MISSOULA, Mont. – Idaho men's basketball started off on a sour note and clawed its way back into the game, but for the second straight road contest, the plays weren't there late in the game in a 57-52 loss at Montana Thursday.

Idaho (1-2) shot just 21.4 percent in the first half and, despite dominating the second 20 minutes, couldn't climb out of the hole. Montana (2-1) build its early lead with an assault from the 3-point line after hitting seven of their 12 attempts in the first half.

“It was a rough-and-tumble game,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “It was a well-played game on both ends. You can't take anything away from Montana, they're a good basketball team in the Northwest.”

It was the second game in a row between the two teams that came down to a last-second shot attempt, and the result was identical, as senior guard Deremy Geiger's 3-pointer with less than a second remaining came up short.

Idaho outshot Montana, with a 34.7 (17-49) percentage overall and a 28.6 (4-14) clip from 3-point range. The Griz went 18-of-57 (.316) overall and 8-of-19 (.421) from 3-point range. Idaho held a 44-36 rebounding edge, but the Vandals also turned it over 15 times, while the Griz gave it up just eight.

All it took was a few defensive miscues, offensive rebounds and late fouls, and the team wasn't able to complete the comeback. Verlin said the key moving forward will be for the team to learn from those mistakes and work to correct them when those situations arise again.

“Those are the plays we've got to make if we're going to win a game like this on the road against a good team,” Verlin said. “It comes down to boxing out and getting rebounds, working on your defensive assignments and doing the little things. You have to come up with those plays, and we weren't able to.”

The Vandals found themselves in a position to fight for the win after opening the second half on a 15-4 run and pulling within 38-34 after trailing at the half by a 34-19 margin. The teams battled within single digits for the remainder of the half to set the stage for the finish.

The key moment late in the game came when a Geiger triple pulled the Vandals within one at 48-47, with 5:15 remaining. The Vandals missed three straight free throws on their next two possessions, while Montana hit three shots in a row for a 7-1 mini-run that extended the lead back to seven points with 3:28 remaining.

Sophomore guard Stephen Madison battled foul trouble early in the game and went scoreless in the first half, but rebounded to score all of his 14 points after the break on 5-of-5 shooting in the second half. Junior center Kyle Barone was a force in the paint on both sides throughout the game, as he posted 12 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high seven blocks.

For the Griz, guards Will Cherry and Kareem Jamar led the way with 24 and 13 points, respectively, on combined 13-of-31 (.419) shooting, including a combined 7-of-12 (.583) from 3-point range. Cherry also registered a double-double with 11 rebounds.

While he wasn't happy the team was in the situation to begin with, Verlin did say he was glad to see the team respond positively after struggling so mightily in the first half.

“Last year, when we got in this situation, we didn't respond, and this year we did,” Verlin said. “Our guys played really hard and showed fight in the second half. You take some positives, but the bottom line is which column it goes in, and this one went in the wrong column.”

The Vandals couldn't buy a bucket in the first half, and the Griz opened the game with a 13-4 run, primarily on the heels of two 3-pointers by Jamar and another from Cherry. On the flip side, Idaho missed seven of its first eight shots and turned it over twice in the first five minutes.

“Not a very good first half for the Vandals – I felt like no one got in the flow in the first half,” Verlin said. “We were able to make some adjustments in the second half to work what we needed to do, but that first half was unacceptable, for the coaching staff and the players.”

Montana stretched its lead as high as 17 points with a 27-10 edge at the 4:20 mark after an 11-2 run. Barone ended the stretch with a high-flying put-back dunk, but the Vandals couldn't clip the lead and went into the half facing a 34-19 deficit.

Idaho returns to action in six days when they host a neutral-site game on Wednesday, Nov. 23, against Lewis-Clark State at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho. That game will tip off at 6:05 p.m. (PDT).