Montana travels to Penn State looking to knock off 2nd consecutive Power-5 team

Wednesday, November 15

University Park, Penn.

5PM (MT)

Montana

Penn State

Montana travels to Penn State looking to knock off 2nd consecutive Power-5 team

11/14/2017 3:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA AT PENN STATE
Wednesday, Nov. 15 / 5 p.m. MT / University Park, Penn.
Big Ten Network / Watch* / Listen (98.3 FM) / Live Stats
* Big Ten Network cable subscription required

SIGNATURE VICTORY
The Grizzlies had been in this situation before, several times in fact. Hanging tough on a big-name opponent's home court, and even leading. In previous instances – at Cal and Gonzaga three years ago and at USC and Ole Miss last year, just to name a few – Montana couldn't get over the hump to earn a signature win.

"There was a sense of, 'Here we go again,'" head coach Travis DeCuire said after the game. "But the message was, 'Let's make it happen. Let's go find a way to win this game.'"

That they did. It wasn't a perfect game, but it was pretty good. The Grizzlies out-rebounded Pitt, forced 19 turnovers and made the plays when they needed to. Trailing at the end of both periods, they went on runs to close both halves – a 16-7 run in the first half to go into the locker room with a lead and a 10-2 run in the second half to go up by two, eventually settling for overtime.

Then, in the extended period, Montana limited Pitt to 22 percent shooting en route to the elusive victory that the program has been searching for.

"We never got down," DeCuire said. "We never gave up, we just kept fighting."

Montana had lost 14 consecutive games against Power-5 opponents prior to its win over Pitt – a team from the ACC that has been to the NCAA tournament in 13 of the past 16 seasons. The victory was Montana's first over a Power-5-conference team since defeating Oregon State in 2010.

DeCuire said afterward that the win is a partial arrival. The victory is huge, but means little if the team doesn't use it as a springboard into the rest of the season, especially in March. The Grizzlies will get an opportunity to take the next step right away, as Montana travels to Penn State on Wednesday evening for the second of four games in the Legends Classic.

Penn State, from the Big Ten, is better than Pitt. The Nittany Lions are 2-0 on the young season and feature one of the best defenses (Penn State ranks seventh nationally for steals) and one of the best young guards (sophomore Tony Carr is averaging 26.5 points per game and ranks in the top 30 nationally for points and assists).

"Once again, you're talking size and athleticism" DeCuire said about Penn State. "Carr can go for 20, 30 every night and has the ability to score and get in the paint. In the post, from the 4 and the 5 positions, they're athletic and long. We have to keep them from getting second shots and have to make them play at our pace. If we do that, we'll have a chance."

Montana has already made a statement. Now the Grizzlies want to make another.

Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. MT and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Those with cable packages that include the Big Ten Network can also stream the game at www.BTN2GO.com and on the BTN2GO app. Voice of the Griz Riley Corcoran will also have the call on 98.3 FM in Missoula and online.

#BeatPitt ?? pic.twitter.com/czpcuq6mHA
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) November 14, 2017

SCOUTING PENN STATE

Like Montana, Penn State enters Wednesday's game with a 2-0 record. The Nittany Lions opened the season with an 86-57 win over Campbell before defeating Fairleigh Dickinson, 81-57, on Sunday.
Tony Carr is picking up where he left off last season. The sophomore guard is averaging 26.5 points per game through two contests. He also has a team-most 14 assists and has made 22-of-24 free throws. Carr led PSU with 13.2 points per game last year, being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, and was one of 21 players nationally to be invited to compete with NBA stars at the prestigious Nike Skills Academy over the summer.
Carr ranks among the nation's leaders for free-throws made (second), points per game (27th) and assists per game (30th).
Junior Josh Reaves (16.0) and sophomores Mike Watkins (15.0) and Lamar Stevens (10.0) are also averaging double figures for scoring. Reaves is also PSU top rebounder (8.5 per game) and steals leader (seven; 34th in NCAA).
Through two games, PSU's opponents are narrowly out-shooting the Nittany Lions, but PSU is leading the rebounding margin by 11.5 and has forced 24.5 turnovers (13.0 steals; seventh in NCAA).
PSU is 22-11 at home over the past two-plus seasons, and holds a current streak of four con-secutive wins over ranked foes.
After back-to-back winning seasons, a young Penn State roster went 15-18 in 2016-17. PSU's freshmen class, which was ranked in the top-25 nationally, made 90 starts.
PSU returned all five starters from last year's team.
The Nittany Lions ranked among the Big Ten leaders last year for blocked shots and steals.
Patrick Chambers is in his seventh season at PSU. He has compiled an 89-109 record.
PSU has earned nine NCAA tournament berths in its history, most-recently in 2011.

SERIES VS. THE NITTANY LIONS
Montana and Penn State have never before met on the hardwood. Montana is 3-14 all-time against current members of the Big Ten, beating Nebraska in 1959-60 and 1982-83, and Minnesota in 2006-07. Montana is seeking its first win on a Big Ten opponent's home court.

STARTING STRONG
Montana is off to its first 2-0 start to a season since the 2009-10 squad began the year with three con-secutive wins. That team finished with a 22-10 record, winning a Big Sky championship and advancing to the NCAA tournament.

SWINGING THE MOMENTUM AT PITT
Montana led for nearly 24 minutes against Pitt (Nov. 13), including by as many as seven points. Below are a couple key stats that led the Grizzlies to victory:

Montana forced Pitt into 19 turnovers, turning them into 30 points. Two of the turnovers were offensive charges, one taken by Karl Nicholas and another by Fabijan Krslovic. Krslovic finished with a team-most nine rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.
Montana out-rebounded Pitt, 39-38, including 14-12 on the offensive glass.
Montana overcame foul trouble – three players finished the game with four fouls – and a slow start at the free-throw line. The Grizzlies began the game just 4-for-11 from the charity stripe before finishing 12-of-14 down the stretch – including 10 makes in a row at one point – to put the game out of reach.
The Grizzlies held the lead for 23:46, compared to 14:07 for the Panthers.
After trailing by a game-most seven points, 28-21, with under 5 minutes to play in the first half, Montana closed the half on a 16-7 run to head into the intermission leading by two, 37-35.
The Grizzlies started the game 0-for-7 from three-point range before Ahmaad Rorie hit back-to-back threes late in the first half. Bobby Moorehead followed with two more, giving the Grizzlies 12 consecutive points off of three-pointers and a 33-32 advantage.
Trailing by four, 69-65, with under 3 minutes to play, Montana went on an 8-2 run over the next 2 minutes to take a 73-71 advantage. Oguine scored all eight points for the Griz.
After alternating baskets to begin overtime, Montana scored to take a 79-77 lead and then held Pitt without a made field goal over its final three attempts.

Every day's a great day to be a Griz. But sometimes it's a little better! pic.twitter.com/jQvTe1sizT
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) November 14, 2017

BIG-GAMER OGUINE
Junior guard Michael Oguine scored a career-high 29 points in Monday's win at Pitt, but more impres-sive than the 29 points or team-most five assists was the fact that Oguine took over when it mattered most.

He scored 16 of his points in the final 8:32 of regulation, including Montana's final 10 points overall. Trailing 67-63 with 4:32 to play, Oguine out-scored Pitt's entire team, 10-4, to give Montana a two-point lead in the final minute of regulation.

"Mike's one of those guys where when he's mad he's better," Travis DeCuire said. "If he thinks it's time to put everybody on his back, he's going to get it done. He carried us when we needed him to."

STOUT DEFENSES
After forcing 24 turnovers against Whitworth (Nov. 10), Montana forced Pitt into 19 turnovers – and converted them into 30 points, an average of 1.58 points per turnover. Through two games, Montana ranks 17th in the NCAA for turnovers forced (21.5 per game) and 26th for turnover margin (+8.5). The Griz defense also ranks 24th for total blocks (12).

Turnovers will be a key stat to keep an eye on Wednesday at Penn State. While Montana is one of the nation's best for forcing turnovers, the Nittany Lions struggle to keep the ball, averaging 18.0 turno-vers per game (309th nationally). While Penn State has struggled to protect the ball, its defense is one of the best in the country at forcing turnovers, ranking seventh for steals per game (13.0).

DYNAMIC DUO, PART I
Junior guards Michael Oguine and Ahmaad Rorie are each averaging 19.5 points per game so far this season. The tandem is one of 10 across all of NCAA Division I with two players on the same team aver-aging that many points per game. Belmont, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Georgia Southern, Idaho, Mar-shall, Nevada, Oakland and Virginia Tech are the other schools.

WELL CONDITIONED
Montana has three players who rank in the top 30 nationally for minutes played, with Bobby Moore-head and Ahmaad Rorie averaging 39.5 minutes per game (T-14th in NCAA) and Michael Oguine averag-ing 38.5 (T-28th). The Grizzlies are aided by Monday's overtime game, but even without the extra five minutes, all three would rank among the top 2 percent of all players nationally for minutes played.

Nine different Grizzlies played at Pitt, but just five saw more than 15 minutes of action. Oguine and Rorie played in 44 of the game's 45 minutes, as Travis DeCuire used the same five guys throughout the entire overtime and the final 7:34 of the second half.

WORKING OVERTIME
Montana won its first overtime game in nearly two years on Monday, defeating Pitt, 83-78. Prior to that, Montana's last overtime victory was a double-overtime win at Northern Arizona on Dec. 31, 2015. The Grizzlies lost both overtime contests in 2016-17.

100 AND COUNTING
Monday was a special night for the Montana program, but for two Grizzlies in particular.

Fabijan Krslovic played in his 100th consecutive game. The senior from Australia has played in every UM game since the start of the 2014-15 season, earning 83 starts. Additionally, Monday was Travis DeCuire's 100th game as head coach. The former Griz player is 59-41, the fifth-best mark through 100 games out of Montana's 25 head coaches. DeCuire helped Montana to a 2014-15 regular-season con-ference title and back-to-back appearances in the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game (2015 and 2016)

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana continues the Legends Classic with a pair of games in Malibu, Calif. The Grizzlies will face Oral Roberts on Monday, before taking on either UC Santa Barbara or host Pepperdine on the following night.

Complete game-notes packet