Griz unofficially open season with fun Maroon-Silver Scrimmage

Tuesday, October 22

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

Maroon-Silver Scrimmage

Photo by: Todd Goodrich

Griz unofficially open season with fun Maroon-Silver Scrimmage

10/22/2019 9:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

In the end, Tuesday was what it was expected to be: a scrimmage. The Montana men's basketball team has been practicing for nearly a month now, and has held a pair of intrasquad scrimmages, but Tuesday's Maroon & Silver Scrimmage – despite being just one, 20-minute period – allowed the staff to see how the team performs when the lights come on.

Overall, the feedback was positive. Players like Kendal Manuel, a senior from Billings, Mont., stepped up with a game-high 11 points while playing all 20 minutes. Redshirt freshman Eddy Egun wowed the crowd with three swipes, while Mack Anderson made both of his shots and added four boards, a block and a steal.

It also gave Montana's four freshmen and three of its transfers their first taste of competing inside Dahlberg Arena.

"You want guys to get the jitters out, and then it gives us some film to look at and continue to work on," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "I thought it was a good outing tonight, and it showed us what we wanted to see."

Gallery: (10/22/2019) MBB: Maroon-Silver Scrimmage (10.22.19)

The Maroon squad featured Montana's veterans, including returning starters Manuel and Sayeed Pridgett – a first-team All-Big Sky selection – plus Mack Anderson, who is coming off of a strong and growth-filled freshman season. Egun, a redshirt freshman, and Montana's trio of highly touted freshmen also suited up for Maroon. Kyle Owens played 16 minutes while Josh Vazquez and Derrick Carter-Hollinger alternated between the two squads.

"I thought they did what they do," DeCuire said about the freshmen. "I thought Josh got the ball to the right guys, he made open shots and he was aggressive making plays at the right moments. Kyle was active on the offensive glass, and his versatility allows you to do a lot of things offensively. You see how D.J. flies around and gets on the glass. He rebounds the ball and creates extra possessions."

The night also showed the staff what needs to be improved. Despite being made up of perhaps the top rotation players, Maroon shot just 35.7 percent, including 14.3 percent from long range (2-of-14). The poor shooting is a major reason why Maroon, which jumped out to a 10-3 advantage and led for the first 15 minutes of the scrimmage, ended up falling to Silver, 28-27.

Silver held Maroon to a single field goal for the final 8 minutes of the contest until Egun hit a three from the corner in the final second of the competition. It allowed the cast of newcomers – three transfers, three true freshmen and a sophomore – to show Griz Nation there is plenty to be excited about in the future.

Naseem Gaskin, a transfer from Utah, had 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, in addition to four rebounds, two assists and a steal. San Jose State transfer Michael Steadman chipped in six points and two assists, while asserting his 6-10 frame on defense. Freddy Brown III buried a pair of three-pointers and added eight points.

Enough with the statistics, though. While the scrimmage was beneficial, Tuesday was mostly about providing Griz fans their basketball fill after a long, seven-month offseason.

New this year, in between the Lady Griz scrimmage and the men's tip, the night featured a variety of competitions, including a three-point shooting challenge between the men and women and a slam dunk contest. Pridgett wowed the celebrity judges – DeCuire, Lady Griz assistant coach/former Griz Nathan Covill and Voice of the Griz Riley Corcoran – with a near perfect score (29.5 out of 30) to win the dunk contest.

"It was a fun night," DeCuire said. "I thought it added to the environment and made it a fun event."

Montana will hold two closed-door scrimmages against Division-I competition in the coming weeks before opening its season Wednesday, Nov. 6 at Stanford. The Grizzlies' home opener will come Sunday, Nov. 10 vs. MSU-Northern.

Let's get this scrimmage started with a little skills competition!#GrizHoops #GoGriz https://t.co/TNQpYdlaZ0
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) October 23, 2019