Grizzlies aim to #WhiteOutWeber in big home tilt

MONTANA VS. WEBER STATE - WHITE OUT
Thursday, March 1 / 7 p.m. MT / Missoula, Mont.
SWX Montana / Watch / Pluto TV / Listen (1290 AM, 98.3 FM) / Live Stats

Back in the win column, the Grizzlies got a taste of a conference title last Saturday. Montana put up a dominant 27-point win over the rival Bobcats while Weber State dropped out of second place in the conference standings with a narrow loss to Idaho. The concurrent results gave Montana at least a share of the 2018 Big Sky Conference regular-season title.

Montana can taste it, but now the Griz want it outright.

That can happen with a win this week, against either Weber State (Thursday) or Idaho State (Saturday).

"We treat every game like it's a banner night," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "Now it's real."

The Grizzlies are one step closer to their goal, and that's nice, but more important to DeCuire is that last Saturday's result marked the second game in a row that his team has put up a strong showing. After a rare off night at Eastern Washington, Montana played well but came up just short on an overtime tip-in at the buzzer at Idaho, before the blowout over the Cats.

Montana had seven players score nine points or more vs. Montana State, including three bench players. The Grizzlies score 90 points behind 53 percent shooting while limiting Montana State to 31.1 percent and forcing the Bobcats into 16 turnovers. MSU's all-conference leading scorer Tyler Hall was held to 11 points on 2-of-16 shooting.

With the win, Montana now holds the all-time series lead (149-148) for the first time in the 116-year history of the rivalry. The Grizzlies have been dominant of late, winning 15 of the last 16 meetings and 40 of the past 60 dating back to the early 1990s, but got off to a 0-9 start in the early 1900s and never recovered. Until now.

Montana looks to carry that momentum forward to this week when it closes the regular season with a pair of home games. Thursday's contest is being dubbed a White Out, with fans encouraged to wear white. Prior to Saturday's game, the Grizzlies will send off senior Fabijan Krslovic in his final home game.

#WhiteOutWeber pic.twitter.com/IAKom3dOld
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 28, 2018

Montana is a perfect 12-0 at home this season, and fed off the energy from the largest Dahlberg Arena crowd in seven seasons last Saturday. The Griz will need home-court advantage once again on Thursday as Weber State visits.

The Wildcats are in third place in the league, and until their recent two-game slide were briefly tied for first place with Montana with two losses apiece.

They've got away from the traditional Weber State basketball, with the sets. Now they're playing more free, a little bit more motion, a lot of threes. They're really talented and know what makes them successful and how to make that happen. They're really well prepared and really well coached.
They shoot the ball really well. They're going to have five guys on the floor sometimes who shoot above 40 percent from the three.

Prior to losses to Eastern Washington and Idaho last week – both by two possessions – Weber State had won nine games in a row. On the season, the Wildcats have one of the top offenses, ranking among the nation's leaders for shooting (.500; 12th in NCAA), three-point shooting (.429; second) and free-throw percentage (.771; 22nd).

"They shoot the ball really well," associate head coach Chris Cobb said. "They're going to have five guys on the floor sometimes who shoot above 40 percent from three."

One of those players is Jerrick Harding, who leads the Big Sky with 21.4 points per game. Harding shoots .530 from the floor overall (10th in Big Sky) and .434 from beyond the arc (eighth). Other top contributors for the Wildcats are Ryan Richardson (league-best 3.4 three-pointers made per game) and Dusty Baker (league-best .540 three-point shooting percentage and 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio).

"They've gotten away from the tradition Weber State style of basketball a little bit and now play freer," Cobb said. "They play a little bit of motion, shoot a lot of threes. They're really talented and know what makes them successful. That puts a lot of pressure on defenses. I think we're pretty good with on-ball-screen defense, so it'll be interesting to see how the styles match up."

On defense, they're nearly as good, being one of three teams in the Big Sky to hold opponents under 70 points per game. Montana is one of the others, and in fact, the two teams have the top two scoring margins – 10.0 for Weber State, 9.1 for Montana. Both figures rank in the top 50 nationally.

Both offenses are good, as are the defenses. Two areas where Montana may have an edges in are rebounding – Weber State has a +0.1 rebounding margin compared to Montana's +3.7 – and turnovers – the Wildcats have a negative turnover margin and average just 5.3 steals per game; Montana on the other hand ranks 17th nationally in both categories.

If recent history means anything, Thursday's game should be a battle until the end. Over the past three seasons, all seven meetings have been decided by single digits, including two overtime contests and a meeting in the 2015 Big Sky title game. That should come as no surprise considering the two programs have been the class of the Big Sky historically, earning more overall wins, conference championships and NCAA tournament berths than any other Big Sky school.

"It's always intense when Montana and Weber State play," DeCuire said. "I know we'll be ready to go."

We loved the atmosphere inside Dahlberg Arena on Saturday night.

We didn't love turning #GrizHoops fans away.

Be sure to get your tickets NOW for this week! https://t.co/kt0R2D0XyW pic.twitter.com/16iSvE9nj1
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 26, 2018

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WILDCATS
The series between Montana and Weber State dates back to the 1962-63 season, the inaugural year of the Big Sky Conference. Weber State owns a 70-56 advantage, but Montana leads the series in Missoula, 37-23.

Two streaks ended when the two teams met last season. Montana was riding a nine-game home win streak over the Wildcats, before Weber State stole a three-point overtime win at Dahlberg Arena on Dec. 31, with Jeremy Senglin hitting a step-back three-pointer with less than a second remaining in overtime. Two months later, in Ogden, Montana got revenge with its first regular-season victory at Weber State since 2004, helping the Grizzlies earn a first-round bye in the Big Sky Championship.

The two teams will play each other just once this season – at least for now. The two teams have met in the Big Sky Championship in six of the past eight seasons, with the possibility of meeting again next week in Reno.

In two games vs. the Wildcats, Ahmaad Rorie has a pair of 20-point performances, averaging 22.5 points per game. Michael Oguine also has a 20-point game (21 at Weber State in 2016), while also totaling at least eight rebounds in each of the last three contests. In the most-recent meeting, last March in Ogden, Sayeed Pridgett had 12 points and eight rebounds, Fabijan Krslovic scored 10 points and Bobby Moorehead added eight.

FEELING 22
A win on Thursday would give Montana its 22nd win of the season, the most under head coach Travis DeCuire. It would mark the 11th time in school history that the Grizzlies have reached that win total and their highest since 2013 (25).

Montana has won at least 20 games in three of DeCuire's four seasons, and as a program has finished .500 or better in 10 consecutive seasons.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Grizzlies hold a perfect 12-0 mark at home this season, and with a pair of wins this week could become the fifth team in school history to complete a season undefeated at home. The feat has been accomplished in 1991-92 (18-0), 1949-50 (15-0), 1983-84 (14-0) and 1974-75 (12-0).

Over the past decade, the Grizzlies have won more than 80 percent of their contests inside Dahlberg Arena, going 116-25 (.823). All-time, the Grizzlies boast one of the best home-court advantages, going 698-245 (.740) in their home arena.

TERRIFIC TRIO
Montana is the only school in Big Sky play to have three players rank in the top 15 for scoring, with juniors Ahmaad Rorie (16.6; ninth), Michael Oguine (15.8; 11th) and Jamar Akoh (15.3; 13th) doing so.

Rorie has been in double figures 25 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 17 of his past 21 contests, including seven double-doubles.

SIMPLE ROUTINE
Montana is one of six 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 and Virginia.

LEADING THE BIG SKY
With two games remaining in the regular season, Montana remains in the driver's seat toward another Big Sky championship. The Grizzlies, though, are also atop the conference for many offensive and defensive statistical categories. The Grizzlies rank first for:

Scoring defense (67.9)
Scoring margin (+13.2)
Field-goal percentage defense (.398)
Steals (8.5)
Turnover margin (+3.7)

Additionally, Montana ranks second for rebounding (37.2 per game) and rebounding margin (+3.4), and rank in the top third of the conference for scoring offense (81.1), field-goal percentage (.488), three-point field-goal defense (.340), assists (13.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.2).

NATIONAL RANKING
Montana is ranked No. 14 in this week's Mid-Major Top 25, rising two spots from last week. The Grizzlies cracked the poll for the first time on Jan. 15 and have been ranked as high as No. 12.

The Mid-Major Top 25 ranks the top teams from the America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast and Western Athletic conferences, in addition to independents. The poll, now in its 19th season, is voted on by 31 head coaches.

BENCH PRESENCE
Montana has used the same eight-man rotation for the majority of the season, receiving 15.3 points per game from its three main bench players.

The Grizzlies on Saturday vs. Montana State had six players score in double figures, and just two of them were starters. Bench players Timmy Falls (14), Sayeed Pridgett (14) and Karl Nicholas (13) accounted for 41 points. Falls' total tied a career high, scoring nine of them during a span of 1:34. Pridgett's 14 points all came in the second half, also adding five rebounds, while Nicholas shot 6-of-7 from the floor.

Rivalry win. In front of a sold-out crowd. To clinch a share of a conference title.

Last night was epic! pic.twitter.com/9xIRsotujw
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 26, 2018

FABULOUS PLAY
Even with just four points vs. Montana State, lone senior Fabijan Krslovic is still averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds over the past seven games, shooting 63.2 percent. After doing it once in the first 21 games, Krslovic has been in double figures four 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 14 assists and 11 steals during the seven-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 20 steals during Big Sky play (seventh) and over the past eight games overall is averaging 11.3 points on 67 percent shooting. After being held scoreless in the first half vs. Montana State (Feb. 24), he scored 14 points in the second half on 7-of-9 shooting.

BE LIKE MIKE
Junior guard Michael Oguine, a third-team All-Big Sky selection in 2016-17, scored in double figures in the first 11 games of the season, including 29 in a win at Pitt (Nov. 13), followed by 39 at Portland State (Jan. 13).

Oguine does it all for the Griz, leading the team with 40 steals and ranking second for scoring (15.2 points per game), assists (56) and blocked shots (15), and third for rebounding (5.1 per game). During league play, his 24 steals rank second. He also ranks in the top 15 for scoring, three-point shooting and free-throw percentage.

ALL-AROUND RORIE
Ahmaad Rorie is one of three players in the Big Sky Conference to rank in the top 15 for scoring (16.6 points per game; ninth), assists (3.6 per game; seventh) and minutes played (34.9; sixth). Additionally, his 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks third.

FRESHMAN FALLS
Timmy Falls continued his impressive streak last Saturday vs. Montana State, scoring a career-high-tying 14 points in the first half vs. the Bobcats. He scored nine points in a span of 1:34, helping Montana turn a two-point lead into a 13-point halftime advantage.

Since his breakout performance vs. UC Irvine (Dec. 19), when Falls also scored 14 points, he is averaging 20.2 minutes and 5.6 points per game. He's also added 39 assists and 18 steals during the 18-game stretch.

OUR STATE
Montana has owned the Brawl of the Wild rivalry over the past decade, beating Montana State 15 out of the last 16 meetings. The most-recent win was monumental, however. It marked the first time in 297 meetings, dating back to 1901-02, that the Grizzlies have led the all-time series. Montana now holds the series lead, 149-148.

On the road in January, the Grizzlies trailed by as many as nine points in the first half before they held the Bobcats to 19 second-half points and just four made field goals (16.7 percent). Last week at home, the Grizzlies had seven players score at least nine points while limiting the Bobcats to 31 percent shooting.

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will close the regular season on Saturday, hosting Idaho State. The game will be the final home game for senior Fabijan Krslovic, who has played every game since the start of the 2014-15 season, including more than 100 starts.

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

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jamar Akoh

Timmy Falls

Fabijan Krslovic

Bobby Moorehead

Karl Nicholas

Michael Oguine

Sayeed Pridgett

Ahmaad Rorie

University of Montana Athletics