MISSOULA — Aanen Moody wasn’t too happy with his free throw shooting Tuesday, so he returned to the court at Dahlberg Arena after the game.
The Montana senior put up extra shots after going six of eight at the charity stripe against South Dakota State. He had a special rebounder: his father, Dave Moody, an NAIA Hall of Famer who coached the Dickinson State volleyball team to the 2000 national championship.
“When I was really young and we’d lose a game or I didn’t have a good performance, he’d open up the college for me,” Moody recalled following the win. “I’d shoot free throws or 3-pointers, whatever I didn’t do well that day.
“That’s what we’d do until 1, 2 a.m. with school the next day. I’ve been doing this since about third or fourth grade. It’s funny to be 24 years old with two kids and my dad coming back here full circle.”
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Moody’s father and mother-in-law are in town to help with the recent birth of Moody’s second child, baby boy Kai, who was in attendance for the early part of Tuesday’s game before UM's offensive explosion made the arena too loud for him. That birth was why Moody missed two games last week, while an illness the week before meant it had been 17 days since he last played in a game.
The return of Moody and point guard Brandon Whitney, who had been sidelined with a right foot injury from Nov. 18-27, allowed all UM players to slot back into their natural positions. It was just the fourth time in nine games that the Griz had their starting lineup for a full game, and they put together their most complete performance in an 81-56 victory.
They improved their record to 4-5 after they had left three winnable games out there with either Whitney or Moody sidelined. Whitney had missed 2 1/2 games while Moody played, Moody missed two while Whitney played and they both missed the same game once.
With them back, the Griz posted their highest point total (81), most field goals (30) and best field goal percentage (56.6%). They also put up their second most 3-point makes (eight) and assists (15), and their third-best 3-point percentage (34.8%). It was just the second time UM eclipsed 64 points after it came in averaging 62.8 points, which ranked 331st in the country out of 363 teams. Both those times came with Whitney and Moody in the lineup.
“To come home and have three really good practices and then get your starting five on the floor and put everybody in their natural rotations, we finally got a chance to see what we’re capable of,” Montana coach Travis DeCuire said, later adding: “Those two guys give the rest of the guys confidence to do their jobs and do what they do.”
Whitney, UM's primary ball handler, scored or assisted on the Grizzlies’ first 12 points as they jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the opening 4:56. He showed his ability to get to the rim as their ball movement opened up the floor. He put up 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting in just his third game back. He had three assists as the Griz tallied 15, one off their season high, on 30 made field goals.
Moody, a Southern Utah transfer who came to UM to be closer to family, returned to the lineup after missing the past three games. He scored 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, made two of his five 3-point attempts and had a team-high four assists as the secondary ball handler. He entered the game as the Grizzlies’ top 3-point shooter. They made 8 of 23 attempts, with all eight makes coming in the first half as they built a 48-24 halftime lead.
“When you get side to side, you open up the floor,” DeCuire said. “We’ve got good enough shooting where they’ve got to respect that, especially when your post players can shoot. We’ve been holding onto the ball a little bit too long in our past games, and so we really spent a lot of time on pace. When the floor opens up, Brandon Whitney is going to be hard to contain.”
Forward Dischon Thomas, a Colorado State transfer, snapped the Griz out of a short cold spell as he hit back-to-back triples for a 27-14 lead after he had two steals in a three-possession stretch. He finished with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting and made three of his eight 3-point attempts. His first 3-point make came late in the shot clock, which was a rarity for UM as it has improved its pace.
Forward Josh Bannan grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and put up six points on 3-of-8 shooting as he's lessened his ball handling load with Whitney and Moody back. The Griz had a 34-23 edge on the boards, allowing them to get out in transition more often.
Thomas and guard Josh Vazquez both had two blocks as the Griz totaled seven. UM limited SDSU to 33.3% shooting from the field and converted 12 turnovers into 15 points. Matthew Mors led three SDSU players in double digits with 15 points.
“When me and Brandon (Whitney) play together, I think we put so much pressure on the defense,” Moody said. “I feel like offensively nobody can stay in front of us too. I think also defensively we're some of the more aggressive and physical guards in the conference. I feel like we’re the catalyst of our defense in that regard.
“But on a night like tonight where you have a post-heavy offense that SDSU ran, you have guys like DT (Dischon Thomas) and (Josh) Bannan that stepped up and they set the tone for the defense. It’s looking really promising for us both in the back court and the front court that whoever we match up against we’re going to have success.”