Griz return to the road with momentum at Southern Utah

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After picking up what may be the team's biggest victory of the year – a crisp 90-84 win over rival Montana State – the Montana Grizzlies return to the road for a pair of one-off conference games at Southern Utah and Northern Arizona this week.

A quick glance at the Big Sky standings might put fans at ease regarding the Grizzlies' chances on this week's road swing, but not the Montana coaching staff.

"It's one of the toughest road trips in the league, and it always has been," said head coach Travis DeCuire.

While the Thunderbirds and Lumberjacks currently dwell at the bottom of the league table, SUU boasts one of the nation's best scorers and NAU has won three-straight at home, including wins over Portland State and North Dakota.

What is clear: this week's trip to the Southwest won't be a walk in the park for the Griz, who are looking to sustain the momentum from the rivalry win over MSU.

THE GAME: Montana opens up this week's road trip in Cedar City, Utah, facing the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Centrum Arena on Thursday, Feb. 9 in a 6:30 p.m. tipoff.

Montana may be riding the momentum of a big win over MSU but is in need of wins to continue its climb back to the top of the standings following a four-game slide.

Standing in the way is the nation's seventh-best scorer Randy Onwuasor, a 6-3 guard who transferred to SUU from Texas Tech and is averaging the second-most points in the Big Sky with 23 per game.

"I think they're well coached. I think they do some things on the offensive end that can make it tough on you, but if he gets' going they're a pretty good team," said Montana associate head coach Chris Cobb.

With a scoring machine like Onwuasor on the court, the Montana coaching staff is making sure their squad remembers the last time Montana went on the road and played a pair of teams sitting below them in the league standings.

"We'll pull out our schedule and remind our guys who we have lost to and what their records are. There's no difference here, so, which game are we going to bring? We have to decide we're going to bring our A game no matter who we play," added DeCuire.

Also lighting up the scoreboard for the T-Birds is junior guard James McGee, who is averaging 13.9 PPG and has made 71 three-pointers this season, the third-most in the Big Sky.

As a unit, Southern Utah is averaging a healthy 77 points per contest but has allowed over 85 per game from its opponents.
The Griz may be averaging 74 points per game on the season, but have over the last seven games have averaged 80 PPG, highlighted by a season-high output of 90 against the Cats.

WATCH/LISTEN: Fans around the world can watch the UM at SUU game live and free of charge on the league's digital video streaming platform, WatchBigSky.com, and via the Big Sky Conference Mobile App, available to download free from the App Store and on Google Play.

The "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran will bring you the statewide radio call on the Montana Grizzlies Radio Network. An audio-only stream of the radio call is also available at GoGriz.com. Fans can also follow live twitter updates @UMGRIZZLIES_BB, and live stats are available at SUUTbirds.com.

SERIES HISTORY: Montana leads the relatively young all-time series with the T-Birds 12-5, dating back to the program's first matchup in 1982. Since then, the Grizzlies have only played in Cedar City a total of six times, and have come away winners in four of those contests.

Since SUU joined the Big Sky in 2012, Montana has not lost to the Thunderbirds, going 7-0 in that time frame.

LAST MATCHUP: The Griz shot over 70 percent from three-point land, and four players reached double figures in a blowout 86-53 win over SUU in Missoula last February. Bobby Moorehead, Jack Lopez, and Brandon Gfeller all drained three shots each from behind the arc as four Griz scored in double figures.

After the two teams last met last in Cedar City on Jan. 2, 2016, Gfeller was named Big Sky Player of the Week thanks to 21 points against the T-Birds on 6-of-11 from behind the arc. That performance followed the best night of his career where he went 8-of-13 on threes for 24 points and a total of 45 points on the two-game trip.

GRIZ TRACKS: Over the first seven games of the season, the Griz averaged 73 points per game. In the last seven games, Montana has increased that average to 80 as DeCuire finds the right scoring combinations on his squad.

The reason? DeCuire points to the team's increased focus that led directly to the Grizzlies 13th-straight win over MSU.

"We came out and competed, played with some passion, a sense of urgency and played together on both sides of the ball, and that was the biggest thing was the chemistry we played with.

"I just think we fought and we tried to win every possession, and when you try to win every possession, you win your fair share, and it added up over the course of the evening," he said.

Ahmaad Rorie has been a big reason for the boost in the team's output, scoring 20 or more points in four of the last five games, including a game-high 28 against MSU. Of those 28 points, Rorie scored 26 of them in the second half as the Griz put up 60 points after the break, the most in any half of DeCuire's tenure.

Fellow sophomore Michael Oguine is also playing his best ball of the season, scoring 25 and 22 points in his last two outings, and leading the team in rebounds the last three games.

But forward Fabijan Krslovic continues to be the linchpin of Montana's success in the paint. The junior forward is the Big Sky's eighth-best rebounder, averaging a team-high 6.6 boards per contest. He's also carrying the team's best field goal percentage, making more than 54 percent of his shots from the field.

GRIZ BITS: Montana scored a season-high 23-straight free throws to see the Griz home against the Cats last week… The 90-84 win for the Griz over MSU was the first win of the season for UM when allowing its opponent to score more than 80 points… Montana is now 10-10 on the season in night games, with a pair of night games on the schedule this weekend… The win over Montana State last week tied the all-time series at 147 each in the series' 294 game history.

Griz return to the road with momentum at Southern Utah

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Gfeller

Fabijan Krslovic

Jack Lopez

Bobby Moorehead

Michael Oguine

Ahmaad Rorie

University of Montana Athletics