Griz face Vandals in semifinal

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THE GAME: The No. 2 seed Montana Grizzlies (20-10, 14-4 BSC) and the No. 3 seed Idaho Vandals (21-11, 12-6 BSC) meet for just the second time this season in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals on Friday, March 11, with tipoff set for 8:05 p.m. PT (9:05 p.m. PT).

This game marks the Grizzlies' sixth appearance in the Big Sky semifinal in the last seven years.

COVERAGE: Fans can watch the action from Reno live and free of charge via web stream at watchbigsky.com. Links to live stats, a live audio stream, and a live twitter feed can be found at gogriz.com. Fans can also tune in to the statewide radio broadcast on the Montana Grizzlies Radio Network.

SERIES HISTORY: The Vandals lead the all-time series with Montana 108-84, including January's Idaho win in Missoula.

TOURNEY HISTORY: In the Big Sky tournament, the Griz trail the Vandals 4-5 in tourney wins dating back to their first postseason meeting in the 1979-80 season, when Mike Montgomery's Griz defeated Idaho 63-53 in Ogden, Utah.

The last time the two schools met in the postseason was in the 1995-96 tournament, when the Vandals defeated the Griz 72-67 in Bozeman.

LAST MEETING: Due to an off-balance Big Sky schedule, the Griz and Vandals only met once during the regular season this year. A second half surge was not enough to overcome a cold shooting performance by the Grizzlies, as the Vandals snapped UM's seven-game win streak with a 63-58 victory in Missoula on January 22.

The Grizzlies dropped their first Big Sky Conference game of the season, moving to 11-7 overall and 6-1 in league play, while the Vandals improved to 12-7 on the year, and 4-2 in the Big Sky.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Montana enacted revenge on the Sacramento State Hornets on Thursday in the league quarterfinal, making up for a road loss earlier this season, with a dominant 70-53 victory in UM's opening game of the tournament. Martin Breunig led all players in scoring and rebounding with 24 points and 16 boards.

The No. 3 seed Vandals survived a scare from No. 6 Eastern Washington, advancing to the tournament semifinal with a 77-73 victory over the Eagles in Thursday's nightcap game. Redshirt freshman forward Nate Sherwood led all scorers with 19 points, followed closely by second team all-Big Sky guard Victor Sanders who put down 17 points.

UP NEXT? The winner of the Montana/Idaho semifinal advances on to face the winner of the No. 1 Weber State/No. 5 North Dakota semifinal in the Big Sky Conference championship game. The winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Big Sky men's championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN U. Tipoff is set for Saturday, March 12 at 5:45 p.m. PT (6:45 MT).

DECUIRE MAKES HISTORY: With Thursday's win over Sacramento State, The Griz move to 20-10 on the season, and head coach Travis DeCuire becomes the first coach in Montana history to reach the 20-win mark in his first two years at UM.

DeCuire's Grizzlies finished the 2014-15 year at 20-13, a season that included a Big Sky regular season championship and a trip to the NIT.

BREUNIG NOTE: Montana senior forward Martin Breunig posted his thirteenth double-double of the season against the Hornets, netting 24 points and 16 rebounds.

With six double-double's to his name in the 2014-15 season, Breunig's career double-double total is now at 19.

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Players Mentioned

Martin Breunig

University of Montana Athletics