The Montclair State University men’s basketball team defeated the Utica University Pioneers 79 to 57 in the first round of the DIII NCAA tournament. The win was Montclair State’s first at home in the NCAA tournament in program history and their first time advancing past the first round since 2003.
After Kabrien Goss started off the game with a three pointer for Montclair State, Utica went on a 9-0 run, which was broken up by a three pointer from Kieran Flanagan. Another three-pointer from Jacob Morales tied the game at 9 to 9.
With 10 minutes to go in the first half, Utica led 15-11. On the next play, a three-point attempt by Montclair State hit the rim and came out. Montclair State’s Quantavious Rogers collected the rebound and then made a layup to bring Montclair State within two of the lead.
The teams went back and forth trading hoops for the next three minutes, then Utica pulled away with a 5 to 0 run, taking a 24-19 lead with 4:47 left to go in the first half. Morales then hit a trifecta to pull Montclair State within two of the lead. Utica answered with a layup from Liam Teague and Morales answered back with another three-pointer to make the score 26-25 in favor of Utica. Montclair State would take a 33-32 lead into halftime.
After Utica scored the first two point baskets of the second half, Montclair State went on a 10-0 run, giving them a 43-34 lead.
Utica broke up MSU’s run with a three pointer from Ryan McCardle. This would start a 9-0 run for the visitors. To the rescue for Montclair State came Mike Jackson who would hit a three to put his team up 52-43 with 11:53 to go in the game.
Montclair State started to pull away at the 10-minute mark of the second half. Kieran Flanagan made a layup to make it 55-45 then a dunk by Kunga Tsering got the crowd on its feet. A big three-pointer from Jackson put the hosts up 62-48 with 7:43 to go.
It was all Montclair State from that point forward. The Red Hawks cruised to a 79 to 57 win.
Montclair State may have won by double digits but in the first half they struggled to find their groove and shot 35%, but corrected that to 52% in the second half.
Montclair State head coach Justin Potts talked about what changed from the first to the second half.
The reality is we had to settle down a little bit. Our guys were a little tight. We try to say be in the moment, don’t let the moment be in you and we were a little tight early. I thought we got good looks in the first half. We got two guys that shoot the cover off the ball, Jake didn’t get many clean looks, I thought Mike got some ones that he normally makes. So it was really just a matter of staying with what we do. At this time of the year you’ve got to be yourselves, we’re not all of a sudden gonna stop shooting threes or playing fast. Then our guys did a good job of slipping some stuff, we were getting to the front of the rim, we got some slips there we got out in transition which made it a little bit easier. So it was really just a matter of settling in and continuing to try to be ourselves. These guys share the ball, we’re fifth in the country in assists. They continue to do that all day today and we give up good for great and it showed up a lot in the second half. – Head Coach Justin Potts
Montclair State graduate student Kieran Flanagan had a double-double with 10 rebounds and 10 points. After the game, he spoke about passing up shots to give more shots to his teammates.
Yeah I mean good for great, I love seeing my teammates score. We have two of the best shooters in the country so giving a shot up for them, it’s no problem because most of the time it’s going in and if it doesn’t I’m going to keep trusting them and they’re going to make the next one. – Kieran Flanagan
One of the keys to the win was Montclair State’s defense and they had 10 steals to Utica’s seven. Coach Potts described why that was a factor in the result of this game.
I just thought we were better connected in the press when the ball was going through the net. They don’t play a lot of guys so we kind of felt we could wear them down eventually and I thought our guys did a better job of being active in the first half. We had nine deflections we charted them and in the second half we had 18. We were able to be more active in the pressure. We go as #2 goes, he’s our heartbeat, he has been here for five years, he’s started every game in his career which is remarkable and he provided a spark early in that second half and I think guys fed off that. – Head Coach Justin Potts
On what it means to win the first NCAA tournament game at home in program history, Flanagan had this to say.
It’s great and in an atmosphere like this where we got all the support from fans, family, and the students around, they’re always here, they’re always supporting us, so it’s awesome for the school and everyone who came before us in this program, who’s given their all, worn this jersey, maybe they haven’t achieved the results but they’ve been helping us push forward to this day. – Kieran Flanagan
Montclair State will face Western New England in the second round on Saturday at 5:45 p.m.
