Move on and move forward: Griz take on Vandals, looking to begin new win streak

MONTANA AT IDAHO
Saturday, Feb. 17 / 8 p.m. MT / Moscow, Idaho
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The streaks are over. Now the team can just go play basketball.

Montana's winning streak was snapped on Thursday, and before moving on, it's a streak that should be celebrated.

The squad was the second in Montana history and the fourth in the history of the Big Sky to begin conference play 13-0. Prior to losing, Montana was one of four teams in the entire country still unbeaten in conference play.
The 13-game winning streak overall was the third-longest in Griz history, coming one game short of matching the all-time record. Montana owned the third-longest active win streak in the country on Thursday evening, trailing only Rhode Island and Vermont.
The seven-game road winning streak was a school record, surpassing the previous best of six consecutive road wins. The road winning streak was the fourth-longest active streak in the country.

Now that's they've been given their due respect – at least until after the season ends – it's time to move on. Because while a couple streaks came to a close on Thursday, Montana's main objective is still very much in front of the team.

"You've got to move on," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "We move on from wins and we have to move on from losses the same way. We told them what they need to hear in the locker room, and now it's up to them to make those adjustments."

The Grizzlies own a 1.5-game lead in the conference standings, with four games to play, and are squarely focused on starting a new win streak and earning the No. 1 seed in next month's conference tournament. The path won't be easy, as it includes a date with rival Montana State, second-place Weber State and third-place Idaho on Saturday night.

Montana is looking to bounce back. Yes, from Thursday night's setback, but also because Idaho was the team that ended the Grizzlies' season a year ago. Montana had beat the Vandals earlier in the season on the road, but when matched up in the conference tournament quarterfinals, a hot Idaho team got the best of Montana.

It won't be easy, as Idaho owns an 18-7 record, including five straight wins overall and an 8-2 mark at home.

Idaho ranks second in Big Sky Conference play for shooting – both overall and from three-point range – and has the third-best scoring and field-goal defense. The Vandals also lead the Big Sky for rebounding margin, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Overall on the season, the Vandals rank in the top 50 nationally for three-point shooting (.410; 12th), rebounding margin (+6.7; 18th), field-goal defense (.410; 42nd) and three-point defense (.320; 47th). The team is allowing just 67.6 points per game.

The Vandals returned all five starters from last year's 19-win team, and with six seniors, have the second-most experienced lineup in the country. Victor Sanders ranks in the top five during conference play for both scoring (18.6; sixth) and assists (4.2; third), while Brayon Blake is the conference's top rebounder (9.3). Blake also ranks seventh in the Big Sky with 17.6 points per game.

"I felt like we had playing with fire for three or four weeks now, and now that we've been burned, I think we have the chance to wake up and play with that effort we did in December," DeCuire said.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE VANDALS
Montana is 86-110 all-time against Idaho, including 3-4 since the Vandals rejoined the Big Sky Conference in 2014. The Grizzlies have only played Montana State more times than Idaho, and have more victories over the Vandals than any opponent aside from Montana State and Idaho State. Montana and Idaho first played in 1915-16.

Ahmaad Rorie averaged 15.3 points over three games vs. the Vandals last year, while Michael Oguine has scored in double figures in his last four meetings vs. Idaho. In the 2016 Big Sky semifinals, Bobby Moorehead scored 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting. All three were in double figures last January when Montana beat Idaho on the road, 70-57. The two teams did not play in Moscow two years ago, and three years ago, the Grizzlies fell in double overtime. In the 2017 Big Sky quarterfinals, Idaho shot 54 percent and out-rebounded Montana by eight to earn a four-point win.

26 GAMES IN
At 20-6 through 26 games, Montana is off to one of its better starts in school history. The Grizzlies have begun a season 20-6 or better five times prior to this season, most recently in 2005-06 (20-6 through 26 games).

20 AND COUNTING
Montana reached the 20-win plateau for the third time in head coach Travis DeCuire's four-year tenure with the Grizzlies. Montana will finish with a .500 or better record for the 10th consecutive season.

TERRIFIC TRIO
Montana is the only school in Big Sky play to have three players rank in the top 10 for scoring, with juniors Ahmaad Rorie (16.6; eighth), Jamar Akoh (16.1; tied for ninth) and Michael Oguine (16.1; tied for ninth) accomplishing the feat.

Rorie has been in double figures 23 times this season – including 20-plus on 11 occasions. Oguine has been in double figures in all but four contests, while Akoh has accomplished the feat in 16 of his past 19 contests, including seven double-doubles.

SIMPLE ROUTINE
Montana is one of seven NCAA Division I schools to use the same starting lineup in every game this season, using guards Michael Oguine and Ahmaad Rorie, and forwards Jamar Akoh, Fabijan Krslovic and Bobby Moorehead.

The other schools to use the same starting lineup every game are: Central Michigan, Davidson, Old Dominion, Penn, Purdue and Virginia.

LEADING THE BIG SKY
With four games remaining, Montana holds a 1.5-game lead in the Big Sky standings. The Grizzlies, though, also are atop the conference for many offensive and defensive statistical categories. The Grizzlies rank first for:

Scoring defense (67.4)
Scoring margin (+13.3)
Field-goal percentage defense (.396)
Rebounding (37.2)
Steals (8.4)
Turnover margin (+3.6)

The Grizzlies also rank second for rebounding margin (+3.6), third for scoring offense (80.7), assists (13.4) and three-point field-goal defense (.327), and fourth for field-goal percentage (.486), three-point shooting (.386), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1).

FORCING TURNOVERS
Montana has forced at least 11 turnovers in every game this season and ranks among the nation's best, forcing 16.2 turnovers per game (17th in NCAA). The Grizzlies have turned the ball over more times than their opponent just six times in 26 games and hold a +3.4 turnover margin (21st in NCAA).

On four 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.

FABULOUS PLAY
Lone senior Fabijan Krslovic has stepped up his game of late, averaging 12.0 points and 5.2 rebounds over the past four games, shooting 71.9 percent. After doing it once in the first 21 games, Krslovic has been in double figures three times during that span, in addition to a nine-point performance.

In addition to scoring, Krslovic played a career-high 42 minutes vs. Sacramento State and has 10 assists and eight steals during the five-game span.

PRIDGETT PERFORMING
Sophomore Sayeed Pridgett is Montana's first player off the bench, and he's quietly and consistently putting up strong performances for the Griz. In addition to 8.0 points per game, Pridgett ranks in the top five on the team for rebounding, assists, blocks and steals.

Pridgett has 19 steals during Big Sky play (fifth) and over the past six games overall is averaging 10.3 points on 53 percent shooting.

THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
Guard Michael Oguine became the 32nd member of Montana's 1,000-point club on Jan. 27, scoring 23 points against Northern Arizona. The junior now is tied for 23rd place and is one of 14 players in UM history to reach the milestone in his third season. At his current pace, Oguine could finish his junior season with more than 1,200 points, which would rank in the top 16.

Teammate Ahmaad Rorie is expected to reach the milestone on Saturday, needing five points. He would become the third player in Griz history to accomplish the feat in two seasons, joining Anthony Johnson (2009-10) and Martin Breunig (2015-16).

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana's final three games of the regular season will come at home. The Grizzlies will get an extended break, only playing one game next week, Saturday vs. Montana State.

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

Move on and move forward: Griz take on Vandals, looking to begin new win streak

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jamar Akoh

Fabijan Krslovic

Bobby Moorehead

Michael Oguine

Sayeed Pridgett

Ahmaad Rorie

University of Montana Athletics

Move on and move forward: Griz take on Vandals, looking to begin new win streak

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jamar Akoh

Fabijan Krslovic

Bobby Moorehead

Michael Oguine

Sayeed Pridgett

Ahmaad Rorie

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