Griz look for second Big Sky win at Southern Utah

LIVE STATS | NOTES | WATCH | LIVE TWEETS

The Montana Grizzlies (6-6, 1-0 BSC) pop the cork on 2016 in Cedar City, Utah, seeking its second Big Sky Conference win in as many games against the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah (3-8, 1-0 BSC) on Saturday, Jan. 2. Tipoff from Centrum Arena is set for 7 p.m.

THE GAME: Both teams are looking to ride the momentum of big wins to open Big Sky play on Thursday, with the Griz taking a 90-84 double-overtime win over Northern Arizona, and the T-Birds defeating Montana State 93-82 in Cedar City.

WATCH: Fans around the world can watch UM take on SUU via web stream for FREE at watchbigsky.com. Fans sate wide can listen live via the Montana Grizzlies Radio Network, or tune in world wide via live audio stream at gogriz.com.

Fans on the move can also follow the Grizzlies' official Twitter account for live updates @UMGRIZZLIES_BB.

SERIES HISTORY: The Griz lead the all-time series with Southern Utah 10-5.

LAST MEETING: The Grizzlies escaped an upset bid by the Thunderbirds in Missoula last season, sending SUU home with a narrow 58-56 loss. The Grizzlies made only two of its last seven free throw attempts in the final 41 seconds, and a game winning three-point shot at the buzzer from T-Bird guard A.J. Hess just missed off the back of the rim to give the Griz the victory. See highlights from that game HERE.

BIG SKY RAMIFICATIONS: The Thunderbirds' upset win over Montana State puts them at 1-0 in Big Sky play and into fourth place in the conference standings. The Griz currently sit in second on the Big Sky table behind Idaho. A win over the T-Birds would keep them near the top of the table, with the Vandals on the road facing Northern Colorado, who themselves upset Eastern Washington on the opening day of Big Sky play.

GRIZ TRACKS: Montana broke the school record for most three pointers in a game on Thursday at NAU, draining 18 shots from behind the arc. The previous school record was 16, set in 2002 against Portland State.

Brandon Gfeller found the rhythm he'd been searching for, shooting a career-high 24 points against NAU on 8-13 behind the arc.

Despite a 90 point outing against NAU, the Grizzlies rank last in the Big Sky in scoring offense at just under 68 points per game, but maintain the second best scoring defense in the league, holding opponents to 64 points per contest.

The Grizzlies have been searching for the shooters touch from the three-point line, and seem to have found it at NAU. Montana ranks eighth in the league on threes made, averaging 7.2 per game.

SCOUTING THE T-BIRDS: Southern Utah has three players averaging in double figures scoring, with senior guard Travon Langston leading the way at 13.4 points per game, followed by sophomore guard James Mcgee with 12.8 and junior guard Trey Kennedy with 12.

The T-Birds have the eighth best scoring offense in the Big Sky, averaging just over 71 points per game, but have allowed over 82 points per game defensively. Free throws are a strong suit of the t-birds, shooting a league-best .739 from the charity stripe

Rebounding will be a point of focus for SUU against Montana, but bring to the contest the worst offensive rebounding percentage in the Big Sky with .242, and the ninth best defensive rebounding percentage in league at .675. The Griz rank third in that category at .746.

UP NEXT: The Griz return home for a two-game home stand next week against Portland State on Thursday 1/7 and Sacramento State, who are off to the best start in program history, on Saturday, 1/9. Tickets for both contests are available at Griztix.com.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brandon Gfeller

University of Montana Athletics