Griz host Pirates in only exhibition of the season

Wednesday, November 2

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

Whitworth (exh.)

11/1/2016 6:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Montana Sports Information

WATCH/LISTEN | LIVE STATS

Montana officially begins the Road to Reno on Wednesday as the Griz play host to the Div. III powerhouse Whitworth Pirates out of Spokane at 7 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena.

It's the first and only exhibition game of the year for the Griz, who knock the lid off the regular season on Nov. 11 at USC against a Trojan team picked to finish seventh in the Pac-12 this season.

TICKETS FOR FOOD: Hey, you know that can of corn that you've had sitting in your pantry for the last few weeks? Instead of letting it collect dust, bring it, and four more like it down to the Adams Center to donate to the annual "Can the Cats" food drive and receive FREE entry into the Griz/Pirates exhibition game.

It doesn't even have to be canned corn. Donate any five non-perishable food items to the "Can the Cats" food drive and get free entry to the game.

You can also purchase season tickets, mini-packs and single-game tickets for the season ahead too. For more information visit GrizTix.com or call 1-888-MONTANA.

WATCH/LISTEN: You can tune in to hear the Griz take on the Pirates statewide on the Montana Grizzlies Radio Network. A live video and audio stream of the game can be found at GoGriz.com as well as live stats of the action.

GRIZ vs. PIRATES: There is a sense of familiarity with the Grizzlies and Pirates, and it's not just that they faced off against each other in last year's only exhibition of the year either.

Montana head coach Travis DeCuire and Whitworth head coach Matt Logie go back decades to when DeCuire was a high school standout at Mercer Island High School in Seattle. Logie was just a ball boy then, assisting his grandfather, legendary coach Ed Pepple.

The two crossed paths again when DeCuire returned to Mercer Island to coach the freshman team. One of those freshmen was Logie.

DeCuire is hoping that familiarity will help spark his Griz to a crisp start to the year as they prepare to embark on the most difficult schedule in program history. With familiarity comes the knowledge that Logie coaches a quality program, evidenced by the Pirates coming off a 26-2 season.

"This is a good game because it's a team (Whitworth) that runs offense and executes. They know how to find weaknesses in your defense, take advantage of them and force you to make adjustments. We need that early. We need to be forced to come out of timeouts and execute and play the game the right way as opposed to just come out and blow someone out by 50 doing all the wrong things," says DeCuire.

With only a handful of intrasquad scrimmages under their belts, the Griz will be looking to iron out the wrinkles against the Pirates, who UM defeated last year 83-64 in an exhibition.

Montana suffered a total of 13 turnovers in the annual maroon and silver scrimmage, and DeCuire believes a matchup against a strong opponent will help push his charges to clean up the mistakes ahead of the regular season.

"We need someone to come play against us with a sense of urgency. That's always a question mark for us early in the year. We're trying to play December basketball in November. It's very difficult to do with such a young group, so to bring in at team like this that's going to be hungry, energetic, will have fans with enthusiasm, it's going to be good for us."

One of the players Montana will be counting on to control the pace and possession of the game this season is Ahmaad Rorie, who will get his first official minutes as a Grizzly against the Pirates.

Rorie, who transferred from Oregon last year, thinks the Griz are in a good position to get the season off on the right foot as he prepares to take the court for the first game against someone other than Montana.

"The main thing to me is just the preparation. We just put in a lot of time, a lot of work on the details. We're going to have a lot of focus on that type of stuff," says Rorie.

"I'm real excited. It's been a year, year and a half since I've played, so it's been a long time. I've been waiting for this for a minute, so It's going to be fun."

Rorie will be just one of the leaders on this season's Griz team that is built with a nice blend of youth and experience.

Preseason all-Big Sky guard Walter Wright returns with his 13.2 PPG from last season. The Pirates will have nightmares of Wright from last season, when, in his first game as a Grizzly, he torched the visitors for 31 points.

Montana's depth at guard will be on full display against the Pirates as well, with seniors Brandon Gfeller, Mario Dunn, and sophomore Bobby Moorehead each looking to make an impact on the perimeter. Moorehead was one of UM's brightest spots during the maroon and sliver scrimmage, going 3-6 from behind the arc for 11 points, and Dunn netted nine as well.

While the Griz will miss Michael Oguine who is resting with a hand injury, true freshman Sayeed Pridgett has been filling Oguine's role as an attacking machine early this season and will be unleashed for Griz fans to see against Whitworth.

Griz fans will also get their first chance to see the Montana forwards in action in the post-Breunig era. UM big men Fabijan Krslovic, Gavin DeJong, Jack Lopez and Jared Samuelson each contributed four points each in the maroon/silver scrimmage, and will be key to Montana's rotation.

It's no secret however that Montana's backcourt will be a force to be reckoned with this year, though, and DeCuire expects a similar look from the Pirates, who favor a Big Sky-like, guard heavy rotation.

"They're more similar to a conference opponent, where there are four shooters on the floor," says DeCuire of the Pirates. "They aren't the biggest bunch, they do have a low post presence, but their deal is going to be three-point shooting, ball movement, ball screens, things that stretch your defense out."

Montana opens the season at home on Nov. 14 in the first game of a home-and-home series with the Wyoming Cowboys. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena.