Montana has key Big Sky game at Sac State Thursday
3/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2014
THE GAME: The University of Montana Grizzlies (11-7/16-11) conclude their Big Sky Conference schedule on the road with two games, starting with the Sacramento State Hornets (9-9/13-14) in yet another crucial league game, Thursday, March 6. Tip-off is at 8:05 p.m. in The Nest (1,200).
NEXT?: The Griz conclude their regular-season slate at Northern Arizona on Saturday, March 8. The Big Sky's post-season tournament is March 13-15 in Ogden, Utah,
RADIO: Tom Schultz calls the play-by-play on Montana's flagship station, KGVO 1290 AM/ & 101.5 FM, and the Grizzly Radio Network from Learfield Sports (listed on add 4).
TV: There is no TV coverage of the game. AUDIO STREAMING: gogriz.com/all-access.
LIVE STATS: vikslive.statb.usviksmobile.com
VIDEO STREAMING: www.watchbigsky.com.
EARLIER THIS SEASON:
At MONTANA 82, SAC STATE 70: Junior guards Jordan Gregory and Keron DeShields combined for 37 points and senior guard/forward Kareem Jamar added 14 to lead the Griz. Gregory scored a game-high 20 points and DeShields tallied 17. UM junior forward Chris Kemp had a career-highs of 10 points and 7 rebounds .
Junior forward Zach Mills led the Hornets with 14 points, while junior guard Mikh McKinney scored 11, and senior forward Jordan Salley added 10 points and grabbed 6 boards off the bench. The Griz led 37-27 at halftime.
COACH TINKLE SECOND IN CAREER WINS AT MONTANA/SIXTH IN BSC HISTORY: Head Coach Wayne Tinkle's 157 wins rank him second in school history, as he passed Mike Montgomery, who had 154 career wins in eight seasons from 1979-86. Tinkle's 157 career wins rank him sixth in Big Sky history. (See add 2-2-2).
JAMAR FIFTH AT UM/16TH IN THE BIG SKY IN CAREER POINTS/ FOURTH AT UM/19TH IN THE BSC IN CAREER ASSISTS: Jamar's 1,628 career points rank him up to fifth all-time at Montana, and he's now 16th in scoring in Big Sky history. Jamar's 399 career assists move him up to fourth all-time at UM, as he passed former teammate Will Cherry (397, 2010-13). He's ranked 19th in league history in career assists.
MONTANA GRIZZLIES (11-7/16-11)---------PPG--RPG--MISC.
C-45-Eric Hutchison, 6-9, 243, Sr., 3V--3.9--2.0--52.4 FG%
G-1-Mario Dunn, 6-0, 171, Fr., HS--6.6--2.6--55.7 FG%
G-10-Jordan Gregory, 6-2, 194, Jr., 2V--13.7--3.1--87.0 FT%
G-15-Keron DeShields, 6-2, 177, Jr., 2V--12.3--2.7--50.2 FG%
G/F-32-Kareem Jamar, 6-5, 207, Sr., 2V--19.3--5.7--4.2 apg
6-33-Mike Weisner, F, 6-7, 193, Jr., 2V--8.3--2.6--47.4 3PT%/94.4 FT%
6-41-Andy Martin, C, 7-0, 222, So., 1V--2.3--2.0--51.1 FG% & 17 blocks
6-24-Chris Kemp, F, 6-7, 236, Jr., JC--2.8--2.2--58.5 FG%
Head Coach: Wayne Tinkle (Montana, 2005/157-89, 8th year at UM)
SAC STATE HORNETS (9-9/13-14)----------PPG--RPG--MISC.
F-20-Zach Mills, 6-5, 215, Jr., JC--6.9--3.6--42.0 3PT%
F-34-Alex Tiffin, 6-9, 235, Jr., TR--4.3--3.2--48.5 FG%
G-2-Cody Demps, 6-4, 200, 1V--7.6--4.1--27 starts
G-5-Dylan Garrity, 6-2, 175, Jr., 2V--12.9--1.7--44.4 3-PT% & 81.9 FT%
G-10-Mikh McKinney, 6-1, 175, Jr., 1V--16.5--3.6--82,3 FT%
6-22-Jordan Salley, F, 6-6, 230, Sr., 1V--6.3--3.3--63.1 FG%
Head Coach: Brian Katz (Sac State, 1980/6th season at Sac: 55-116)
SERIES: The Griz lead 35-5. Montana has won the last 14 in a row.
OF NOTE: The Hornets are 10-1 at home overall and 7-1 at home in Big Sky games. Their sole setback was 68-64 to Portland State in overtime.
QUOTING COACH Wayne Tinkle:
ON SAC: "They really are very talented. Coach (Brian) Katz has really done a good job of staying patient over the years and building his program. They play a very disciplined style of basketball. At home they are very dangerous. We know we are going in there when they are playing for their playoff lives, and we know we are going to get a great game out of them. Their two keys are guards (Dylan) Garrity and (Mikh) McKinney, but they also have some guys underneath who can jump up and bite you, with (6-5 forward Zach) Mills and (6-6 forward Jordan) Salley off the bench. They're bigs are playing better, so it's going to be a real challenge.
"At home they like to pressure up a little bit more defensively, and try to get you in a hurry. They want to get up and down the court a little bit. They'll mix in some three-quarter court stuff, back zone. But we need to make them play in the half-court there. We'll throw some three-quarter (defense) stuff at them maybe, and a little zone, and see what shakes out."
ON GRIZ & MSU WIN: "That (the Griz-Cat contest) was an ugly game, but you know at this time of year you do whatever it takes to get the win. We didn't shoot it well, but we defended for the most part and did some good things. But, when you look at the second half (of UM's conference season), I am really proud of our guys and they way they've pulled together and found a way to get some momentum here late in the season."
