minutes.
JACK'S HOMEWORK:
Just like to point out one other milestone that happened tonight ... also belonging to Martin. Even with only 1 assist tonight, Matt moved into sole possession of 10 place on the Griz Career Assists list with 314.
I have to admit Gar, I am with your thought on Tinkle sabotaging Martin's chance to break the three point record. We have all seen how Tinkle treats Martin when Matt gets the hot hand, AKA, the last Portland State Game.
Your comments about Tinkle somehow sabotaging Martin are unfair. Look at the number of 3s he's had since Tinkle became head coach versus what he had during his 2 years under Larry K. Also, Criswell's game was quite different than Matt's. Matt is more pure shooter. Kevin C. is one of the greatest all around Griz ever.
Don,
I'll agree that Criswell was one of the all-time Griz best. I appreciated his game for four years.
I also think it unlikely that Coach T is trying to sabotage Matt's stats. There's nothing in it for him to do that. I do think, though, that for whatever reason, he doesn't appreciate the fire and competitive spirit Martin brings to the team. The way Martin has been used the last two years, he's never really into the flow of things. Sit! Shoot! Sit! Shoot! I think Matt's contribution and career have been amazing given how inefficiently he's been used the past two years.
Oh, and take a look at the career stats page at the gogriz.com site. Your belief that Matt's taking more 3's under Tinks than he did under Kyrsko just isn't borne out. Year for year, it's pretty much the same, adjusted for minutes played.
Jack, you beat me to the stats page.
I had just finished checking the stats page and was ready to post the following when I read your post.
PLAYED UNDER Coach LK
Criswell 04-05 & 05 06
3-point
attempts - 303
made - 110
36 percent made
PLAYED UNDER Coach LK
Martin 04-05 & 05 06
3-point
attempts - 270
made - 100
37 percent made
As far as Tinkle sabotaging minutes, I understand there is nothing for Tinkle to gain. It makes it even more despicable he would do it just to be petty.
I think Tinkle's actions show he is doing it.
Many people are nice, fair minded people who find it hard to believe someone would do something so reprehensible.
My father finds it hard to believe newspaper editors and TV anchors would dare put out a purposely misleading or false story.
I think he is being naive to believe there aren't people who do disgusting things for no rational reason.
So far Martin's play for Tinkle,
Martin 2006 thru 2008 to date
three point shots
Attempted shots .... 283
Made shots ......... 108
Made percentage .... 38 %
Martin played the Point for Krisko.
Martin plays shooting guard for Tinkle.
Martin should be taking A LOT more shots for Tinkle at the shooting guard position, he's NOT. As we can see, even at the shooting guard position, he has taken only 13 more than under Krisko as a point guard.
Ok..Gar and Sanchez
What have you been smoking ?
Did it even occur to you Martin is riding the pine because other players
are better ? even better three point shooters? it seems I commented earlier in the season that Stauds is the best pure shooter..and you guys thought I was crazy..who is looking crazy now? Take a look at the stats from the last 4 games for three.
Matt 4 for 27 14%
Ryan 13 for 25 52%
Matt does not seem to have a problem
with half the minutes..taking more shots..Thanks God Tink played him 15 min...or we might have lost !!
This is not a against Martin..actually I like his fire and dishing the last several games...but come on with the stats boys...it all is not a big plot against Martin.
Mark,
Do you ever actually watch basketball?
Do you think it matters at all to get warmed up?
Does getting into the flow mean anything to you.
I suppose you think a guy should shoot better if he comes in cold, plays for five minutes and just when he's get warmed up, he has to sit until he get cold and stiff again, and then comes back into the game and is supposed to be hot right away
?
Try the same ridicoulous Tinkle tactic on any player and watch his numbers drop.
Look at the numbers Martin put up at the beginning of the season in the Spokane Tournement when he was playing 30 to 35 minutes. We only lost to two ranked teams, and beat two other legit D-1 teams, NOT SAC STATE OR NO. CO.
Geez, Mark, get a clue.
I don't want to get into the whole Matt Martin argument because, frankly, I'm sick of it. Not a lot more to be said.
But on the topic of warming up, the Griz did make 7 of their first 11 three point attempts as a team last night. Jordo and Stads were ON from the get-go.
Not saying it's not important to get a feel for the game but it there is shoot-around and there is warm-up. It's not like no one is expected to make a three until they've played 5-10+ minutes.
- Colin
Jordo and Stads were ON from the get-go.
...........
That has happened like what .... once .... this year?
Getting warm and staying warm is of the utmost importance.
Plus, if Jordo and Stads were so hot, why didn't Tinkle pull them like he pulls Martin,(last Portland State game)? You know they could have gone wild and out of control.
Because Tinkle isn't out to get them. They're not part of the Matt Martin conspiracy.
It's not like no one is expected to make a three until they've played 5-10+ minutes.
***********
Shooting around and doing lay-ups before a game without anyone guarding you, isn't quite the same as real time game intensity and adrenaline rush.
It appears Tinkle isn't willing to experiment with your warm up theory on anyone except Martin.
ok..guys.
I thought I would buy into your
warm up theory and see if it works.
Since Stauds averaged limited minutes
last year..He should have had a very
poor three % also...Well WRONG in Conf. play he shoot 50% from three !
I hope Martin and Strait have HUGE games tonight for senior night !! (if not it is a big plot by the coaches)
GO Griz...all of them !
CORRECTION: to - ok..guys
Conference only ... buy cutting off half the actual season, you are purposely trying to mislead. In the real world, that is called lying.
FULL SEASON 06-07
Last year, without getting to warm up much, Stauds shot .377 % from the field and .373 % from 3 point land.
This year, without getting much warm up, Martin is shooting .435 from the field and .388% from 3 point land.
Isn't that something, the numbers are similar, however, Martin's are still better than Stauds under those similar warm up conditions.
Shawn Stockton and his ferris high team is playing tonight for the washington 4a big school championship. The game is live on FSN AT 8PM. STOCKTON is the starting point guard and last years tourney mvp. He is the straw that stirs the drink for this team. The true leader and winner for them and buy the way they have won 58 games in a row. I will be listening to the griz game and watching stocks on tv at the same time. There really is a basketball heaven. GO GRIZ GO STOCKS.
Mtgrizguy,
I'll also be watching the 4A Final. this is the first time in 5 years I haven't made at least three full days of the tourney. Normally, I would be at the Tacoma Dome right now, but I've been fighting a killer cold. So, instead of being camped under the bucket at the open end of the court, I'll be watching the 4A game on TV, listening to the radio stream of the Griz game, trying to keep track of UW vs. Cal on gametracker.
Keep your eye on Aaron Broussard of Federal Way. I've been watching him for the past three years. If there's a high school kid in Washington with more competitve spirit, more will to win, and more willingness to do what it takes to do that, I haven't seen him.
Ferris is a great team. I saw them last year. Decasto is an amazing ball player, so is Stockton. Federal Way is a talented ... but not very big ... team that I've seen win an amazing number of come-from-behind games. They've had to "play-in" every year to even get to the district tourney. I've never figured out why. They seem to be able to play at an unreal level at times, and then at other times just look like it doesn't matter to them. FW does have one tall kid, Dan Young who's 6'10" and has game, but FW is primarily a run and gun team. He's probably the only huge kid with talent in the state of Washington who's fighting for every minute he gets.
Anyway, I think it will probably be a good game. I'm kind of pulling for FW because I know them better than Ferris, although it's hard to go against a team that's 58-0, with 4 of those W's being in last year's state tourney.
Enjoy the games, Mtgrizguy. You too, Colin, Mark, Gar, Sanchez, and Don.