Montana hosts two key Big Sky games this week
2/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THE GAME(S): The University of Montana Grizzlies (16-7/8-3) continue their Big Sky Conference slate at home this week, starting with the Sacramento State Hornets (6-16/3-8) Thursday, Feb. 8, in UM's Dahlberg Arena (7,321/press row: 406-243-4281) in a 7:05 p.m. game.
RADIO: UM's flagship station is KGVO Radio (1290 AM). The "Voice of the Grizzlies" Mick Holien calls the play-by-play for his 18th season in a row, and Greg Sundberg provides color commentary.
TV: There is no TV slated for the Griz-Hornet game. Streaming is available on BigSkyTV.org.
THE FIRST MEETING EARLIER THIS SEASON (JAN. 8TH): Montana 68, at Sacramento State 52: Senior center Brian Qvale had game-highs of 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks, and sophomore guard Will Cherry added 18 points and dished out 7 assists. Griz junior forward Art Steward added 13 points. Cherry hit a three-pointer with three seconds left until halftime to give the Griz a 32-31 lead at intermission, and Montana led the rest of the game. The Hornets stayed close throughout the second half, but the Griz outscored the Hornets 15 to 2 in an eight-minute second half run, and jumped to a 19-point (61-42) lead with 4:47 to go and cruised to the victory.
GRIZ 17TH IN MID-MAJOR POLL: Montana is now 17th (from 14th) in the most recent (Feb. 7) CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. St. Mary's (20-4) moved from second to first in the poll and received 28 first place votes. (Top 25 poll on add 6-6-6 of this release).
QVALE BIG SKY'S ALL-TIME CAREER BLOCKS LEADER: Qvale is now the all-time leader in Montana and Big Sky history with 224 career blocks. Qvale broke the record of Daren Engellant who held the Montana and Big Sky records with 212 blocks (1988-92).
CHERRY, QVALE RANKED AMONG LEADERS: Cherry is ranked fifth in the nation in steals at 2.9 a game. Qvale is 10th in the country in blocked shots (3.1 a game) and eighth in field goal percentage (61.3%). (Griz in the top 100 in NCAA rankings on add 5-5-5).
QVALE BREAKS SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS RECORDS: With his three blocks at NAU last Saturday, Qvale set a Griz single-season record with his 72nd of the season. He passes Engellant who had 71 blocks in the 1990-91 season. Qvale's 72 blocks rank him fifth (tie) in Big Sky single-season history (Please see add 3-3-3).
CHERRY INJURED: Cherry was forced to leave the Weber State game due to an injury and did not play at NAU last Saturday. His playing status this week was unknown at press time.
GRIZ STARTERS/6th Men (16-7/8-3) PPG RPG MISC.
F-01-Art Steward, 6-4, 210, Jr., JC 8.9 3.8 Avgs. 10.5/4.5 in league
F-24-Derek Selvig, 7-0, 230, Jr., 2V 10.8 5.6 21/13 last 2 games
C-41-Brian Qvale, 6-11, 260, Sr., 3V 14.5 8.9 Leads Sky in rebs./blks
G-22-Shawn Stockton, 6-1, 195,Jr., 2V 3.1 1.7 Started last 8 games
G-5-Will Cherry, 6-1, 177, So., 1V 15.5 3.5 3rd in Sky in ppg
OR
G-32-Kareem Jamar, 6-5, 210, Fr., HS 6.8 4.6 10/5/5 at NAU
6-40-Mathias Ward, F, 6-7, 236, So., 1V 4.2 1.9 52.7 FG%
6-12-Jordan Wood, G, 6-3, 200, Jr., JC 4.2 1.9 Has 15 starts
6-0-Vaughn Autry, G, 6-2, 192, Fr., HS 2.1 0.8 10 points at WSU
Head Coach: Wayne Tinkle (86-60/47-28 Big Sky, 5th season at UM)
SAC STARTERS /6th Men (6-16/3-8) PPG RPG MISC.
F-32-John Dickson, 6-6, 185, So., 1V 11.3 4.3 Avgs. 14.4 ppg in league
C-25-Alpha N'Diaye, 6-8, 210, Jr., JC/RS 5.6 5.9 Has 8 starts
G-01-Sultan Toles-Bey, 5-10, 170, Sr., 1V 12.6 3.3 13/5/6 in PSU win
G-20-Walter Jackson, 6-5, 185, Jr., JC 5.6 3.9 52.3 FG% in league
G-22-Heath Hoffman, 6-3, 195, Jr., JC 5.0 2.1 Has 5 starts
6-33-Duro Bjegovic, F, 6-7, 245, Sr., 1V 8.7 5.5 11 rebs. vs. Vikings
6-24-Zach Nelson, F, 6-6, 215, Jr., JC 6.6 4.9 5 starts
6-11-Jackson Carbajal, G, 6-3, 1890, Fr., HS 6.8 2.8 9/4 vs. PSU
Head Coach: Brian Katz (17-64/3rd year at Sac State)
GRIZ-HORNET SERIES: Montana leads 29-5.
