Road trip concludes at Southern Utah

MONTANA AT SOUTHERN UTAH
Sunday, Dec. 30 / 12:30 p.m. MT / Cedar City, Utah
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The Grizzlies are playing their best basketball of the season and will look to carry that over to Saturday afternoon against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Tipoff in Cedar City is slated for 12:30 p.m. MT.

Montana has won three of its past four games, averaging 86.3 points on .489 shooting in the three victories, winning by an average of 17.3 points. In the lone loss, Montana limited a strong Washington squad to a season-low 66 points – nearly 16 below its season average.

"We're focused, and I think we're on the same page and everyone is excited about what's in front of us," Travis DeCuire said after Thursday's win at Northern Arizona.

In addition to rebounding, a big part of Montana's success has been consistency off the bench, with a solid eight-man rotation playing consistent minutes and making an impact on both sides of the ball. The other has been Montana's ability to score inside. Both were seen against the Lumberjacks, with the Grizzlies scoring 38 points in the paint.

Over the past four games, junior Jamar Akoh is averaging 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, including a double-double vs. the Lumberjacks.

The victory gave Montana a 1-0 start to conference play for the fourth time in four tries under DeCuire. The Grizzlies will aim to make it a 2-0 start vs. the Thunderbirds – a team that posted its best non-conference record in more than a decade before falling to Montana State in a shootout, 104-99.

The Thunderbirds are one of the nation's top-scoring offenses, averaging 81.7 points per game. They are also among the elite for getting to the free-throw line and securing the ball. SUU ranks second in the Big Sky for free throws attempted and percentage, and rank 33rd nationally with just 11.4 turnovers per game.

Five different T-Birds average double figures for scoring, led by Jadon Cohee (16.7 points, 4.2 assists).

"They're different than anyone we've played before, and probably different than anyone in the league, because they have five potent shooters on the floor," DeCuire said. "They have three guys coming off the bench that are scoring at a high rate. It forces you to do some things different defensively, especially because they run so many ball screens.

"That's a major adjustment for us, and once we make it, if we do it properly, we should be able to slow them down, and then we'll be the ones in transition.""

Montana ranks 15th nationally for turnovers forced, presenting an interesting matchup.

While Southern Utah's offense will present a challenge to the Grizzlies, its defense ranks last in the Big Sky scoring defense (85.8 points) and field-goal defense (.495) and second to last for rebounding margin (-4.8).

The Grizzlies will spend Friday bussing to Cedar City and will get a practice in before an early game on Saturday. The short turnaround isn't ideal, DeCuire said, but it's part of the grind.

"We know what we're playing for, so you've just got to bring it."

SERIES VS. THE THUNDERBIRDS
Montana owns plenty of success against Southern Utah, against a current 10-game winning streak in the series.

Montana is 13-5 all-time against the Thunderbirds, going 3-5 from 1982-83 through 2000-01 before rattling off 10 consecutive wins, beginning in 2002-03. The two teams have played at least one time each season since 2012-13, when the Thunderbirds joined the Big Sky Conference.

Travis DeCuire is 4-0 against Southern Utah, winning on the road each of the past two seasons. Senior Fabijan Krslovic has played in all four of those contests, scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds in last year's meeting. In that 15-point road win, Sayeed Pridgett, then a freshman, led all scorers with 19 points. In two meetings in 2015-16, Michael Oguine and Bobby Moorehead had strong performances. Oguine scored in double figures in both games, including a double-double on the road. Moorehead scored 21 total points in the two victories, including 13 in a 33-point home win in which Montana shot 62 percent from the floor and 70 percent from three-point range.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH

Southern Utah enters Saturday's matchup with a 6-6 mark, most-recently falling to Montana State, 104-99.
Prior to its loss to Montana State, SUU was unbeaten on its home court (5-0).
SUU ranks second in the Big Sky for scoring offense, averaging more than 81.7 points per game.
Jadon Cohee leads the T-Birds offense, averaging 16.7 points per game (10th in BSC). Cohee also ranks in the top 10 in the conference for assists per game (4.2, second), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79, seventh), free-throws made (66, third), free-throw percentage (.795, seventh).
Brandon Better has averaged 12.9 points off the bench, one of five SUU players averaging double figures for scoring. He has a team-most 27 three-pointers, averaging 2.25 per game (10th in BSC).
Ivan Madunic leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game and ranks fourth in the Big Sky for blocked shots (13).
The Thunderbirds get to the line, ranking second in the league for free throws attempted and percentage (.747) and third for free throws made.
SUU averages just 11.4 turnovers per game, a figure which ranks 33rd in Division I. The T-Birds have a +2.8 turnover margin.
The Thunderbirds rank among the nation's worst for field-goal defense (.495, 340th), scoring defense (85.8 points, 341st) and rebounding margin (-4.8, 316th).
Like Montana, SUU posted a winning non-conference record (6-5). It marked the Thunderbirds' first in more than a decade (2006-07).
SUU is under second-year head coach Todd Simon. The Thunderbirds have already matched last season's win total (6-27).

STARTING STRONG
Montana opened Big Sky Conference action on Thursday with a road win at Northern Arizona. In Travis DeCuire's four seasons, the Grizzlies have won their conference opener each season.

The Grizzlies have begun conference play at least 2-0 in two of the three previous seasons under DeCuire, including a 6-0 mark during the Grizzlies' 2015-16 championship season.

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana returns home to host North Dakota (Jan. 4) and Northern Colorado (Jan. 6). The Grizzlies are undefeated at home this season.

Additional game notes, including statistics, tables and more...

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Players Mentioned

Jamar Akoh

Fabijan Krslovic

Bobby Moorehead

Michael Oguine

Sayeed Pridgett

University of Montana Athletics