Back on track: Senior Kamarr Davis scores 23 as Griz climb above .500 mark

Kamarr Davis is back, and the Montana Grizzlies couldn't be happier.

Davis scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to guide the Griz to an 80-72 Big Sky Conference men's basketball win Thursday night in front of 3,815 fans at Dahlberg Arena.

The win pushed the Griz to 11-10 overall, the first time they've been better than .500 since December of 2003. At 5-3, the Griz are alone in third in the Big Sky, one game behind second place Montana State and 1fi games back of league-leading Portland State. Both the Cats and the Vikings posted wins Thursday night.

Davis, the senior power forward who missed 10 games because of an academic suspension, was 10-for-13 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range.

Davis had plenty of help. Sophomore Matt Dlouhy scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half as the Griz were quick out of the gate, and freshman Andrew Strait was 6-for-7 from the field to finish with 14. Fellow frosh Matt Martin added 10 points, seven assists and just one turnover.

The Griz used two quick bursts to turn a 35-32 halftime lead into a 58-42 bulge midway through the second half.

The first 7-0 run featured a less-than-artistic drive, then a trey by Martin to make it 47-36 with 16:13 to play.

Davis had seven points in a 9-0 run that ended with a steal and a layup by Kevin Criswell, giving the Griz the 16-point lead.

"I feel like I'm back to 100 percent now," Davis said. "I'm playing good, I'm playing hard, just trying to give my teammates a lift."

Davis was suspended for Montana's 76-62 loss to the Wildcats last month in Ogden.

"Kamarr Davis took over the game offensively in the second half," Weber State coach Joe Cravens said. "He gives them a whole different very effective option. They were a perimeter shooting team, then all of a sudden you give them a big, strong inside body. It makes them 23 points better, at least it did tonight."

Both Davis and Strait got a lot of their inside work done against 6-foot-10 Weber center Lance Allred. Allred finished with a quiet 14 points and eight rebounds.

"I know I can shoot over him because he doesn't really elevate," said Davis, who's averaging 22 points in the last three games. "He really doesn't try to block shots - he just keeps his hands up - so when I elevate, I can see the rim.

"Andrew just does a good job of using angles to get to the backboard so he can get layups."

Weber (3-6, 8-13) used 10-for-19 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc to stay in touch with the Griz. Brett Cox had all 11 of his points in the first half, nailing three timely 3-pointers. Coric Griggs led the Wildcats by scoring 16 of his 18 in the second half, connecting on four treys.

The Griz shot 52.6 percent from the field, Weber State was 52.1.

"There wasn't a whole lot of defense being played by either party," Montana coach Larry Krystkowiak said.

That said, the Griz used their half-court trap effectively, forcing 19 turnovers by the Wildcats while collecting a season-high 11 steals.

"That half-court trap helped us as much as anything," Krystkowiak said. "We've got a lineup with certain guys who like to play that half-court trap. It revs our guys up and kind of puts us on edge. Typically, you're the aggressor when you're doing that."

Montana's earlier loss to Weber State was marked by a lack of energy by the Griz, especially early. Dlouhy made sure there wasn't a repeat.

Dlouhy scored Montana's first six points on a pair of treys, then added a third to put the Griz up 16-15 with 12:46 left in the first half. Montana never trailed again.

"He's a guy who really turns it up come game time," Krystkowiak said of Dlouhy, who tied with Davis and Virgil Matthews for team-high honors with five rebounds. "He's probably the leader of our team at how much better he gets when the popcorn starts popping."

The Griz host Idaho State on Saturday. Tip-off is two hours earlier than normal at 5:05 p.m. because the game will be televised by Altitude Sports. The Bengals fell 71-54 Thursday at Montana State.

WEBER STATE (72)

Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts

f-Riggs 23 7-8 0-0 0 3 0 18

f-Goodell 31 5-11 0-0 6 5 0 12

c-Allred 34 6-12 2-2 8 3 1 14

g-Jenkins 35 2-4 4-4 2 4 7 8

g-Cox 33 3-7 2-2 1 4 1 11

Silveira 18 0-1 0-0 3 3 2 0

Emadi 8 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0

Stovall 16 2-4 4-4 1 0 1 9

Barisic 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 200 25-48 12-12 24 22 13 72

MONTANA (80)

Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts

f-Dlouhy 34 6-11 0-0 5 2 2 16

f-Davis 35 10-13 1-2 5 3 1 23

c-Seyfert 10 0-6 1-2 2 0 0 1

g-Criswell 27 2-6 3-3 3 3 4 7

g-Martin 27 3-9 2-2 3 2 7 10

Matthews 19 2-2 2-4 5 0 2 6

Thierry 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Lynch 12 1-2 0-0 1 2 0 3

Strait 18 6-7 2-3 4 0 1 14

Farr 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Easley 14 0-1 0-0 1 3 1 0

Stapleton 1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0

Totals 200 30-57 11-16 29 16 18 80

Halftime score: Montana 35, Weber State 32.

3-point goals: WSU 10-19 (Riggs 4-4, Cox 3-5, Goodell 2-6, Stovall 1-2, Jenkins 0-1, Silveira 0-1), UM 9-16 (Dlouhy 4-6, Davis 2-2, Martin 2-5, Lynch 1-1, Criswell 0-2).

Turnovers: WSU 19 (Goodell 7, Stovall 6), UM 13 (Criswell 6).

Blocked shots: WSU 5 (Allred 2), UM 1 (Davis).

Steals: WSU 3 (Goodell 2), UM 11 (Criswell 3, Matthews 2).

Officials: Robert Holloway, Jeff Wooten, Tom Spitznagel.

Attendance: 3,815

Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or by e-mail at sportsdesk@missoulian.com.

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