BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's basketball team controlled the game for 35 minutes before the offense stalled in a 60-51 non-conference home loss against South Dakota School of Mines on Saturday night.
"That was a very disappointing second half of basketball after doing some nice things in the first half," MSUB head coach
Mick Durham said. "I didn't feel like anyone was on the same page offensively and defensively – and that includes myself."
The Yellowjackets (2-4, 0-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) led by as many as 15 points in the first half until the Hardrockers (2-4, 0-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) staged a second-half comeback with its defense. In the final four minutes of the game, MSUB went 0-of-8 from the field despite forcing two South Dakota Mines turnovers.
Damen Thacker set the tone early for the 'Jackets with his 19 points and six-steals – the latter of which was one shy of his collegiate best.
Carrington Wiggins added 13 points and six steals of his own, plus
Bilal Shabazz came off the bench to score 11 points and have a team-high seven rebounds.
QUICK HITS
- Damen Thacker and Carrington Wiggins scored MSUB's first 21 points
- Bilal Shabazz matched his MSUB career high with 11 points and set a new season-high with seven rebounds.
- Damen Thacker was the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game for stuffing the stat sheet with a 19-point, 6-steal, 5-rebound outing.
The Yellowjackets came up empty on their first seven possessions, but a pair of free throws from
Damen Thacker snapped the 'Jackets out of their funk. Thacker and Wiggins caught fire, going on a 19-0 run by getting any shot they wanted. Thacker knifed into the lane with an array of acrobatic layups, Wiggins finished tricky layups through contact and both guards harassed the Hardrocker guards in the early goings. As a whole, MSUB capitalized on seven of South Dakota Mines' 14 first half turnovers, which led to a 19-7 lead.
Nicholas Sebastiao nailed a corner three, then he flipped a nifty pass to a trailing
Bilal Shabazz for a transition dunk on the next play to help MSUB double up the Hardrockers, 26-13. Then, MSUB's bench kept South Dakota Mines at bay thanks to another bucket from Shabazz, until another 4-0 run from Thacker to close the first half gave the 'Jackets a 33-28 lead.
Wiggins opened the second-half scoring by splashing a three in front of a Hardrocker defender, then Wiggins found
Jimmy Brown underneath for his first two points of the night. The Hardrockers chipped away at MSUB's lead, yet Shabazz answered the call once more by scoring MSUB's next five points – first off working his way into the paint for a floater, and then for nailing a three at the top of the key to make the score 43-33 in favor of the 'Jackets. Although MSUB's offense stalled, Shabazz's extra hustle on the offensive glass led to another putback that gave MSUB a 45-38 lead with 11:20 to go.
Then the game unraveled.
The Hardrockers hit a three to pull within four, then Thacker's response put the visitors at bay momentarily. South Dakota Mines pulled within two by splitting a pair of free throws with 7:58 to go, then
Brent Finn's lone jumper of the night helped put MSUB ahead 49-45. Another South Dakota Mines three cut the lead to one, then Wiggins sank a pair of free-throws with 6:06 left. These ended up being MSUB's final points, as the Hardrockers outscored the 'Jackets 12-0 down the stretch, which included an 0-for-8 finish from the field from MSUB.
KEY STATS
- MSUB scored 24 points off 21 South Dakota Mines turnovers.
- South Dakota Mines outrebounded MSUB by a 38-33 margin.
- The Hardrockers outscored MSUB 32-18 in the second half, despite shooting 10-for-26 from the field.
- MSUB, by comparison, finished shooting 7-for-27 (25.9%) in the second half.
UP NEXT: MSUB begins Great Northwest Athletic Conference play by hosting Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington next Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Livestream and live stat links can be found at
the men's basketball schedule page on msubsports.com.
