Griz look to bounce back at nationally ranked Washington

Friday, November 22

Seattle, Wash.

9 PM (MT)

Montana

Washington

Photo by: Derek Johnson

Griz look to bounce back at nationally ranked Washington

11/21/2019 2:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)Schedule Roster

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana at No. 25 Washington / Friday / 9 p.m. (MT) / Seattle, Wash.

TV: Pac-12 Networks
Watch: Pac-12 Networks stream (with cable subscription)
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM, 98.3 FM) / Listen worldwide on TuneIn
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Montana can't go back and change what happened Monday, when the Grizzlies lost to NAIA member Montana Tech. What the Grizzlies can do, though, is let the loss fuel them moving forward. Still just two weeks into the season, the focus now flips to turning the page and moving forward, and that starts with nationally ranked Washington (Friday, 9 p.m. MT).

GRIZ BITS

Montana has used just eight players in every game this season, with four players earning starts in all four contests.
Sayeed Pridgett has led Montana for scoring three times in four games, averaging 18.5 points per game on .564 shooting. He also leads the team for rebounding (7.8 per game), assists (18), steals (7), blocked shots (4) and minutes played (38.2 per game).
Through four games, freshman Derrick Carter-Hollinger is averaging 8.3 points per contest on 13-of-21 shooting (.619). He had 15 points in his collegiate debut at Stanford and earned his first start earlier this week vs. Montana Tech.
Kendal Manuel, Montana's top three-point shooter a season ago, started the season shooting just 6-for-27 overall (.222). Over the past three halves, though, he is shooting 14-for-23 with 35 points, including a career-high 25 vs. Montana Tech on Monday.
Kyle Owens has started three games as a true freshman and has been in double figures for scoring twice. He is coming off of a 14-point performance vs. Montana Tech in which he was a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.
Through two games, Timmy Falls' stat line read: 15.5 minutes per game, 2.0 points per game, 1.5 assists per game, 0.5 steals per game. Over the past two contests, he is averaging 34.5 minutes per contest, in addition to 6.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals. He had 11 points and three steals on Monday vs. Montana Tech.
Freshman Josh Vazquez has started all four contests at point guard, scoring 11 points in his collegiate debut at Stanford. Over the past three games, however, he is shooting just 1-for-11.
After averaging 8.5 minutes per game off the bench as a true freshman, sophomore Mack Anderson has started all four contests this season. His best performance came at Arkansas, when he scored nine points and pulled down a career-high seven rebounds.
On Monday, the Grizzlies shot a season-high 53.2 percent, despite the loss.
Montana has out-rebounded its opponent in every game this season. The Grizzlies are averaging 33.8 rebounds per game for a +2.5 margin.
Montana is 1-0 when winning the turnover battle but 0-3 when losing it. In Montana's three losses, the Grizzlies have turned the ball over at least 17 times for an average of 19.0 per loss (22.7 points off turnover per loss).
Through four games, Montana is averaging just 3.8 made three-pointers per game. For comparison, a season ago, the Grizzlies averaged 8.2. Kendal Manuel has made nearly half of the Grizzlies' triples (7 of 15), but he is shooting just 29.2 percent (compared to 34.7 a season ago). The Grizzlies have a worse three-point percentage than their opponent in every game this season.
Montana has not led at the half this season.
Montana already has three scoring runs of more than 10 points (14-0 vs. Stanford; 13-0 vs. MSU Northern; 11-0 vs. MSU Northern).

SEATTLE CONNECTION
While it's not as prominent as the last time Montana came to Seattle – when two starters and a handful of other players were from the nearby area – the Grizzlies have three players who call the Seattle area home: Jett Briceno (Kentridge H.S. in Kent), Freddy Brown III (Nathan Hale H.S.) and Peter Jones (O'Dea H.S.). Additionally, head coach Travis DeCuire is from the Rainer Valley, where he was a prep star at Mercer Island High School.

Kendal Manuel balled out last night, scoring 25 points!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/h5qGo9SIzR
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) November 20, 2019

SCOUTING WASHINGTON

Washington enters Friday's game with a 3-1 mark, defeating Maine, 72-53, on Tuesday night. Washington also owns wins over then-No. 16 Baylor and Mount St. Mary's. The Huskies' only loss came to Tennessee, in a neutral-site game in Toronto.
UW has used the same starting lineup in all five contests, with four of their starters averaging more than 30 minutes per game.
A trio of starters account for nearly 70 percent of the team's scoring, including Nahziah Carter (15.8 ppg) and Isaiah Stewart (15.3).
Stewart, the 2019 Naismith High School Player of the Year, leads the team for shooting (.574), rebounding (7.8 rpg) and blocked shots (10).
As a team, UW ranks fifth nationally with 7.5 blocks per game.
Three Huskies were McDonald's All-Americans coming out of high school (Stewart, Quade Green, Jayden McDaniels), with all three ranked in the top 25 of their respective recruiting classes. Green is a transfer from Kentucky who leads the team with 20 assists. McDaniels is averaging 12.3 points per game and a team-high 34.6 minutes per contest.
UW returned just 19.8 percent of its scoring from a season ago, graduating four seniors and a fifth, Jaylen Nowell, who declared for the NBA Draft.
McDaniels and Stewart are on the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 watch list.
Mike Hopkins, the longtime Syracuse assistant, is in his third season at UW. He has been named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year each of the past two seasons, guiding the Huskies to back-to-back 20-win seasons, including an NIT berth in 2018 and the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2019.

SERIES VS. THE HUSKIES
Aside from Gonzaga and Washington State, Montana has played the Huskies more than any other Division-I non-conference opponent, meeting for 55th time on Friday. The Huskies lead the all-time series, 45-9, but Montana has had some bright spots. The Grizzlies won five of six meetings between 1982-83 and 1994-95, including three in a row during Travis DeCuire's playing career.

The series between Montana and Washington dates back to 1923-24, and the two teams played two times most seasons through 1940-41, including as Pacific Coast Conference mates for a short stretch. The series picked back up in 1961-62 and continued semi-regularly through the end of DeCuire's playing career (20 meetings in 34 seasons).

The two teams have played six times since then, including in the 2005 NCAA tournament in Boise, Idaho. The Huskies won that meeting by 11 to snap Montana's three-game winning streak in the series and have won the last six in the series overall. The Grizzlies gave the Huskies a run for their money in 2013-14, falling by four on the road in a game in which Montana missed a free throw with 12 seconds remaining that would have tied the game. It was a similar tale a season ago, when Montana had the chance to tie the game in the final 7 seconds, but was unable to convert from the foul line.

MONTANA VS. THE PAC-12
Montana has played at least one Pac-12 team every season since 2013-14, and has three on its schedule for this season. The Grizzlies are looking for their first win over a Pac-12 team since beating both Oregon State and UCLA in 2010-11. Since then, the Grizzlies have lost 11 in a row. All-time, Montana is 56-219 against current members of the Pac-12.

Sayeed Pridgett and Timmy Falls were the only current Grizzlies to play against Washington two years ago, with Pridgett scoring four points and pulling down six rebounds. Additionally, Kendal Manuel played against the Huskies four times while with Oregon State.

LOOKING FOR A RANKED WIN
Montana is looking for its first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 20 Nevada, 87-79, during the 2006 NCAA tournament. The Grizzlies are 5-41 all-time against ranked teams, with its last top-25 true road win coming in December 2002 at No. 19 Stanford (70-68 win).

FRESH FACES
Due to a variety of factors, including injury and transfer rules, just eight of Montana's 15 players have seen the court this season.

Four of the players – Derrick Carter-Hollinger, Eddy Egun, Kyle Owens and Josh Vazquez – made their collegiate debuts earlier this month at Stanford. Vazquez's 36.5 minutes-per-game average ranks second on the team, while Owens is fourth (24.0), Carter-Hollinger is fifth (22.0) and Egun ranks sixth (18.5).

Overall, 50.5 percent of the team's minutes played have been recorded by players who were in high school or redshirting last season. The four freshmen also account for 45.2 percent of the team's scoring and 43.5 percent of its rebounding.

Complete Game Notes in PDF format, including additional notes, stats, charts and player pages

Gallery: (11/18/2019) MBB: vs. Montana Tech (11.18.19)