Montana set for first-ever matchup with Ole Miss

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Fresh off the team's first victory of the season – a 68-47 cruise past Oral Roberts at the Paradise Jam – The Montana Grizzlies (1-4) depart the U.S. Virgin Islands and head for the mainland for two stop-offs on the way back to Missoula.

The first stop sees the Griz land in Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels (4-1) of the SEC on Thursday. Both teams were at the Paradise Jam earlier this week but on opposite ends of the tournament bracket. The Rebels went 2-1 in the Virgin Islands, losing 86-77 in the championship game to No. 12 Creighton.

Montana and Ole Miss are scheduled to tip off at 2:00 p.m. MT on Thanksgiving Day. The game is set to conclude just as the turkey is coming out of the oven. As a holiday treat, Ole Miss is offering free admission to the game for fans hoping to attend.

Montana then concludes its nearly two-week road trip in Vermillion, South Dakota, on Sunday, Nov. 27, taking on the USD Coyotes (5-1) of the Summit League. Tip-off against the 'Yotes is set for noon MT.

WATCH/LISTEN: Griz fans around the nation can tune in to watch UM take on Ole Miss on SEC+, a division of the SEC Network. The game will also be streamed via the internet on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. Live stats are available at olemisssports.com.

Montana fans can also watch a web stream of the Montana/South Dakota game via goyotes.com. Live stats can also be found at goyotes.com.

"Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran re-joins the team in Oxford and will provide the call for both games statewide on the Montana Grizzlies Radio Network. The audio-only web stream can be heard at GoGriz.com.

GRIZ TRACKS: Redshirt sophomore guard Ahmaad Rorie has taken a leadership role on this young Grizzlies squad and was named Montana's nominee for Big Sky Player of the week after three games in the Virgin Islands.

Rorie was Montana's most consistently excellent player at the Paradise Jam, scoring 41 points over three games to lead UM to a 1-2 record at the prestigious tournament, with a dominant 68-47 win over Oral Roberts.

Rorie posted his tournament-high 16 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists against ORU. He also scored 10 points against Washington State and 15 points against North Carolina State along with three assists and two rebounds.

He is now the only Grizzly to be averaging in double figures after five games with 14.4 points-per-game.

True freshman Sayeed Pridgett is beginning to make a big impact for the Griz, now averaging 9.8 PPG, the second-highest mark on the team. Pridgett put in 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds in UM's win over Oral Roberts and had 12 points against NC State to build on is career-high 20 points he scored against Wyoming. He also earned the first start of his career at the Paradise Jam against Washington State.

Redshirt freshman and Billings native Jared Samuelson also continues to impress, earning his first career start against Washington State as well. Samuelson led the Griz in scoring against the Cougars with 14 and is averaging nine points-per-game now after putting down 15 against Wyoming.

Montana head coach Travis DeCuire has only varied his starting rotation once this season, with Samuelson and Pridgett getting the start against WSU over Lopez and Moorehead. Junior forward Fabijan Krslovic has started all five games this season and leads the Griz in career starts with 57.

Montana scored 42 points off the bench against Oral Roberts, the highest mark since February 11 against Southern Utah when the UM bench put in 34 points with help from 13 from Bobby Moorehead and 11 from Jack Lopez.

A big reason for those 42 points off the bench was senior shooting guard Brandon Gfeller who went 5-8 from behind the arc for a season-high 19 points, his highest total since Feb. 20 when he went 5-6 from the arc for 24 points against Montana State. He's now the Grizzlies' fourth-leading scorer this season, averaging 7.8 PPG.

This is the first-ever meeting between Montana and Mississippi. UM has only played six teams from the SEC in school history. The last time the Griz faced a SEC school was in DeCuire's first season at UM when Montana met Texas A&M in the first round of the NIT postseason tournament.

The only other SEC schools Montana has faced are Missouri (2004 & 1962), Mississippi State (1994) Kentucky (1997) and Auburn (2003). UM has never picked up a win in those games.

At the Paradise Jam, Ole Miss opened the tournament against Oral Roberts, needing overtime to defeat the Golden Eagles 95-88. Montana defeated ORU 68-47 three days later.

Ole Miss is led in scoring by junior guard Deandre Burnett, who is averaging 23.6PPG for the Rebels so far this season. All five of the Rebels starters are scoring in double figures, and are averaging 85.8 PPG as a team.

The Montana/South Dakota matchup is the return game of a home-and-home series that started in 2014 when the 'Yotes visited Missoula and left with a 67-62 win over the Griz. Montana is 3-1 over South Dakota all-time.

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Gfeller

Fabijan Krslovic

Jack Lopez

Bobby Moorehead

Sayeed Pridgett

Ahmaad Rorie

Jared Samuelson

University of Montana Athletics