MISSOULA, Mt. --- The Anteaters slid for its fifth straight loss, 86-68, Tuesday night in Dahlberg Arena against the University of Montana.

Defense was the name of the game with each side forcing bad shots and possessions early on. With the game tied at 13-13 through the first 10 minutes, the Grizzlies (7-4) turned on the pressure defense to create separation with a pair of three and stretching the lead to 29-18 with 5:30 left in the half Montana led by as much as 13 before Darrian Traylor sunk a three late in the half adding to his three rebounds in five first-half minutes to keep the deficit reasonable at 39-29 going into the half.

Montana picked up where it left off, however, with a 13-4 run to start the half riding the back of Jamar Akoh who had double-digit points in each half en route to a career high 23 points as the Grizzlies poured it on finishing the game shooting 52.5% from the field and putting the Anteaters (4-10) away, 86-68.

UC Irvine's offense could not deal with Montana's aggressive defense on a consistent basis finishing with few qualities possessions on the offensive end. John Edgar Jr. did tie a career high with 13 points, and four other Anteaters had at least nine points on the evening despite being beat on the boards, 37-29 on the evening.

"We got dominated tonight, and I'm disappointed in that," remarked head coach Russell Turner following the game. "I'm highly disappointed in our performance, and concerned I guess. It's one game and I don't want to make too much out of one game, but that concerns me tonight allowing Montana to shoot 52% and outrebound us. We got blown out and never really made this a close game. I thought we were ready to play, and the first few minutes of the game, we looked like we knew what we were doing, but when things aren't going well for us, we didn't show a lot of resilience or toughness."

The 'Eaters found bright spots on the free-throw line where UCI hit 74.1%, 20 of 27, including four players making at least five from the line. Anteater big men Tommy Rutherford (9pts, 6reb) and Brad Greene (9pts) were two of those free throw-shooters. Jonathan Galloway picked up a block for the 13th straight game before fouling out.

UC Irvine's road adventure forges on with a final non-conference matchup on Thursday, Dec. 21. UCI and Idaho meet up in Boise, Idaho for a neutral-site matchup in conjunction with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.