Montana returns home with clean slate

Montana vs. Northern Arizona
Saturday / 7 p.m. / Missoula, Mont.

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The first seven weeks of Montana's 2019-20 basketball campaign featured several ups and downs. The valleys are understandable, considering Montana's strength of schedule and the young rotation the Grizzlies have pieced together. But is still wasn't the record Griz fans have come to expect under Travis DeCuire's teams, which have never had a losing overall record and won 52 combined games over the past two championship seasons.

It would be easy to be down on this year's Grizzlies after a 4-7 non-conference mark including a home loss to Montana Tech. The good news, though, is that Montana's season starts with a clean slate this week when Big Sky Conference play begins.

"We schedule the way we do in order to prepare us for conference play," DeCuire said. "We've been tested, and we believe that will be an advantage for us as we move into the next portion of our season. It's a new season for us now, and we're excited for that."

Montana's four non-conference wins were its fewest since also going 4-7 in 2014-15.

The encouraging thing, though, is that a team's record essentially now resets. That 2014-15 season when the Grizzlies went 4-7? They also went on to share a Big Sky title while winning 20 games and qualifying for the NIT.

DeCuire has always challenged his team during non-conference, but nothing compares to this year.

Montana in 2019-20 played the eighth-toughest schedule in the entire country during non-conference play, facing four Power-5 teams who have all been ranked or have received top-25 votes this season. Over the past decade, Montana's average non-conference strength of schedule has been a respectable 132, but far from this year's number.

Overall, Montana's six road losses came to teams with a combined mark of 58-17 (.773). Even more impressive, the six road losses have come against opponents who are a combined 45-1 on their home court. The lone loss was by Washington, which lost to Gonzaga, the current No. 1 team in the country.

Take the stiff competition, in addition to the fact that true freshmen have accounted for nearly 40 percent of the team's starts, and the outlook looks much brighter than by quickly glancing at the record.

Following an overtime loss at Omaha last Saturday, Montana dispersed for a couple days with family to celebrate the holidays. The team returned Christmas night and practiced Thursday and Friday morning in preparation for its conference opener.

"It's time to hit the reset button," DeCuire said. "Hopefully we came back with fresh legs and a fresh mind and we're ready to go."

Montana opens Big Sky play at home against Northern Arizona (Saturday) and Sacramento State (Monday). Saturday is Montana's Hero Game, honoring all military, first responders and educators – who can receive one free general-admission ticket with a valid ID. To celebrate New Year's early, Montana is giving away 500 free general-admission tickets to Monday's game against the Hornets. Tip is at 7 p.m. both nights.

🗣️ We're coming home! 🎊

Join us Saturday and Monday as we open #BigSkyMBB play!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/Fsvgh8ebeB
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 26, 2019

BIG SKY UPDATE
The 11 Big Sky teams posted a combined 61-55 record during non-conference play (.526), the second-most wins ever and the best winning percentage since 2005-06.

Given the range in competition played, it's hard to fully gauge a team's non-conference success, but Sacramento State (7-2) and Northern Arizona (6-3) – Montana's first two opponents and two teams ranked in the bottom four of the preseason polls – rank first and second in the current league standings. Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah all have 7-4 records, while Montana State is 6-5 and Portland State is 6-6.

Montana, Idaho and Weber State have 4-7 records, followed by Idaho State at 3-6. The Big Sky owns three victories over Mountain West schools and an 8-5 record against the Big West and 8-4 mark against the Summit League. Perhaps most notable, Southern Utah beat Nebraska of the Big Ten.

Eastern Washington currently leads the nation for scoring, while Sacramento State has one of the country's best defenses, ranking third for scoring defense, fourth for field-goal defense and first for three-point defense. The Hornets are one of three Big Sky schools to rank in the top 10 nationally for three-point defense, while Portland State is the nation's leader for offensive rebounds.

BIG SKY OPENERS
Montana has won nine consecutive Big Sky openers dating back to the 2010-11 season. Saturday will mark the sixth time in the past 10 years that the Grizzlies have opened league play against the Lumberjacks (5-0), including the third year in a row.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA

NAU opens Big Sky play with a 6-3 mark, including home wins over South Dakota and Omaha and road victories at Utah Valley and UC Riverside.
The Lumberjacks have won three of their past four games, two of which came on the road.
NAU's 6-3 record is the second-best in the Big Sky and NAU's best non-conference mark since 2010-11.
Sophomore Cameron Shelton ranks in the top 15 in the Big Sky for scoring (14.4), rebounding (6.1), assists (3.8) and steals (1.3). He has been in double figures for scoring every game this season. He also has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Sophomore Luke Avdalovic (11.9) and senior Ted McCree (11.3) are also in double figures for scoring.
NAU ranks 33^rd nationally with a .377 three-point shooting percentage, led by Avdalovic's .513 clip, which ranks sixth in the nation. He averages 2.86 makes per game.
McCree has been in double figures in four consecutive games, averaging 15.3 points per game during that span.
Senior Brooks DeBisschop is averaging 8.0 rebounds per game (61^st in NCAA), including 3.3 offensive boards per contest (26^th).
Following a 10-21 campaign a season ago (8-12 in Big Sky play), the Lumberjacks were predicted to finish eighth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.
Shane Burcar is in his second season with the Lumberjacks, including his first as interim head coach.

SERIES VS. THE LUMBERJACKS
In a series that dates back to 1970-71, the Griz and Lumberjacks have played 104 times. Montana holds a 73-31 edge, including a 9-0 record under Travis DeCuire. In fact, since 2009 Montana is 19-3 against the Lumberjacks, losing at home just once.

In two wins a season ago, Montana shot a combined .504 from the floor while holding the Lumberjacks under .400 in both games. Sayeed Pridgett scored 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting last March, in a 66-64 home victory that ended with a missed game-winning, three-point attempt at the buzzer by NAU's Carlos Hines.

After a few days away, we got back after it this morning! Two days until our #BigSkyMBB opener!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/qd1ROCCVpk
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 26, 2019

GRIZ BITS

After winning three of four games in late November and early December, the Grizzlies closed non-conference play with back-to-back losses – first at No. 8 Oregon (now No. 6), followed by an overtime defeat at Omaha, a team which owns a 12-game home winning streak.
Montana has won three consecutive games at home.
According to KenPom's respected rankings, which accounts for Division-I competition, Montana has played the nation's eighth-toughest schedule so far this season. The Grizzlies' six DI losses have come to opponents with a combined record of 58-17 (.773). All six losses came on the road, where their opponents are a combined 45-1.
Montana started the season with just eight rotation players, four of which are freshmen who made their collegiate debuts in November. The Grizzlies have since expanded their rotation to 10, adding senior transfer Jared Samuelson and Towson transfer Yagizhan Selcuk.
Montana used the same starting lineup in six consecutive games before switching it up last Saturday at Omaha. In that game, it marked the first time all season that Montana did not start two true freshmen.
Overall, Montana's three true freshmen have accounted for nearly 40 percent of the team's starts, with each starting at least four games.
Montana's defense is limiting opponents to 69.8 points per game, and has held opponents under their season scoring average in eight of 11 contests. However, the Grizzlies have allowed their last two opponents to surpass their average and are 0-6 when allowing more than 70 points.
Montana has turned the ball over more times than its opponents just once in the past seven games, and has forced at least five steals in all 11 contests.
Montana is forcing 15.0 turnovers per game, which ranks in the top-third nationally. However, the Grizzlies are still trying to take advantage of opponents' miscues. They have forced 10 or more turnovers in 10 of 11 contests, but are just 4-6. On the flip side, Montana has turned the ball over seven or fewer times twice in the past four games, but has lost both contests.
Montana has struggled offensively, scoring just 64.8 points per game (313th in NCAA). The Grizzlies have particularly struggled from deep, connecting on just 29.6 percent of their three-point attempts (303rd). Montana is averaging just 4.8 three-point makes per game (340th), but ironically, three of its four wins have come when making four or fewer triples.
Montana is 4-2 when out-shooting its opponents, compared to 0-5 when being out-shot.
After out-rebounding their opponent in each of the first four games, the Grizzlies have done so just once in the past seven. On the season, Montana is averaging 32.6 rebounds per game (313th).
Either Sayeed Pridgett or Kendal Manuel – Montana's two returning seniors – have led the Grizzlies for scoring in every game this season.
Manuel scored his 1,000th career point last week at Oregon, with 442 of them coming during his stint at Montana.
After leading the Big Sky for free-throw shooting in 2018-19, Manuel has made 28 of 31 free-throw attempts this year (24th in NCAA), including 23 in a row prior to a rare miss at Oregon.
Freshman Josh Vazquez is coming off of a career day at Omaha, scoring 14 points while dishing out a career-high five assists. After starting his career 2-for-13 from deep, he has since connected on 15-of-30 three-point attempts (.500).
Pridgett is one of three Big Sky players to rank in top 15 for minutes, scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. He ranks highly nationally for each category as well, including minutes (10th), steals (36th), scoring (41st) and defensive rebounds (50th).
Pridgett has scored 11 or more points in every game this season, including a career-high 32 last week at Omaha. The senior needs just 11 points to pass Derrick Pope (1,289, 14th) and 15 points to jump Shawn Samuelson (1,293, 13th) on the career scoring list.
Towson transfer Yagizhan Selcuk made his Griz debut last week at Omaha, coming off the bench to score 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while pulling down six boards. At one point, he scored five consecutive points, including a three-point play to give Montana a 62-60 lead with under 3 minutes to play.

A LOOK BACK: OMAHA
Montana closed non-conference play on Dec. 21 with an overtime loss at Omaha. The Grizzlies led 69-64 with 29 seconds to play in regulation, but Omaha closed the half on an 8-3 run, tying the game with a deep three-pointer in the closing seconds. The Mavericks were also aided by two missed Griz free throws down the stretch and four misses over the final 90 seconds to extend their home winning streak to 12 games.

The game featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points.
Montana turned the ball over just seven times (second-fewest of the season), while forcing the Mavericks into 20 giveaways (second-most by a Griz opponent this season). The 20 turnovers led to 19 Griz points.
Montana was out-rebounded 51 to 34, with Omaha's Matt Pile – who ranks 21^st nationally for rebounding – collecting 16 boards.
The Grizzlies actually made more shots in overtime than Omaha, but the Mavericks took 16 free-throw attempts during the 5-minute period alone, making 10 of them. Overall, the home team took 42 attempts.
Sayeed Pridgett led all players with 32 points (career high), marking the eighth time this season he has led the Griz for scoring.
Montana received 40 points from its bench, with a trio of newcomers – Kyle Owens, Yagizhan Selcuk and Vazquez – scoring 40 points on 14-of-23 shooting.
In addition to his 14 points – going 3-for-3 from deep – Vazquez tallied a career-high five assists before fouling out.
Facing its largest deficit of the day, 22-16, Vazquez connected on back-to-back three-pointers to tie the score at 22-22.
Both teams started out cold. The Grizzlies missed their first 10 shot attempts while Omaha began the game 1-for-9 while turning the ball over 10 times through the game's first 6 minutes.
After Montana took its largest lead of the day, 13-6, Omaha used an 11-1 run to regain the lead.
The game was Montana's first overtime contest since Jan. 5, 2019, vs. Portland State.
For the first time this season, Montana did not start a freshman. In the previous 10 games, Montana started two true freshmen each time.
Montana had used the same starting lineup in six consecutive games. On Saturday, Mack Anderson made his first start since Nov. 18. Jared Samuelson earned his second career start, and first of the season.

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

Gallery: (12/21/2019) MBB: at Omaha (12.21.19)

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Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Kendal Manuel

Kyle Owens

Sayeed Pridgett

Jared Samuelson

Yagizhan Selcuk

Josh Vazquez

University of Montana Athletics