Montana hosts MSU Northern Sunday in home opener

Montana vs. MSU Northern / Sunday / 2 p.m. / Missoula, Mont.

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After opening the season on Wednesday at Stanford, Montana returns home to play in front of Griz Nation for the first time since March 4. The Grizzlies will host four non-conference opponents over the next month, beginning Sunday with MSU Northern (2 p.m.).

PROMOTIONS
Fans can take advantage of several ticket promotions for Sunday's afternoon tilt. All children 12 and under get in free, as do all Montana students, faculty and staff – as they do all season. Additionally, fans can bring their ticket from Saturday's football ticket vs. Idaho for free admission.

HOME OPENERS
The Grizzlies are 16-3 in home openers since the turn of the century, including 4-1 under head coach Travis DeCuire. Last year, Montana opened the season with an 81-74 home victory over Georgia State.

DECUIRE AGAINST NON-DI TEAMS
In five seasons under Travis DeCuire, Montana is 9-0 against non-Division-I teams. The Grizzlies are averaging 78.0 points per game in those contests, but more impressive, the defense is limiting the opponents to 55.7 points per game. The Grizzlies have won every game by at least nine points, and by an average margin of 22.3.

SCOUTING MSU NORTHERN

MSU Northern enters Sunday's game with a 2-0 record, beating both Providence University College (100-54) and Dickinson State (76-60).
In Northern's win Friday night over Dickinson State, five players were in double figures for scoring, led by senior forward Kavon Bey's 20 points. The Lights shot above 50 percent (50.9) for the second consecutive game.
Northern scored 100 points in its season-opening win over Providence University College (100-54) last Sunday. Bey scored 25 points while shooting 11-of-14 from the floor. Senior guard Adam Huse had 17 points and six assists, shooting 4-of-6 from deep, while sophomore forward Jesse Keltner had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. As a team, the Lights shot 56.2 from the floor.
Bey, Huse and junior guard Mascio McCadney earned honorable mention All-Frontier Conference honors last spring.
Senior guard Devin Bray is a graduate of Hellgate High School in Missoula. He earned the Frontier Conference's Champion of Character Award last March.
The Lights entered the season ranked 19^th in the NAIA top-25 poll. They were picked to finish second in the Frontier Conference coaches' poll.
Northern has consistently had a winning program, including an 18-14 mark in 2018-19. The Lights advanced to the semifinals of the Frontier Conference tournament while leading all of NAIA for scoring defense.
Northern competes at the NAIA level. The game will count in Montana's standings but is considered an exhibition contest for the Lights.

SERIES VS. THE LIGHTS
The Griz and Lights have played three times, with each meeting coming during a four-year stretch under former head coach Wayne Tinkle. Montana opened the 2006-07 season with an 83-42 victory over the Lights, followed up by wins in 2007-08 (72-47) and 2009-10 (57-43).

Former Griz coach Don Holst (1998-02) is a graduate of MSU Northern.

#GrizHoops is back at home this Sunday at 2 PM for the 2019-2020 season!

Make sure you stick around after the game to meet the new team and get a Griz Basketball poster signed by the team! #GoGriz #UpWithMontana pic.twitter.com/Qfs4JKxmuZ
— Montana Grizzlies (@UMGRIZZLIES) November 9, 2019

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.

Gallery: (11/6/2019) MBB: at Stanford (11.6.19)

A LOOK BACK: SEASON-OPENER AT STANFORD
Montana opened the 2019-20 season with a 73-62 loss at Stanford. The game was a mix of good and bad, but overall showed the potential the team has

Four Grizzlies made their collegiate debuts, with Kyle Owens and Josh Vazquez earning starts. Overall, the four freshmen (three true, one redshirt) accounted for 51 percent of the team's minutes played and 61 percent of its scoring.
Montana trailed for just one minute over the game's first 18. The Grizzlies' largest deficit in the first half was just three points, while they led by as many as six.
Montana out-rebounded the Cardinal, 31-28, with four players tallying at least five boards, led by Sayeed Pridgett's 10.
Montana turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 21 Cardinal points. The Grizzlies reached that total just twice last season.
Pridgett recorded a double-double, leading the Grizzlies for scoring (17), rebounding (10) assists (6), steals (3) and blocked shots (2). He played 39 minutes.
- Pridgett made Montana's first two field goals of the second half, giving him 11 points through the game's first 22 minutes.
Making his collegiate debut, Derrick Carter-Hollinger was the second-leading scorer with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He made his first four shot attempts, also adding six rebounds, a block and a steal.
- Carter-Hollinger scored five consecutive Griz points early in the second half, including a three-point play that gave Montana its only second-half lead, 36-35.
Vazquez, a true freshman, scored 11 points while running the point. He missed his first four shot attempts but rebounded to make four of his next seven.
Redshirt freshman Eddy Egun's first career basket came on a layup in the first half. He finished the night with nine points, knocking down two three-pointers in the closing minutes.
Senior Kendal Manuel scored seven points, knocking down two early three-pointers. The second one gave the Grizzlies a 15-12 lead with under 9 minutes to play in the opening half.
At one point in the first half, 10 consecutive Griz points came from freshmen Carter-Hollinger and Vazquez. The 10-3 run helped Montana open up its largest lead of the night, 25-19.
After a three-point play from Carter-Hollinger cut the score to 40-38, Stanford went on an 8-0 run over the next 64 seconds. The run extended to 20-0 and 26-2. During the drought, Montana missed 10 consecutive shots. Stanford, on the other hand, shot 12-of-14.
With four freshmen on the floor – three true freshmen and one redshirt – the Grizzlies closed the game on a 14-0 run. During that time, the freshmen accounted for 10 of the team's points, with three of the freshmen draining a three-pointer.
Stanford's Daejon Davis scored just two points (1-of-5 shooting). A season ago, Davis averaged 11.4 points per contest.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following Sunday's contest, Montana will have nearly a week of preparation before traveling to SEC country. The Grizzlies travel to Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 16, before returning home to host Montana Tech on Monday, Nov. 18.

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Players Mentioned

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Eddy Egun

Kendal Manuel

Kyle Owens

Sayeed Pridgett

Josh Vazquez

University of Montana Athletics