Griz look to keep it rolling

MONTANA VS. NORTHERN COLORADO
Saturday, Jan. 6 / 7 p.m. MT / Missoula, Mont.
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Now nearly two months into the season, the Montana Grizzlies have found their form. The new defensive principles that head coach Travis DeCuire implemented in the offseason are clicking, and an offense that was inconsistent early on has been lights out as of late, including scoring 109 points on Thursday vs. North Dakota.

The Grizzlies are playing their best basketball of the season, and perhaps in several seasons, rattling off wins in five of their last six games, many by wide margins.

The next step, in addition to staying consistent, is to stay hungry.

"We're not there yet. We still have work to do," DeCuire said of his message to his team. "It's so early in conference, we can't start looking at the standings. The guys are enjoying the process and they're playing together. They're showing signs of a team that wants to win."

DeCuire saw the makings of a team that has the ability to do that on Thursday. Coming out of the halftime locker room with a 21-point lead, instead of getting complacent, Montana quickly rattled off a 13-0 run and scored more points and shot better in the second half than it did in the first.

"We're still competing with desperation," DeCuire said. "We have to keep doing the right things every possession, regardless of the score."

The Grizzlies are unbeaten at home this season (6-0) and unbeaten in Big Sky Conference play (3-0), but the season is still very early. Coming to town next will be Montana's toughest test of league play thus far. Northern Colorado also started Big Sky action 2-0 – including a victory over preseason favorite Idaho – before falling at Montana State on Thursday. The Bears are 11-5 overall, with more victories than any other Big Sky team.

UNC is ranked No. 25 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, and relies heavily on three-point shooting and rebounding. The Bears rank 41st nationally for defensive rebounding and 44th for three-pointers made.

"They're gonna play small, they're gonna spread us out," DeCuire said. "We're gonna have to scrap, we're gonna have to run."

Andre Spight (18.4) and Jordan Davis (17.2) are a dangerous duo that rank seventh and ninth, respectively, in the Big Sky for scoring. Spight, an Arizona State transfer, ranks second in the league for three-pointers made, while Davis ranks second with a 55.6 field-goal percentage. Tanner Morgan ranks 10th in the league with 5.9 rebounds per game.

Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. MT. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive free admission. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Adams Center box office.

We think our @MontanaGrizBB is so awesome to watch, we're giving 500 people free general admission for the game tomorrow night so there is no excuse not to be here! This team is FUN to watch...Pack the place & get loud for the Griz! #GoGriz #FightUniteWin pic.twitter.com/2tSNl80VlI
— Montana Grizzlies (@UMGRIZZLIES) January 5, 2018

SERIES VS. THE BEARS

Montana owns a 20-8 record against Northern Colorado, not including a 1976-77 victory that was vacated. The Grizzlies have won nine of the last 12 in the series and are 11-3 in Missoula.

Travis DeCuire is 4-1 against the Bears, most recently beating them 89-68 in Missoula. In that contest, Montana shot 53 percent from the floor and had four players with 16 points or more, including Ahmaad Rorie (19) and Michael Oguine (18). Oguine has scored in double figures all three games against UNC, while Fabijan Krslovic is averaging 5.0 points and 5.0 rebounds.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO

Northern Colorado enters Saturday's contest 11-5, including 2-1 in Big Sky action. After beginning the season 0-2, UNC has won 11 of its past 14, with the three losses all coming by single digits.
UNC is ranked No. 25 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
Andre Spight (18.4) and Jordan Davis (17.2) both rank in the top 10 in the Big Sky for scoring.
Nearly half (43.2 percent) of UNC's shots come from three-point range. The Bears rank 20th nationally for three-pointers attempted.
Spight is UNC's top three-point shooter, averaging 2.94 per game on .370 shooting. He also ranks sixth in the conference with 52 assists.
Davis is shooting .556 from the floor, a figure which ranks second in the Big Sky. He also ranks ninth for free throws made.
UNC ranks 41st nationally with 28.44 defensive rebounds per game, limiting opponents' second-chance opportunities. Tanner Morgan (5.9 per game) is the Bears' top rebounder.
Jeff Linder is in his second season leading the Bears. UNC went 11-18 (7-11 BSC) a year ago.

STARTING STRONG

Montana is off to a 3-0 start to begin Big Sky Conference play, marking the 10th time in the Grizzlies' 55-year history in the league. The feat has been accomplished twice in the past three seasons under Travis DeCuire and four times in the past seven.

The Grizzlies have begun Big Sky play with three consecutive victories in 2017-18, 2015-16 (six), 2012-13 (12), 2011-12 (four), 2005-06 (three), 1991-92 (seven), 1990-91 (three), 1984-85 (four), 1980-81 (four) and 1974-75 (three).

LEADING THE BIG SKY

Through three games, Montana is at the top of the conference in many offensive and defensive categories. The Grizzlies rank first for:

Scoring offense (91.7)
Scoring margin (+26.0)
Field-goal defense (.325)
Rebounding (39.7)
Three-point field-goal percentage (.400)
Assists (47)
Assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9:1)
Steals (9.7)

Additionally, the Grizzlies rank second in the league for scoring defense (65.7), rebounding margin (+3.7) and turnover margin (+7.3), and third for field-goal percentage (.518).

WINNING STREAK

Montana is not only 3-0 to begin Big Sky play, but its three-game winning streak is its largest of the season. The Grizzlies have won three in a row and five of their last six.

After winning back-to-back games to open the season (Nov. 10 and 13), Montana alternated wins and losses over its next nine games before winning back-to-back contests vs. UC Riverside and UC Irvine (Dec. 17 and 19). The Grizzlies narrowly lost at Washington (Dec. 22) before rattling off three wins in a row.

TRIPLE DIGITS

Montana scored 109 points in a blowout win over North Dakota, an offensive performance that was historic on many levels:

Montana reached the century mark for the first time since December 2009 vs. Great Falls.
It was Montana's first 100-point performance against a Division-I opponent since December 1999 vs. Youngstown State.
The 109 points were the most scored by the Grizzlies since totaling 109 vs. Idaho State, in March 1991.

WIDE MARGIN

The Grizzlies have recorded back-to-back 30-point victories (at Southern Utah, Dec. 30; vs. North Dakota, Jan. 4), marking the first time in 44 years that Montana has won consecutive games by 30 or more points. The last time the Grizzlies did it was in 1973-74, under Jud Heathcote. In the midst of a 13-game win streak, Montana defeated Gonzaga by 35 and Northern Arizona by 32.

In three conference games, Montana is out-scoring its opponents 275-197, winning by an average of 26.0 points per game.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Grizzlies hold a perfect 6-0 mark at home this season. Over the past two decades, Montana has begun a season with six or more consecutive home wins three times, including twice in the past three seasons under Travis DeCuire.

Montana has won more than 80 percent of its contests in Dahlberg Arena over the past decade, going 110-25 (.815) since the start of the 2008-09 season. All-time, the Grizzlies boast one of the best home-court advantages, going 684-240 (.740) in their home arena.

50%

In each of its last five homes games, Montana has made at least 50 percent of its shots, shooting 56 percent vs. Carroll (Nov. 26), 52 percent vs. CSUN (Dec. 3), 50 percent vs. UC Riverside (Dec. 17), 53 percent vs. UC Irvine (Dec. 19) and a season-high 62 percent vs. North Dakota (Jan. 4).

During those five games, the Griz are averaging 88.8 points per game and a 18.6 margin of victory.

HELPING HAND

Montana dished out a season-high 21 assists vs. North Dakota (Jan. 4), and leads the Big Sky with 15.7 assists per conference game. Freshman Timmy Falls ranks seventh during conference play, averaging 3.7 assists per game. He is joined by Sayeed Pridgett and Ahmaad Rorie in the top 15.

All three have a tremendous assist-to-turnover ratio, led by Rorie's incredible 9:1.

FORCING TURNOVERS

Montana has forced at least 13 turnovers in every game this season and ranks among the nation's best, forcing 17.27 turnovers per game (17th in NCAA). The Grizzlies have turned the ball over more times than their opponent just three times in 15 games and hold a +4.1 turnover margin (24th in NCAA).

On three occasions, Montana has forced 20 or more turnovers in a game, and in a win at Pitt (Nov. 13), the Grizzlies forced the Panthers into 19 turnovers, converting them into 30 points – an average of 1.58 points per turnover.

LIMITING MISTAKES

While the defense is among the nation's best for forcing turnovers, Montana has turned the ball over just 14 total times over the past two games.

CRASHING THE GLASS

Montana has out-rebounded its opponents in 12 of its last 14 games, which is particularly impressive considering four of those contests have come against Power-5 teams and another came against a UC Irvine team that ranked No. 2 nationally for total rebounds at the time.

Well over one-third of Montana's rebounds have come from the offensive end (35.1 percent); that number was 28.6 percent a year ago. Freshman Karl Nicholas has more offensive boards (25) than defensive (20).

Prior to their game at Southern Utah (Dec. 30), the Grizzlies had out-rebounded their opponents 134-69 on the offensive glass over a nine-game span. They are currently averaging 12.93 offensive rebounds per game this season (32nd in NCAA). Nearly one-fifth of Montana's points have been second-chance opportunities (203 points; 17.7 percent).

EARLY LEADS

Montana has led from start to finish three times in the past month, and playing a key role has been its ability to jump out to early leads.

Against UC Riverside, Montana led 9-0 before the Highlanders finally scored 6:20 into the contest. The Grizzlies also used a 17-0 run in the second half.
Against Northern Arizona, Montana jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
Despite trailing Southern Utah early, Montana went on a 33-6 first-half run, holding the Thunderbirds without a field goal for 12:42 (0-for-16 shooting).
The Grizzlies led North Dakota 14-0 before the Fighting Hawks finally scored, 7:16 into the contest (0-for-10 to start).

TRENDING

Montana is undefeated at home this season (6-0).
The Grizzlies are a perfect 10-0 when leading at halftime, compared to 0-5 when trailing.
UM is 8-2 in games decided by double digits.
The Grizzlies are 6-0 when scoring 80 or more points.
Montana is 7-1 when opponents score fewer than 70 points, with the exception coming in a three-point loss at Washington.
Montana is 7-0 when shooting above .450.
Montana is 4-0 when opponents shoot .400 or worse.
Ironically, the Grizzlies are 3-0 when opponents make eight or more three-pointers.
Montana is 9-2 when turning the ball over less than its opponent.
Montana is 6-1 when shooting more free throws.

THREE-POINT SPIKING

Early in the season, Montana ranked among the bottom teams in the nation for three-point field-goal percentage, on offense and defense. Over the past several games, however, the Grizzlies are beginning to right the ship.

In three Big Sky contests, Montana is shooting .404 from three-point range, including a season-most eight makes on .571 shooting vs. North Dakota (Jan. 4). Conference opponents are shooting just .302 against the Griz.

LOOKING AHEAD

Montana will play its next three contests on the road, traveling to Sacramento State (Jan. 11), Portland State (Jan. 13) and Montana State (Jan. 20).

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

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Players Mentioned

Timmy Falls

Fabijan Krslovic

Karl Nicholas

Michael Oguine

Sayeed Pridgett

Ahmaad Rorie

University of Montana Athletics