The Montana Grizzlies men's basketball team fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 63-50 on Tuesday evening at the Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia.
Sophomore Kyle Owens continued his hot start to the 2020 season, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds for the Griz. Brandon Whitney added 10 points, while Eddy Egun came off the bench and knocked down three 3-pointers to spark the Griz in the first half to finish with 11 points.
Michael Steadman led UM (0-4, 0-2 in league) with eight rebounds and three blocks while Cam Parker racked up five assists for the Griz.
Georgia struck quickly, scoring three times in the first 1:08 and grabbing a 15-2 lead 3:41 into the game as the Bulldogs used their quickness and up-tempo style to great effect out of the gates. But behind Egun's 3-point shooting -- all three of which came in the first half -- the Griz got within 23-20 with 6:39 left in the first half. UGA ultimately went into the break up 32-24.
A Whitney free throw got Montana within five to start the second half, but that was as close as Montana got as Georgia's defense continued to clamp down despite its own offensive woes. The Bulldogs led by double digits from the 16:34 mark in the second frame through the rest of the contest.
Montana was held to 35.3 percent (18 for 51) from the field and 5 for 15 (33.3 percent) from deep against the Bulldogs. Montana also turned it over 20 times, with Whitney (six), Parker (five) and Josh Bannan (four) combining for 15 of those. Steadman also had three turnovers.
However, the Griz did force 18 Georgia turnovers as Whitney grabbed two steals. Georgia out-rebounded UM 49 to 30, including an 18-to-3 advantage on the offensive boards. Montana also went 9 for 10 from the free throw line compared to Georgia's 4-for-9 showing.
Georgia finished the game shooting 27 for 68 (39.7 percent) from the field and 5 for 23 (21.7 percent) from deep. Toumani Camara led UGA with 15 points, 17 rebounds and three steals. Andrew Garcia added 13 points and two blocks, while Justin Kier tallied 12 points but had six turnovers for the Bulldogs, who improved to 4-0.
Per a release from UM, Montana has added a home non-conference game with Billings' Yellowstone Christian College that is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena. It will be Montana's first home game of the season.
Notes: Montana mid-season transfer Darius Henderson made his Grizzly debut against the Bulldogs on Tuesday. Henderson transferred to UM last winter from UMass Lowell and became eligible to play at the conclusion of the 2020 fall semester. Henderson played just three minutes, missing his lone shot attempt, a 3, and grabbed one rebound while committing two personal fouls. ... For the second straight game, Montana was without sophomore forward Derrick Carter-Hollinger and grad transfer guard Cameron Satterwhite, both of whom started in UM's first two games. ... Tuesday's game reunited UM coach Travis DeCuire with former Montana State coach Brian Fish. Fish, who coached the Bobcats from 2014-19, went 1-9 against DeCuire in their meetings in the Cat-Griz rivalry. Fish is currently the Director of Player Development on Tom Crean's staff at UGA.
