By BOB MESEROLL Missoulian sports editor
If the college basketball season can be viewed as a mountain climb, the Montana Grizzlies have at least established a base camp.
The Griz turned the ball over just 10 times, 16 fewer than in their exhibition opener against the University of Great Falls. Montana missed just three free throws in 19 attempts after missing 18 against the Argos. And the Griz outrebounded the Bulldogs 50-35 as compared to just 40-39 against UGF.
Those numbers, combined with 31 points from senior power forward Kamarr Davis, gave the Griz a solid effort in their final tuneup before opening with No. 25 Gonzaga on Nov. 21 in Spokane.
"What we've talked about is that steady climb, getting a little bit better each week," Montana coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "We've got a serious measuring stick next Sunday, then we're off and running."
Western (6-1), which came into the game shooting 36 percent from the 3-point line while making nearly 11 treys a game, shot just 5-for-29 from beyond the arc. Former Griz Matt Luedtke of Ronan finished with 21 points, but was just 3-for-12 from long range.
"It felt good to be out there, but I was a little anxious in the first half," said Luedtke. "They just really got after us and they were real physical."
Former Sacramento State and Montana State center Bo Segeberg scored 15 of his team-high 23 points in the first half to keep the Bulldogs close. His three-point play 1:12 before intermission pulled the Bulldogs within 42-34 at the break.
Virgil Matthews, a junior college transfer from Spanaway, Wash., and junior center John Seyfert had four points apiece in a 13-2 run to open the second half, giving the Griz a 55-36 cushion. Matthews started in place of Kevin Criswell, who sprained his right ankle in practice on Wednesday and was wearing a protective boot Friday. Criswell said he hopes to be ready by the season opener.
Matthews also did a good job while defending Luedtke.
"We challenged him this week to do that," Krystkowiak said. "He's going to get better as a defender, but he works really hard. He's in as good a shape as anyone on our team."
"I try to defend really hard," said Matthews, who had 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. "I try to do whatever I can to get on the court."
Guards Brian Lynch and Matt Martin, along with Matthews, did a good job of feeding Davis down low. He capped off his night with a one-handed jam on a nice touch pass over a defender from Martin. That bucket made it 78-59 and the Griz cruised from there.
Davis said he felt more of a burden to carry the scoring load with Criswell on the bench.
"A lot of it was our guards penetrating and their big man stepped up, and they didn't have any rotation," said Davis, who also led the Griz with 12 rebounds. "I just stepped in and got the layups."
Matt Dlouhy added 13 points and six rebounds for the Griz. Seyfert and Corey Easley had eight points apiece while splitting time in the post.
"We had a good week of preparation," Krystkowiak said. "We didn't take this team lightly. They're a good team. In fairness to them, they played last night ... and they're not a deep team. We had the energy that we needed."
Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or by e-mail at sportsdesk@missoulian.com
MONTANA-WESTERN (68)
Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts
f-Day 21 1-4 0-0 4 5 2 2
c-Segeberg 33 8-16 7-7 13 3 0 23
g-Hibbert 24 2-4 0-0 2 1 1 4
g-Luedtke 35 7-21 4-4 3 1 1 21
g-Graham 30 0-5 0-0 2 0 2 0
Palmer 31 2-6 0-0 1 2 1 5
Feenstra 22 5-11 2-2 7 2 3 13
Cornelius 2 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0
Hemphill 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 200 25-68 13-13 35 15 10 68
MONTANA (89)
Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts
f-Dlouhy 26 4-10 2-2 6 0 2 13
f-Davis 33 13-18 5-7 12 2 1 31
c-Seyfert 14 4-7 0-0 4 2 1 8
g-Matthews 32 4-11 4-4 9 0 8 12
g-Lynch 27 1-5 0-0 3 3 4 2
Martin 18 2-6 2-2 3 1 3 7
Strait 14 2-8 1-2 7 2 0 5
Farr 17 1-2 0-0 3 1 1 3
Easley 19 3-8 2-2 2 2 2 8
Totals 200 34-75 16-19 50 13 22 89
Halftime score: Montana 42, Montana-Western 34.
3-point goals: UM-W 5-29 (Luedtke 3-12, Feenstra 1-4, Palmer 1-5, Segeberg 0-1, Day 0-1, Hibbert 0-2, Graham 0-4), UM 5-22 (Dlouhy 3-7, Farr 1-1, Martin 1-5, Easley 0-1, Strait 0-1, Matthews 0-3, Lynch 0-4).
Turnovers: UM-W 14 (Graham 3, Luedtke 3, Segeberg 3), UM 10 (Martin 4).
Blocked shots: UM-W 5 (Day 3), UM 3 (Matthews, Seyfert, Strait).
Steals: UM-W 6 (Luedtke 2), UM 7 (Lynch 2, Dlouhy 2).
Officials: Andy Rios, Ruben Ramos, Shawn Cather.
Attendance: 3,040
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