Wednesday, November 6
Stanford, Calif.
8 PM (MT)
Montana
at
Stanford
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Photo by: Todd Goodrich
Basketball season begins Wednesday at Stanford
11/4/2019 12:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana at Stanford / Wednesday / 8 p.m. (MT) / Stanford, Calif.
The Montana men's basketball team opens the 2019-20 season on Wednesday, traveling to Stanford for a clash against the Cardinal of the Pac-12. It marks the first time since 2016 that the Grizzlies will open the season away from home.
Unlike the Cardinal, which had just one senior a season ago and returns a large bulk of its production, Montana will use the first seven weeks to establish a new identity.
Gone are staples of the program like Ahmaad Rorie and Michael Oguine – who both rank in the top seven in Griz history for career scoring, among countless other accolades – and Bobby Moorehead, who set a school record with 134 career games played.
In fact, Montana will be replacing the majority of its production, bringing back just 24.5 percent of its minutes played from a season ago, in addition to 40.0 percent of its scoring and 29.9 percent of its rebounding.
Montana brought in seven newcomers during the offseason, not including midyear transfer Yagizhan Selcuk. Despite so much turnover, the Grizzlies have established themselves throughout history as the team to beat in the Big Sky Conference. For proof, the league's media affiliates picked Montana to win the Big Sky for an unprecedented third straight season. The coaches also see big things for a young Griz team, picking Montana to finish second to Eastern Washington.
It's high praise, and also an added bullseye, but to get to that point Montana will have to take advantage of the first seven weeks of the season.
"It's a long season, and the goal is always to be playing our best at the end of the season," sixth-year head coach Travis DeCuire said. "Our goal is always to be in the hunt in March, and in order to do that, we're going to have to really grow through the first month."
The schedule is packed with challenges. DeCuire is not one to shy away from competition, and this year – despite so much newness – is no different. The Grizzlies scheduled four dates with Power-5 teams (three from the Pac-12 and one from the SEC), in addition to a New Mexico team from the Mountain West that has a ton of history, including being a No. 3 seed in the 2013 NCAA tournament. Additionally, the Grizzlies will play 2019 CIT participant Texas Southern at home.
Winning is always the goal. But the bigger focus for the 11 non-conference dates is for the Grizzlies to find themselves. In each of the past two seasons, Montana has posted a winning non-conference record – something that hadn't happened in six seasons prior to 2017. In both of those seasons, Montana went on to win the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles and play in the NCAA tournament.
A big part of finding its identity is learning who DeCuire and his staff can trust on the court. They have an idea through six weeks of official practices and two closed-door scrimmages, but it is likely to evolve throughout November and December as the Grizzlies are tested in different ways.
That likely means different rotations and playing combinations early on, before whittling down the rotation come January. A season ago, Montana had 10 players average at least 9 minutes per game in non-conference play. Over the final month of the season, that number was down to just seven.
"We're young, so it will take time to figure everything out," DeCuire said. "We're young, but we're hungry, and I like that about our group."
SCOUTING STANFORD
Montana is 2-4 all-time against Stanford, with the two teams splitting their past four meetings.
The series began in 1930-31, a Stanford win in California. The Cardinal earned another victory in 1988-89, this time in Missoula as part of the Preseason NIT. The two teams then met three times over a four-year period in the mid-2000s, with the Grizzlies winning twice. Montana earned a 70-68 win at Stanford in 2002-03 and a 19-point home victory in 2005-06. Stanford was victorious on its home court in 2004-05 and again two years ago.
In that meeting, a 70-54 Cardinal victory, Montana held a six-point lead with under 10 minutes to play, but the Grizzlies would make just two of their final 19 shot attempts and were out-scored 26-4 over the final 9-plus minutes. Two current Grizzlies played in that contest, with Sayeed Pridgett scoring six points and two rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Timmy Falls, then a freshman, logged 11 minutes and scored one point.
LOOK WHO'S BACK
It's been established that Montana lost plenty of talent, including three players who earned all-conference recognition during their careers. While this is true, a big reason why the league's coaches and media picked Montana to finish so high is because of the players the Grizzlies have coming back.
Montana returns four rotation players from last year's championship team, and all four were key factors.
None was bigger than guard/forward combo Sayeed Pridgett, who earned first-team All-Big Sky recognition after ranking in the top 15 in the Big Sky for scoring, field-goal percentage, steals, assists and blocks. In March, he became the 34th member of Montana's 1,000-point scoring club. His biggest asset, though, is his versatility, with Travis DeCuire saying Pridgett will likely play all five position throughout the season.
Joining Pridgett is Kendal Manuel. The Billings native started his career at Oregon State before returning to Montana and making a big splash in his first season. Getting clearance from the NCAA to play the week of the team's season opener, Manuel made the most of that opportunity. He ranked sixth in the Big Sky for three-point shooting (.432 on 57 makes) and led the conference with a .896 free-throw percentage. He was named the league's top newcomer and top reserve.
Mack Anderson, a Bozeman product, is also back. Anderson was initially expected to redshirt in 2018-19, but got thrown into the fire during the second week of the season. He played in 28 games as a true freshman, averaging 8.5 minutes, 2.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. Those numbers, though, are a tad misleading, as he progressed throughout the season. Over the final month of the season, Anderson played at least 14 minutes in four contests. During those games, he shot 12-of-15 from the floor, averaging 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
During an up-and-down sophomore campaign, Timmy Falls finished strong, starting the final five contests as the Grizzlies won a second consecutive Big Sky tournament title. He ranked second on the team with 73 assists, first with one assist every 8.3 minutes on the court and was considered the team's top perimeter defender. Falls had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio just once over the final 25 games of 2018-19, and closed the regular season with 11.0 points per game over three contests.
Also returning is Freddy Brown III, who made 4-of-8 three-point attempts across 15 games as a true freshman in 2018-19, and Peter Jones, who played 7 minutes across six contests and is healthy after a foot injury kept him away from the court for most of last season. After redshirting a season ago, Eddy Egun is expected to fill a role this season. The two-time All-CIF Los Angeles selection has the ability to drive to the hoop or shoot from distance, and DeCuire said in October that he has grown more than anyone in terms of his willingness to compete and bring energy.
NEW TO THE TEAM
Montana signed an exciting trio of players from the state of California last November, and all three are expected to make an impact on the court as true freshmen. Josh Vazquez (6-3 guard from outside Los Angeles) is the team's best pure point guard, DeCuire said, while Derrick Carter-Hollinger (6-5 forward from outside San Diego) and Kyle Owens (6-8 forward from outside Los Angeles) have the versatility to play multiple positions. All three scored more than 1,000 career points during their prep careers.
Vazquez never lost a league or home game during his four-year career at Bishop Montgomery, helping the Knights to a 31-2 record as a senior, winning a state championship and being ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps. He averaged more than 15 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals per game.
Carter-Hollinger was the 2019 East County Player of the Year, averaging a double-double as both a junior and senior, including 17.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game during his final season. Foothills Christian High School went 24-7 and was ranked No. 13 in the entire state of California last year.
Playing for Crespi Carmelite High School, Owens won a state title as a freshman and went undefeated in league play as a junior. During his senior campaign, Owens averaged 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game.
Montana also brought in walk-on Jett Briceno, from Kent, Wash.
NEW TO THE TEAM (SORT OF)
Jared Samuelson played two seasons for the Griz, redshirting in 2015-16 before playing in all 32 contests in 2016-17. During that season, the 6-7 forward averaged 5.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game while adding 11 blocks. He shot a team-best .570.
Samuelson then transferred to Rocky Mountain College in his hometown of Billings, where he became an NAIA All-American. In two seasons, he averaged 18.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting at a .523 clip. After earning a degree in business management, Samuelson is back at Montana, where he will play his senior season while working toward his master's in business administration.
NEW, BUT WILL HAVE TO WAIT
Montana also brought in a trio of transfers who will have to wait their turn.
Griz fans will be able to see Towson transfer Yagizhan Selcuk around the start of conference play. The Turkish forward played in five games for the Tigers before transferring to Montana midyear.
Naseem Gaskin, who redshirted during in his lone season at Utah, was rated as a three-star recruit by both ESPN.com and 247Sports.com, and was the 37th-best player from the state of California, according to ESPN. He averaged 14.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game at Bishop O'Dowd High School outside of Oakland, helping his school to the CIF state tournament. Michael Steadman was San Jose State's top player last season. He led the Spartans for scoring (13.2 points per game) and rebounding (8.5 per game) while starting 29 games. He ranked third in the Mountain West for shooting (.483) and in the top 15 for both scoring and rebounding.
Gaskin is expected to have three years of eligibility remaining, beginning in 2020-21. Steadman will be able to play one season for the Griz, in 2020-21.
AIMING FOR A ROAD WIN
Montana is just 8-11 in season openers since the turn of the century, and the number is bleaker on the road. While the Grizzlies have won six consecutive season openers when the first game is at home, when it's on the road, Montana hasn't won a season opener since 1974 at Colorado State. Since then, the Grizzlies have lost 12 consecutive season openers on the road, most recently in 2016 at USC.
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 10 in a row. All-time, Montana is 56-218 against current members of the Pac-12.
Five currently Grizzlies have played against the Pac-12 before, with three playing against Stanford. In the 2017 meeting vs. the Cardinal, Sayeed Pridgett had six points and two rebounds while Timmy Falls played for 11 minutes. Kendal Manuel faced the Cardinal three times while he was at Oregon State, scoring 10 points in a 2017 game in Corvallis and eight points later that year at Stanford. Travis DeCuire went 6-6 against Stanford while on staff at Cal.
HOMECOMING TO THE BAY
It's no secret that Montana has several ties to the state of California, in particular the Bay Area. The Grizzlies' three assistant coaches all hail from northern California – Chris Cobb (Castro Valley), Jay Flores (Sacramento) and Zach Payne (Danville) – while head coach Travis DeCuire coached for six seasons at California, including the final four as associate head coach. Cobb played at Menlo College – which practically shares a campus with Stanford – before coaching at nearby San Francisco State and Chico State. Flores played for Chico State and coached at Cal State East Bay.
Additionally, eight of Montana's 15 players grew up in the state of California, including Timmy Falls (Dublin), Naseem Gaskin (Oakland), Sayeed Pridgett (Oakland) and Michael Steadman (Union City) – which are all located within 30 miles of Stanford's campus.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
How important is non-conference play? If you asked Travis DeCuire, he will say it's a vital time to set a team up for success come conference play, and ultimately in March. Perhaps it's just a useless stat, or perhaps there's more. Montana has posted a winning non-conference record six times since the turn of the century. The Grizzlies have played in the NCAA tournament in five of those seasons (2006, 2010, 2012, 2018 and 2019) and the CBI in the other (2011).
A season ago, Montana went 7-4 in non-conference play – its best winning percentage since 2010-11. Making the record even more impressive, Montana did so against the 43rd-toughtest non-conference schedule in the entire country, featuring wins over 2019 NCAA tournament opponents Georgia State and North Dakota State, in addition to snapping South Dakota State's nation-leading 26-game home win streak.
PRIDGETT 4 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
It was no surprise when Sayeed Pridgett's name was announced as one of six players on the Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team in October. After all, as a junior in 2019, he was the league's only player to rank in the top 15 for scoring (sixth), shooting (second), steals (11th), assists (13th) and rebounds (15th). He not only averaged 15.1 points per game, but did so on .605 shooting, the 19th-best rate in the nation. He was three times named the Big Sky Player of the Week before earning first-team all-league honors in March.
Since then, Montana has graduated a pair of 1,500-point scorers that Pridgett shared the court with last season, opening up more room for Pridgett to take over during his senior campaign.
Pridgett has been named Montana's Ryan Dick Award winner as the team's most-improved player each of the past three seasons. It's not just his scoring that impresses Travis DeCuire, though. Night in and night out, Pridgett fills the box score, with DeCuire recently calling Pridgett the most versatile player he's ever coached.
As a freshman in 2016, Pridgett averaged 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting at a .524 clip (ninth in Big Sky). As a sophomore, he was Montana's top player off the bench, averaging 8.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while adding 1.2 steals per contest (11th in Big Sky). His breakout season came a year later, when he not only was one of the league's top all-around players, but added even more versatility to his game with the development of a three-point shot (.463 shooting on 19 makes) and added defense.
"Sayeed is one of those guys who always comes ready to play, and he always continues to progress regardless of any past success," DeCuire said. "We don't really talk about his progression, he just does it."
Over the final 14 games of his junior season, Pridgett led the Griz for scoring nine times, averaging 19.4 points per game on .671 shooting. He added 15 steals, six blocks and 5.4 rebounds per game.
LOFTY EXPECTATIONS
So much for catching teams by surprise. Despite losing 75 percent of their minutes played and five of their top seven scorers, the Grizzlies were still picked to win the Big Sky Conference by the league's media affiliates and finish second according to the coaches.
If Montana can win a third consecutive Big Sky championship, it would be unprecedented on many levels. Despite winning 12 regular-season championships and a league-record 11 tournament titles in its history, Montana has never won either in three consecutive seasons.
In fact, a Big Sky team has won the tournament three years in a row just once – from 1978-80 – and one would have to go back to 1973 to find the last time a single team won the Big Sky regular season in three consecutive seasons.
DOMINANT DECUIRE
Travis DeCuire is in his sixth season at his alma mater. Despite a long line of successful Griz coaches, no Montana coach has ever won as many games through his first five seasons as DeCuire has (109-58). Blaine Taylor— DeCuire's head coach while he was player – had 104 wins through his first five seasons. Other notable Griz coaches include Stew Morrill (98), Wayne Tinkle (91), Mike Montgomery (89), Jud Heathcote (80) and George Dahlberg (70).
While Montana graduated the majority of its production from last year's championship team, three-point shooting is an area where the Griz bring back plenty of talent. Sure, Montana still lost nearly two-thirds of its made three-pointers from a season ago, but it's the players who are back that will be key.
Senior Kendal Manuel drained 57 treys on .422 shooting during his first season in Missoula and will again lead the charge. Also back is junior Timmy Falls, who has 48 makes across two seasons, and Pridgett, who added range to his game in 2019, including four made treys at Creighton. Throw in Freddy Brown III (a player with 'Downtown' in his nickname) and a handful of freshmen who can shoot from range, and it becomes a promising statistic for the Griz.
"It all comes down to the right guys taking the shots," Travis DeCuire said. "Each year we've started slow from three, as I let guys take their shots, and then we've figured out who should be shooting them and our percentages have gone up drastically.
In 2017-18, Montana shot .339 from deep (236th nationally) while making just 5.5 triples per game (331st). Last year, the Griz ranked 30th nationally with a .380 shooting percentage, and averaged nearly three more makes per contest.
GOOD AT BOTH
Montana was one of 19 teams across the country to rank in the top 100 nationally for scoring offense (76.1 points per game, 82nd) and scoring defense (68.5 points per game, 90th). The Grizzlies were also in the top 100 for both statistical categories in 2017-18.
CHALLENGING SCHEDULEGallery: (10/22/2019) MBB: Maroon-Silver Scrimmage (10.22.19)
HISTORICALLY GOOD
Montana won 26 games a season ago, tied for the third-most in school history (along with the 2017-18 team). The program won 52 games in 2017-18 and 2018-19 combined, the most ever over a two-year period. Stretching it out even further, Montana won 89 games during Bobby Moorehead and Michael Oguine's four-year careers, the second-best four-year stretch in school history.
Montana is one of 21 schools nationally to win at least 25 games in both 2017-18 and 2018-19. The full list includes: Buffalo, Cincinnati, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Murray State, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Carolina, North Carolina-Greensboro, Old Dominion, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Vermont and Virginia.
ON TOP OF THE BIG SKY
Montana repeated as Big Sky Conference champions in 2018-19, winning both the regular-season and tournament titles. Just five times in the league's history has the same team won both the regular season and tournament in consecutive seasons. The Grizzlies have done it three of those times (1979-80 Weber State, 1981-82 Idaho, 1991-92 Montana, 2012-13 Montana, 2018-19 Montana).
HOME SWEET HOME
Dating back to February 2017, Montana has won 26 of its past 28 home games and is one of 20 teams nationally to lose two or fewer home games over the past two seasons.
The Grizzlies boast one of the nation's best home-court advantages, going 709-246 (.742) all-time inside Dahlberg Arena, including 127-26 (.828) over the past decade. The Grizzlies averaged more than 4,000 fans per game in 2018-19, a better average than three Pac-12 schools.
Of the 71 western schools in NCAA Division-I basketball (those in the Big Sky, Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, Summit League, WAC and West Coast), very few have had the level of success that Montana has enjoyed over the past decade. During that time, the Grizzlies have won five regular-season conference titles (T-2nd), have played in the NCAA tournament five times (7th) and have won 219 games (9th).
GRIZ HISTORY
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The Montana men's basketball team opens the 2019-20 season on Wednesday, traveling to Stanford for a clash against the Cardinal of the Pac-12. It marks the first time since 2016 that the Grizzlies will open the season away from home.
Unlike the Cardinal, which had just one senior a season ago and returns a large bulk of its production, Montana will use the first seven weeks to establish a new identity.
Gone are staples of the program like Ahmaad Rorie and Michael Oguine – who both rank in the top seven in Griz history for career scoring, among countless other accolades – and Bobby Moorehead, who set a school record with 134 career games played.
In fact, Montana will be replacing the majority of its production, bringing back just 24.5 percent of its minutes played from a season ago, in addition to 40.0 percent of its scoring and 29.9 percent of its rebounding.
Montana brought in seven newcomers during the offseason, not including midyear transfer Yagizhan Selcuk. Despite so much turnover, the Grizzlies have established themselves throughout history as the team to beat in the Big Sky Conference. For proof, the league's media affiliates picked Montana to win the Big Sky for an unprecedented third straight season. The coaches also see big things for a young Griz team, picking Montana to finish second to Eastern Washington.
It's high praise, and also an added bullseye, but to get to that point Montana will have to take advantage of the first seven weeks of the season.
"It's a long season, and the goal is always to be playing our best at the end of the season," sixth-year head coach Travis DeCuire said. "Our goal is always to be in the hunt in March, and in order to do that, we're going to have to really grow through the first month."
The schedule is packed with challenges. DeCuire is not one to shy away from competition, and this year – despite so much newness – is no different. The Grizzlies scheduled four dates with Power-5 teams (three from the Pac-12 and one from the SEC), in addition to a New Mexico team from the Mountain West that has a ton of history, including being a No. 3 seed in the 2013 NCAA tournament. Additionally, the Grizzlies will play 2019 CIT participant Texas Southern at home.
Winning is always the goal. But the bigger focus for the 11 non-conference dates is for the Grizzlies to find themselves. In each of the past two seasons, Montana has posted a winning non-conference record – something that hadn't happened in six seasons prior to 2017. In both of those seasons, Montana went on to win the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles and play in the NCAA tournament.
A big part of finding its identity is learning who DeCuire and his staff can trust on the court. They have an idea through six weeks of official practices and two closed-door scrimmages, but it is likely to evolve throughout November and December as the Grizzlies are tested in different ways.
That likely means different rotations and playing combinations early on, before whittling down the rotation come January. A season ago, Montana had 10 players average at least 9 minutes per game in non-conference play. Over the final month of the season, that number was down to just seven.
"We're young, so it will take time to figure everything out," DeCuire said. "We're young, but we're hungry, and I like that about our group."
SCOUTING STANFORD
- Stanford will play its first six games at home, beginning with Wednesday's contest vs. Montana.
- Stanford's lone exhibition contest was canceled when Sonoma State was unable to leave campus due to the Kincade Fire in the nearby area. The Cardinal did get some exhibition contests in over the summer, however, taking a foreign tour to Italy and Germany.
- Stanford was picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 preseason poll, ahead of Washington State and California.
- Junior Daejon Davis earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2019 after averaging 11.4 points per game while ranking fifth in the Pac-12 with 4.4 assists per game and seventh with 1.5 steals per game. As a freshman in 2017-18, Davis set a Stanford freshman record with 160 assists, earning Pac-12 All-Freshman Team recognition.
- Oscar da Silva started all 31 games for the Cardinal in 2018-19. He ranked fourth on the team with 9.5 points per game and second with 6.0 rebounds per game. He also averaged 1.3 blocks per contest, which ranked eighth in the Pac-12. As a freshman in 2017-18, da Silva set a Stanford freshman record by connecting on 55.8 percent of his three-point attempts.
- Stanford went 15-16 in 2018-19, including an 8-10 mark in Pac-12 play (T-8th). Two years ago, the last time the Grizzlies played the Cardinal, Stanford finished third in the Pac-12, its best finish and most league wins in a decade.
- Stanford had a young team a season ago, with Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 center Josh Sharma being the only senior. Freshmen and sophomores accounted for more than 80 percent of the team's scoring and rebounding.
- While Stanford graduated just one senior from last year's roster, the Cardinal had a couple unexpected departures, as well. KZ Okpala was taken 32nd overall in the NBA Draft, declaring after his sophomore season. Stanford also lost two players due to injury.
- Jerod Haase is in his fourth season at Stanford, winning 48 games in his first three seasons, including 2018 when the Cardinal finished third in the Pac-12 – its highest finish and most wins in a decade. Prior to Stanford, Haase was the head coach at UAB for four seasons, including an upset victory over Iowa State in the 2015 NCAA tournament.
- Stanford has played in the NCAA tournament 17 times, most recently in 2014. The Cardinal has played in the NIT twice in the past five seasons, winning it all in 2015.
Montana is 2-4 all-time against Stanford, with the two teams splitting their past four meetings.
The series began in 1930-31, a Stanford win in California. The Cardinal earned another victory in 1988-89, this time in Missoula as part of the Preseason NIT. The two teams then met three times over a four-year period in the mid-2000s, with the Grizzlies winning twice. Montana earned a 70-68 win at Stanford in 2002-03 and a 19-point home victory in 2005-06. Stanford was victorious on its home court in 2004-05 and again two years ago.
In that meeting, a 70-54 Cardinal victory, Montana held a six-point lead with under 10 minutes to play, but the Grizzlies would make just two of their final 19 shot attempts and were out-scored 26-4 over the final 9-plus minutes. Two current Grizzlies played in that contest, with Sayeed Pridgett scoring six points and two rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Timmy Falls, then a freshman, logged 11 minutes and scored one point.
LOOK WHO'S BACK
It's been established that Montana lost plenty of talent, including three players who earned all-conference recognition during their careers. While this is true, a big reason why the league's coaches and media picked Montana to finish so high is because of the players the Grizzlies have coming back.
Montana returns four rotation players from last year's championship team, and all four were key factors.
None was bigger than guard/forward combo Sayeed Pridgett, who earned first-team All-Big Sky recognition after ranking in the top 15 in the Big Sky for scoring, field-goal percentage, steals, assists and blocks. In March, he became the 34th member of Montana's 1,000-point scoring club. His biggest asset, though, is his versatility, with Travis DeCuire saying Pridgett will likely play all five position throughout the season.
Joining Pridgett is Kendal Manuel. The Billings native started his career at Oregon State before returning to Montana and making a big splash in his first season. Getting clearance from the NCAA to play the week of the team's season opener, Manuel made the most of that opportunity. He ranked sixth in the Big Sky for three-point shooting (.432 on 57 makes) and led the conference with a .896 free-throw percentage. He was named the league's top newcomer and top reserve.
Mack Anderson, a Bozeman product, is also back. Anderson was initially expected to redshirt in 2018-19, but got thrown into the fire during the second week of the season. He played in 28 games as a true freshman, averaging 8.5 minutes, 2.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. Those numbers, though, are a tad misleading, as he progressed throughout the season. Over the final month of the season, Anderson played at least 14 minutes in four contests. During those games, he shot 12-of-15 from the floor, averaging 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
During an up-and-down sophomore campaign, Timmy Falls finished strong, starting the final five contests as the Grizzlies won a second consecutive Big Sky tournament title. He ranked second on the team with 73 assists, first with one assist every 8.3 minutes on the court and was considered the team's top perimeter defender. Falls had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio just once over the final 25 games of 2018-19, and closed the regular season with 11.0 points per game over three contests.
Also returning is Freddy Brown III, who made 4-of-8 three-point attempts across 15 games as a true freshman in 2018-19, and Peter Jones, who played 7 minutes across six contests and is healthy after a foot injury kept him away from the court for most of last season. After redshirting a season ago, Eddy Egun is expected to fill a role this season. The two-time All-CIF Los Angeles selection has the ability to drive to the hoop or shoot from distance, and DeCuire said in October that he has grown more than anyone in terms of his willingness to compete and bring energy.
NEW TO THE TEAM
Montana signed an exciting trio of players from the state of California last November, and all three are expected to make an impact on the court as true freshmen. Josh Vazquez (6-3 guard from outside Los Angeles) is the team's best pure point guard, DeCuire said, while Derrick Carter-Hollinger (6-5 forward from outside San Diego) and Kyle Owens (6-8 forward from outside Los Angeles) have the versatility to play multiple positions. All three scored more than 1,000 career points during their prep careers.
Vazquez never lost a league or home game during his four-year career at Bishop Montgomery, helping the Knights to a 31-2 record as a senior, winning a state championship and being ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps. He averaged more than 15 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals per game.
Carter-Hollinger was the 2019 East County Player of the Year, averaging a double-double as both a junior and senior, including 17.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game during his final season. Foothills Christian High School went 24-7 and was ranked No. 13 in the entire state of California last year.
Playing for Crespi Carmelite High School, Owens won a state title as a freshman and went undefeated in league play as a junior. During his senior campaign, Owens averaged 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game.
Montana also brought in walk-on Jett Briceno, from Kent, Wash.
NEW TO THE TEAM (SORT OF)
Jared Samuelson played two seasons for the Griz, redshirting in 2015-16 before playing in all 32 contests in 2016-17. During that season, the 6-7 forward averaged 5.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game while adding 11 blocks. He shot a team-best .570.
Samuelson then transferred to Rocky Mountain College in his hometown of Billings, where he became an NAIA All-American. In two seasons, he averaged 18.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting at a .523 clip. After earning a degree in business management, Samuelson is back at Montana, where he will play his senior season while working toward his master's in business administration.
NEW, BUT WILL HAVE TO WAIT
Montana also brought in a trio of transfers who will have to wait their turn.
Griz fans will be able to see Towson transfer Yagizhan Selcuk around the start of conference play. The Turkish forward played in five games for the Tigers before transferring to Montana midyear.
Naseem Gaskin, who redshirted during in his lone season at Utah, was rated as a three-star recruit by both ESPN.com and 247Sports.com, and was the 37th-best player from the state of California, according to ESPN. He averaged 14.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game at Bishop O'Dowd High School outside of Oakland, helping his school to the CIF state tournament. Michael Steadman was San Jose State's top player last season. He led the Spartans for scoring (13.2 points per game) and rebounding (8.5 per game) while starting 29 games. He ranked third in the Mountain West for shooting (.483) and in the top 15 for both scoring and rebounding.
Gaskin is expected to have three years of eligibility remaining, beginning in 2020-21. Steadman will be able to play one season for the Griz, in 2020-21.
AIMING FOR A ROAD WIN
Montana is just 8-11 in season openers since the turn of the century, and the number is bleaker on the road. While the Grizzlies have won six consecutive season openers when the first game is at home, when it's on the road, Montana hasn't won a season opener since 1974 at Colorado State. Since then, the Grizzlies have lost 12 consecutive season openers on the road, most recently in 2016 at USC.
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 10 in a row. All-time, Montana is 56-218 against current members of the Pac-12.
Five currently Grizzlies have played against the Pac-12 before, with three playing against Stanford. In the 2017 meeting vs. the Cardinal, Sayeed Pridgett had six points and two rebounds while Timmy Falls played for 11 minutes. Kendal Manuel faced the Cardinal three times while he was at Oregon State, scoring 10 points in a 2017 game in Corvallis and eight points later that year at Stanford. Travis DeCuire went 6-6 against Stanford while on staff at Cal.
HOMECOMING TO THE BAY
It's no secret that Montana has several ties to the state of California, in particular the Bay Area. The Grizzlies' three assistant coaches all hail from northern California – Chris Cobb (Castro Valley), Jay Flores (Sacramento) and Zach Payne (Danville) – while head coach Travis DeCuire coached for six seasons at California, including the final four as associate head coach. Cobb played at Menlo College – which practically shares a campus with Stanford – before coaching at nearby San Francisco State and Chico State. Flores played for Chico State and coached at Cal State East Bay.
Additionally, eight of Montana's 15 players grew up in the state of California, including Timmy Falls (Dublin), Naseem Gaskin (Oakland), Sayeed Pridgett (Oakland) and Michael Steadman (Union City) – which are all located within 30 miles of Stanford's campus.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
How important is non-conference play? If you asked Travis DeCuire, he will say it's a vital time to set a team up for success come conference play, and ultimately in March. Perhaps it's just a useless stat, or perhaps there's more. Montana has posted a winning non-conference record six times since the turn of the century. The Grizzlies have played in the NCAA tournament in five of those seasons (2006, 2010, 2012, 2018 and 2019) and the CBI in the other (2011).
A season ago, Montana went 7-4 in non-conference play – its best winning percentage since 2010-11. Making the record even more impressive, Montana did so against the 43rd-toughtest non-conference schedule in the entire country, featuring wins over 2019 NCAA tournament opponents Georgia State and North Dakota State, in addition to snapping South Dakota State's nation-leading 26-game home win streak.
PRIDGETT 4 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
It was no surprise when Sayeed Pridgett's name was announced as one of six players on the Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team in October. After all, as a junior in 2019, he was the league's only player to rank in the top 15 for scoring (sixth), shooting (second), steals (11th), assists (13th) and rebounds (15th). He not only averaged 15.1 points per game, but did so on .605 shooting, the 19th-best rate in the nation. He was three times named the Big Sky Player of the Week before earning first-team all-league honors in March.
Since then, Montana has graduated a pair of 1,500-point scorers that Pridgett shared the court with last season, opening up more room for Pridgett to take over during his senior campaign.
Pridgett has been named Montana's Ryan Dick Award winner as the team's most-improved player each of the past three seasons. It's not just his scoring that impresses Travis DeCuire, though. Night in and night out, Pridgett fills the box score, with DeCuire recently calling Pridgett the most versatile player he's ever coached.
As a freshman in 2016, Pridgett averaged 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting at a .524 clip (ninth in Big Sky). As a sophomore, he was Montana's top player off the bench, averaging 8.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while adding 1.2 steals per contest (11th in Big Sky). His breakout season came a year later, when he not only was one of the league's top all-around players, but added even more versatility to his game with the development of a three-point shot (.463 shooting on 19 makes) and added defense.
"Sayeed is one of those guys who always comes ready to play, and he always continues to progress regardless of any past success," DeCuire said. "We don't really talk about his progression, he just does it."
Over the final 14 games of his junior season, Pridgett led the Griz for scoring nine times, averaging 19.4 points per game on .671 shooting. He added 15 steals, six blocks and 5.4 rebounds per game.
LOFTY EXPECTATIONS
So much for catching teams by surprise. Despite losing 75 percent of their minutes played and five of their top seven scorers, the Grizzlies were still picked to win the Big Sky Conference by the league's media affiliates and finish second according to the coaches.
If Montana can win a third consecutive Big Sky championship, it would be unprecedented on many levels. Despite winning 12 regular-season championships and a league-record 11 tournament titles in its history, Montana has never won either in three consecutive seasons.
In fact, a Big Sky team has won the tournament three years in a row just once – from 1978-80 – and one would have to go back to 1973 to find the last time a single team won the Big Sky regular season in three consecutive seasons.
DOMINANT DECUIRE
Travis DeCuire is in his sixth season at his alma mater. Despite a long line of successful Griz coaches, no Montana coach has ever won as many games through his first five seasons as DeCuire has (109-58). Blaine Taylor— DeCuire's head coach while he was player – had 104 wins through his first five seasons. Other notable Griz coaches include Stew Morrill (98), Wayne Tinkle (91), Mike Montgomery (89), Jud Heathcote (80) and George Dahlberg (70).
- DeCuire was named coach of the year by the Big Sky Conference and NABC District 6 in 2018.
- DeCuire is the fastest coach in Big Sky history to win 50 league games.
- Entering 2019-20, DeCuire's .763 winning percentage is the third-best in Big Sky Conference history, and best among coaches with three or more years.
- DeCuire has averaged 21.8 wins per season over first seasons as head coach (third in Big Sky history).
- DeCuire is Montana's only coach to win three regular-season conference titles. He has also won the league tournament twice.
While Montana graduated the majority of its production from last year's championship team, three-point shooting is an area where the Griz bring back plenty of talent. Sure, Montana still lost nearly two-thirds of its made three-pointers from a season ago, but it's the players who are back that will be key.
Senior Kendal Manuel drained 57 treys on .422 shooting during his first season in Missoula and will again lead the charge. Also back is junior Timmy Falls, who has 48 makes across two seasons, and Pridgett, who added range to his game in 2019, including four made treys at Creighton. Throw in Freddy Brown III (a player with 'Downtown' in his nickname) and a handful of freshmen who can shoot from range, and it becomes a promising statistic for the Griz.
"It all comes down to the right guys taking the shots," Travis DeCuire said. "Each year we've started slow from three, as I let guys take their shots, and then we've figured out who should be shooting them and our percentages have gone up drastically.
In 2017-18, Montana shot .339 from deep (236th nationally) while making just 5.5 triples per game (331st). Last year, the Griz ranked 30th nationally with a .380 shooting percentage, and averaged nearly three more makes per contest.
GOOD AT BOTH
Montana was one of 19 teams across the country to rank in the top 100 nationally for scoring offense (76.1 points per game, 82nd) and scoring defense (68.5 points per game, 90th). The Grizzlies were also in the top 100 for both statistical categories in 2017-18.
CHALLENGING SCHEDULE
- Of Montana's nine Division-I non-conference opponents, five posted winning records a season ago, with four winning at least 20 games. Oregon and Washington played in the NCAA tournament.
- Washington won the Pac-12 regular-season title in 2019, advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament. In two years under Mike Hopkins, the Huskies have averaged 24 wins per season, after winning nine games the year prior to his arrival.
- Oregon has made the NCAA tournament in six of the past seven seasons, including the Sweet 16 in 2019 after winning the Pac-12 tournament title. The Ducks advanced to the Final Four as recently as 2017.
- Stanford made the second round of the NIT in 2018 and won the tournament in 2015.
- Arkansas has played in the NCAA tournament in three of the past five seasons and went to the second round of the NIT in 2019, finishing with 18 wins. The Razorbacks averaged more than 15,000 fans per game, which ranked 11th in the country.
- New Mexico has been to the NCAA tournament four times in the past decade, earning a No. 3 seed in 2013. The Pit, home to New Mexico basketball, is one of the top home-court advantages in the country, with the Lobos winning more than 80 percent of their games inside the venue. They have ranked in the top 30 for attendance each of the past 50 years. In 2013, the NCAA named The Pit as one of the top-five loudest basketball arenas, and Sports Illustrated named it one of the top-10 college basketball venues in the nation.
- Texas Southern has played in the NCAA tournament in four of the past six seasons, winning three SWAC titles during that span. The Tigers are coming off of a season in which they won 22 games and played in the CIT semifinals.
- Making the jump from Division II to Division I just eight years ago, Omaha has had plenty of success in that little time. The Mavericks qualified for the CBI in their first season of postseason eligibility (2016) and have played in the Summit League title game in two of the past three years.
HISTORICALLY GOOD
Montana won 26 games a season ago, tied for the third-most in school history (along with the 2017-18 team). The program won 52 games in 2017-18 and 2018-19 combined, the most ever over a two-year period. Stretching it out even further, Montana won 89 games during Bobby Moorehead and Michael Oguine's four-year careers, the second-best four-year stretch in school history.
Montana is one of 21 schools nationally to win at least 25 games in both 2017-18 and 2018-19. The full list includes: Buffalo, Cincinnati, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Murray State, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Carolina, North Carolina-Greensboro, Old Dominion, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Vermont and Virginia.
ON TOP OF THE BIG SKY
Montana repeated as Big Sky Conference champions in 2018-19, winning both the regular-season and tournament titles. Just five times in the league's history has the same team won both the regular season and tournament in consecutive seasons. The Grizzlies have done it three of those times (1979-80 Weber State, 1981-82 Idaho, 1991-92 Montana, 2012-13 Montana, 2018-19 Montana).
HOME SWEET HOME
Dating back to February 2017, Montana has won 26 of its past 28 home games and is one of 20 teams nationally to lose two or fewer home games over the past two seasons.
The Grizzlies boast one of the nation's best home-court advantages, going 709-246 (.742) all-time inside Dahlberg Arena, including 127-26 (.828) over the past decade. The Grizzlies averaged more than 4,000 fans per game in 2018-19, a better average than three Pac-12 schools.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2018-19In case you missed it... 😍
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) October 11, 2019
📰 https://t.co/nH6g5oHqat#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/sXYkiXsFFN
- Montana went 26-9 in 2018-19, tied for the third-most wins in school history.
- The Grizzlies won both the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament championships, becoming the fifth school in Big Sky history to win both in back-to-back seasons.
- Four Grizzlies earned recognition from the Big Sky Conference, including first-team All-Big Sky selections Ahmaad Rorie and Sayeed Pridgett. Additionally, Michael Oguine earned third-team honors while Kendal Manuel was named the league's top reserve and newcomer.
- Rorie was the Big Sky tournament MVP, while Oguine was named to the all-tournament team, after the Grizzlies won the tournament title with wins over Sacramento State, Weber State and Eastern Washington.
- Montana was one of 19 schools nationally to rank in the top 100 for both scoring offense (76.1 points per game, 82nd) and scoring defense (68.5, 90th).
- The Grizzlies shot .492 from the floor (10th in NCAA). They made at least half of their shots in 20 contests.
- Conversely, Montana held opponents under .400 shooting 10 times, and under their season scoring average in 27 of 34 games.
- Montana made at least eight three-pointers in 22 games after hitting that number just four times in 2017-18. Overall, the Grizzlies shot .376 from deep, ranking 38th in the NCAA, after being 236th the year prior.
- Montana finished the season with three players ranked in the top 20 in the Big Sky for scoring, not including Jamar Akoh (16.3), who did not play in enough games to qualify.
- Of the 21 statistical categories tracked by the Big Sky Conference, Montana was in the top three in 14 of them. The Grizzlies led the league for scoring margin, field-goal percentage, three-point percentage, rebounding defense and rebounding margin.
- Montana's 7-4 non-conference record was its best since 2010-11, and it came against the nation's 43rd-toughest schedule. The slate included wins over 2019 NCAA tournament teams Georgia State and North Dakota State, in addition to snapping South Dakota State's nation-leading 26-game home win streak.
- Montana won 10 games in a row from Jan. 12 through Feb. 23. During the streak, the Grizzlies trailed for just 29 minutes, 2 seconds (7.3 percent of action).
Of the 71 western schools in NCAA Division-I basketball (those in the Big Sky, Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, Summit League, WAC and West Coast), very few have had the level of success that Montana has enjoyed over the past decade. During that time, the Grizzlies have won five regular-season conference titles (T-2nd), have played in the NCAA tournament five times (7th) and have won 219 games (9th).
GRIZ HISTORY
- Montana has posted a .500 or better record in 11 consecutive seasons and has won 20-plus games in four of five seasons under Travis DeCuire.
- Montana has won back-to-back Big Sky Conference titles (regular season and tournament). Overall, the program has won the Big Sky regular season 12 times and the tournament on 11 occasions (first).
- Montana has played in the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons and 12 times overall. The Grizzlies' first appearance came in 1975, earning a win over Utah State in the Round of 32. Montana also was victorious in 2006, knocking off No. 5 seed Nevada. The Grizzlies have also played in the NIT four times and CBI once.
- Montana won 52 games in 2017-18 and 2018-19 combined, the best two-year stretch in school history.
- Over the past eight seasons, Montana has won five regular-season Big Sky titles, finishing runner-up two other times. The Grizzlies have played in the conference title game eight times in the past 10 years, winning five times.
- Montana is closing in on 1,500 all-time victories, entering the season with a 1,489-1,248-1 record (.544).
- Montana has one of the nation's top home-court advantages, entering the season with a 992-408 record at home (.709) including 712-247 (.742) inside Dahlberg Arena.
- Notable former head coaches include College Basketball Hall of Famers Jud Heathcote and Mike Montgomery, in addition to Montana alums Blaine Taylor, Larry Krystkowiak and Wayne Tinkle.
- Krystkowiak is Montana's all-time leading scorer (2,017) and rebounder (1,105). He is one of 123 Division I players in NCAA history with more than 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
- Montana has had seven NBA Draft picks, including first-round selections Michael Ray Richardson and Lee Johnson. More than a dozen former players are actively playing professionally across the globe.
- Video update with Coach DeCuire (Sept. 25)
- Video update with Vazquez (Sept. 25)
- Video update with Owens, interviewed by Pridgett (Oct. 10)
- Video update with Gregory (Oct. 15)
- Video update with Coach DeCuire (Oct. 18)
- Video update with Coach DeCuire (Oct. 22)
- Big Sky Conference Media Day with Coach DeCuire, Pridgett
Will the real @CoachDeCuire please stand up?#HappyHalloween #GrizHoops pic.twitter.com/a6VrVMebXN
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) October 31, 2019
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/ Men's BasketballGriz Basketball - Brooklyn Hicks Breakaway Dunk vs. Cal Poly - 11/15/25
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Griz Basketball - Money Williams Driving Layup vs. Cal Poly - 11/15/25
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Griz Basketball at UNLV highlights - 11/12/25
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Griz Basketball - Kenyon Aguino Dunk vs. Northwest Indian College - 11/3/25
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