Next game up: Unbeaten Griz host Hornets

MONTANA VS. SACRAMENTO STATE
Saturday, Feb. 10 / 7 p.m. MT / Missoula, Mont.
TV: Eleven Sports Network / Watch / Pluto TV (ch. 237) / Listen (1290 AM, 98.3 FM) / Live Stats

With six games remaining in the regular season, Montana remains unbeaten in Big Sky Conference play and owns a 2.5-game lead over second-place Weber State. The Grizzlies are coming off of a 20-point win over Portland State on Thursday, a team they beat by just three a month prior in Portland.

The Vikings entered the game ranked fourth nationally, averaging more than 88 points per game; the Griz held PSU to a season-low 60 points. Additionally, the Vikings led the nation for steals (10.7 per game) and ranked second nationally for turnovers forced (19.7), but were limited to four and 10 against Montana – both tied for season lows.

The 20-point victory was the widest margin of loss for Portland State this season, surpassing the 19-point defeat to No. 1 Duke in November.

"Right now we're playing Grizzly basketball, and if we keep doing that, and continue to do what we need to do and stick to the script, we'll be fine."

The Grizzlies remain one of the top offensive teams in the conference, but have been particularly strong on defense, holding five of their last six opponents below 70 points. During conference play overall, Montana has allowed under 70 points eight times, under 60 points four times and under 50 points twice.

The Grizzlies rank among the 20 best teams nationally for turnovers forced per game, steals per game and turnover margin, and rank in the top 20 percent of all NCAA Division I teams for rebounding margin, field-goal defense and scoring defense.

"Defense has to be our identity if we're going to continue to win," DeCuire said. "I'm happy with our defense. Our effort is there, and we've got a group of guys that are committed to playing defense."

Montana will now turn its attention to a Sacramento State squad that has lost three consecutive games, including a 16-point loss at Montana State on Thursday. Despite their offensive struggles – the Hornets rank 11th in the Big Sky for scoring – they have one of the conference's top players in senior Justin Strings.

"They're always a dangerous team," DeCuire said. "We saw that last year and even last month on the road. They play a completely different style than Portland State, but for us, we just need to remain consistent in our approach."

Last month on the road, the Grizzlies defeated the Hornets, 78-66, by overcoming a halftime deficit and Strings' 20 points and nine boards.

Ahmaad Rorie had 23 points, six assists and three steals, while Michael Oguine had 16 points and four steals. Bobby Moorehead was in double figures with 13 points. Jamar Akoh (nine points, eight rebounds) and Fabijan Krslovic (eight points, eight rebounds) barely missed double-doubles. Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor and three-point range, but Montana was able to force the Hornets into 17 turnovers (14 steals), and out-rebounded the home team, 36-22.

Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Saturday, and the game will be broadcast nationally on Eleven Sports Network, in addition to WatchBigSky.com and Pluto TV channel 237. Tickets to Saturday's game can be purchased online or at the Adams Center box office.

12-0 #FightUniteWin pic.twitter.com/lFttXeqfto
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 9, 2018

JUST KEEP WINNING
Montana's 12-game win streak is the longest under Travis DeCuire, and is tied for the seventh-longest active streak in the NCAA. Only Saint Mary's (19), ETSU (15), Virginia (15), Cincinnati (15), Rhode Island (14) and Vermont (13) have longer streaks than the Grizzlies.

In more than a century of basketball at the university, Montana has reached 12 consecutive victories six times (five times against all-Division-I teams).

"We're just trying to stay hungry," Travis DeCuire recently said. "Any hint of complacency we deal with it right away, but I haven't seen much of it. They're playing for the bigger picture. They're playing together. When you get a group willing to give up for the better of the whole, you've always got a chance to win, and right now we have a lot of guys doing that."

STARTING STRONG
Montana is off to a 12-0 start to begin Big Sky Conference play, marking the second time in the Grizzlies' 55-year history in the league. The Grizzlies also did it in 2012-13, winning their first 14 games.

The streak is the fourth-best start in Big Sky history, trailing only Weber State (15-0 start in 1969), Weber State (14-0 start in 2003) and Montana (14-0 start in 2013).

24 GAMES IN
At 19-5 through 24 games, Montana is off to one of its better starts in school history. The Grizzlies have begun a season 19-5 or better seven times prior to this season, most recently in 2012-13 (19-5 through 24 games).

18 AND COUNTING
With 19 wins, Montana has already surpassed last year's 16-16 mark and is on the cusp of a third 20-win season under Travis DeCuire. Montana is also guaranteed a .500 record or better for the 10th consecutive season.

SERIES VS. THE HORNETS
Montana has had plenty of success against Sacramento State, going 39-9 all-time vs. the Hornets. The series includes three separate winning streaks of at least eight games, including 15 Griz wins in a row from 2006-07 through 2013-14. The two teams have met at least once every season since 1992-93. Montana holds a commanding 23-2 advantage in Missoula, winning 13 in a row prior to last season's two-point setback.

Five different Grizzlies have a double-figures scoring game in their careers vs. Sacramento State, including four by Michael Oguine and three in three games for Ahmaad Rorie. As a freshman in 2016-17, Sayeed Pridgett scored a career-high 28 points – in addition to four rebounds and three assists – last year in Sacramento.

SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE

Sacramento State enters Saturday's game with a 6-18 mark, including a 3-8 record in league play.
Two of Sac State's three conference wins have come over Portland State. Since the Hornets' Jan. 27 win at Portland State, however, they have lost three in a row – all by at least 16 points.
Sac State allows just 75.5 points per game to Big Sky opponents (fifth), but is averaging just 68.7 points per game (11th).
The Hornets rank second in Big Sky play with 3.5 blocked shots per game. They also average 6.0 steals per game (fourth) and have a positive turnover margin (+0.3; fifth).
Senior Justin Strings is one of the top players in the league, scoring in double figures in 44 consecutive games.
Strings leads the Big Sky for minutes played (37.5 per game) and ranks sixth for scoring (18.9), fifth for blocked shots (1.5) and 13th for rebounding (6.5).
Sophomore Joshua Patton leads the Big Sky with 44 blocked shots and is the league leader during conference play with a .643 shooting percentage.
Sophomore Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa ranks in the top five during Big Sky play for both assists (4.1 per game) and steals (1.4).
The Hornets have four players averaging double figures for scoring during conference play. Those four account for 72.1 percent of the team's scoring.
Brian Katz is in his 10th season at Sac State. He is the school's Division-I-era wins leader (110) and was the 2015 Big Sky and Mid-Major Coach of the Year.

LEADING THE BIG SKY
With six games remaining, Montana holds a 2.5-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 offense (82.8)
Scoring defense (66.8)
Scoring margin (+16.1)
Field-goal percentage defense (.381)
Three-point field-goal percentage defense (.304)
Rebounding (37.8)
Steals (8.6)
Turnover margin (+4.0)

The Grizzlies also rank second for field-goal percentage (.499) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2), and third for three-point shooting (.411) and rebounding margin (+4.2).

@SP4THABOY and @youngmike_1 bring the crowd to its feet! #GrizHoops on top early, 8-6! pic.twitter.com/oVhgfxvyTI
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 9, 2018

NATIONAL RANKING
Montana cracked the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll for the first time this season on Jan. 15, and has steadily moved up each week since. The Grizzlies are No. 14 in this week's Mid-Major Top 25 and No. 15 in the Mid-Major Madness power rankings.

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.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Grizzlies hold a perfect 10-0 mark at home this season, and over the past decade has won more than 80 percent of their contests inside Dahlberg Arena, going 114-25 (.820). All-time, the Grizzlies boast one of the best home-court advantages, going 688-240 (.741) in their home arena.

PLAYING FROM IN FRONT
Through 12 Big Sky games, the Grizzlies have trailed for just 61 minutes, 51 seconds out of 480 total minutes (12.9 percent). More impressive, they have trailed for just 9:49 in the second half (4.1 percent).

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 (17.1; eighth), Jamar Akoh (17.1; eighth) and Michael Oguine (16.0; 11th) accomplishing the feat.

Rorie has been in double figures 21 times this season – including 20-plus on 11 occasions. Oguine has been in double figures in all but three contests, while Akoh has accomplished the feat in 15 of his past 17 contests, including six double-doubles.

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
Over the past eight games, Montana has entered halftime tied or trailing on four occasions. In fact, during that span, the Grizzlies have led by an average of just 2.4 points per game. They have come out of the break strong, however, winning those eight games by an average of 13.3 points.

Of Montana's 12 Big Sky contests, the Grizzlies have out-scored their opponents in the second half 10 times, in large part due to strong runs immediately out of the break:

Dec. 28 at Northern Arizona: 6-0
Dec. 30 at Southern Utah: 9-2
Jan. 4 vs. North Dakota: 13-5
Jan. 6 vs. Northern Colorado: 16-10
Jan. 11 at Sacramento State: 21-8
Jan. 13 at Portland State: 22-8
Jan. 20 at Montana State: 20-9
Jan. 25 vs. Southern Utah: 27-13
Jan. 27 vs. Northern Arizona: 28-7
Feb. 1 at Northern Colorado: 17-4
Feb. 8 vs. Portland State: 12-0

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will make its final road trip of the regular season, traveling to two of the top teams in the conference: Eastern Washington (Thursday) and Idaho (Saturday).

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

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Players Mentioned

Jamar Akoh

Fabijan Krslovic

Bobby Moorehead

Michael Oguine

Sayeed Pridgett

Ahmaad Rorie

University of Montana Athletics