Griz, Gauchos to meet in Legends Classic Malibu Region championship

MONTANA VS. UC SANTA BARBARA
Tuesday, Nov. 21 / 6 p.m. MT / Malibu, Calif.
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MONTANA ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME VS. UC Santa Barbara
At times Monday evening, head coach Travis DeCuire saw a basketball team that showed great promise, playing better, in some areas, then it did a week ago in a win at Pitt. After holding a double-digit lead for most of the second half, however, Oral Roberts got hot from three-point range and cut its deficit to just three with under a minute to play. DeCuire liked his team's ability to close out the game – as it did in the overtime victory at Pitt – but also wants to see his team play more consistently.

The Grizzlies have the opportunity to improve on that right away, as they take on UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday evening from Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif. The game is the Legends Classic Malibu region championship game. The Gauchos defeated host Pepperdine, 92-84, in a high-scoring affair on Monday evening.

The quick turnaround is similar to what Montana will face in the Big Sky Championship in March, so although a challenge, DeCuire likes that his team is forced to recover and scout a new opponent with less than 24 hours of prep time.

The Gauchos were led Monday night by five players in double figures for scoring. Those five accounted for all but six of their points. They also forced 10 steals while turning the ball over just six times – a category in which they rank better than nearly any Division I team across the country. UCSB shot better than 50 percent from the floor and nearly that from three-point range, and will go up against a stingy Griz defense that is among the upper echelon in the country for turnover margin, steals and blocked shots.

The game will be live streamed and will also be available on the Montana Grizzly Radio Network.

RECAP: #GrizHoops builds lead, holds off Oral Roberts https://t.co/OjitM14A1N pic.twitter.com/SfVGOqKFiP
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) November 21, 2017

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA

UCSB enters Tuesday's contest with a 2-2 mark, defeating North Dakota State and Pepperdine while falling at Pitt and Texas A&M. UCSB led Pitt in the closing minutes before the Panthers closed the game on a 14-5 run.
UCSB is turning the ball over just 8.0 times per game, the fifth-fewest in NCAA Division I.
Five UCSB players are averaging double figures scoring, led by sophomore Max Heidegger's 23.5 points per game (23rd in NCAA).
Seniors Leland King II and Jalen Canty combine to average 15.6 rebounds per game, in addition to 29.3 points per game.
Canty has made 58.1 percent of his shots (18-of-31) while leading the team with six blocks.
Senior Gabe Vincent has 20 assists to just three turnovers, helping the Gauchos to the fifth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country.
UCSB ranks in the upper quarter of the country for three-pointers made and percentage. Heidegger ranks 18th with 15 makes (.441).

SERIES VS. THE GAUCHOS
Tuesday will be the first meeting between the Grizzlies and Gauchos in more than a decade. The series dates back to the 1971-72 season, when the two teams met twice within a month. After losing the first three games in the series, Montana has won two of the last three – including victories at UCSB in 1981-82 and in Missoula in 1985-86. The Gauchos won the most-recent meeting, in 2004-05 in Santa Barbara, to improve to 4-2 vs. Montana.

HOT START
A win on Tuesday would improve Montana's record to 4-1 on the young season.

During its illustrious history, 30 Griz teams have begun a season with a 4-1 mark or better, dating all the way back to 1905-06. The accomplishment happened nine times in a 14-year span from 1982-83 through 1995-96, but just twice since then (2005-06 and 2009-10).

CLUTCH RORIE
Junior guard Ahmaad Rorie has scored in double figures in all four games this season, averaging 18.3 points per game. The point total is impressive, but more impressive is when he is scoring. Six of Rorie's 18 points at Pitt came in the overtime period, while two nights later at Penn State, he had four points, a steal and an assist during a 9-0 UM run to cut the Grizzlies' deficit to a single point, 51-50, midway through the second half.

The all-conference performer was on full display again Monday vs. Oral Roberts, scoring a team-high 18 points, in addition to six assists and three steals. Trailing 17-16 with 8 minutes to play in the first half, Montana closed the half on a 15-6 run. Rorie had nine points and two assists during that run, contributing to six of UM's eight made field goals. He was again clutch late, knocking down both free-throw attempts with 22 seconds to play to increase Montana's lead to two possessions.

NICHOLAS' NIGHT
Freshman Karl Nicholas showed his potential on Monday vs. Oral Roberts, scoring 11 points while making 5 of his first 6 shots. The freshman has athleticism on both ends of the floor, but had been limited to no more than 8 minutes per game through the first three contests due to foul trouble. Travis DeCuire got some length out of the freshman vs. ORU, as he played 18 minutes.

CRASHING THE GLASS
Montana has out-rebounded its opponents in each of the last three games, which is particularly impressive considering two of the contests were road games against an ACC and Big Ten school. Nearly one-third of Montana's rebounds have come from the offensive end (32.9 percent). That number was 28.6 percent a year ago.

STOUT DEFENSE
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 three games, Montana ranked 31st in the NCAA for turnovers forced (18.5 per game) and 32nd for turnover margin (+5.8). The Griz defense also ranked in the top 18 percent for steals and blocked shots.

DYNAMIC DUO, PART I
Junior guards Michael Oguine and Ahmaad Rorie entered the week each averaging more than 18.0 points per game so far this season. The tandem was one of 25 across all of NCAA Division I with two players on the same team averaging that many points per game.

Both Oguine and Rorie have been in double figures scoring in all four games this season.

WELL CONDITIONED
Montana has three players who entered the week ranked in the top 30 nationally for minutes played, with Ahmaad Rorie averaging 39.0 minutes per game, Bobby Moorehead adding 37.7 and Michael Oguine at 37.0. The Grizzlies are aided by an 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.

Twelve different Grizzlies played at Penn State (Nov. 15), but just six played more than 7 minutes. It was the same two nights prior at Pitt (Nov. 13), as Travis DeCuire used the same five players throughout the final 7:34 of the second half and all 5 minutes of overtime.

LOOKING AHEAD
After four consecutive games away from home, Montana returns to Dahlberg Arena to host Carroll. The Sunday contest will begin at 7 p.m. MT.

Griz, Gauchos to meet in Legends Classic Malibu Region championship

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bobby Moorehead

Karl Nicholas

Michael Oguine

Ahmaad Rorie

University of Montana Athletics

Griz, Gauchos to meet in Legends Classic Malibu Region championship

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bobby Moorehead

Karl Nicholas

Michael Oguine

Ahmaad Rorie

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