Griz host Eagles as DeCuire closes in on 100 wins

Montana vs. Eastern Washington / Saturday / 7 p.m. / Missoula, Mont.

Just 48 hours after scoring 100 points in a win over Idaho, Montana returns to the court to host Eastern Washington, one of the two Big Sky teams to beat the Griz this season.

GOING FOR 100
Travis DeCuire is already the fastest coach in Big Sky history to 50 conference wins. He's the only coach at Montana to post a pair of 20-win seasons in his first two years on the job. Now, the fifth-year head coach is approaching another milestone. With a win Saturday, DeCuire would earn his 100th career win (all at Montana).

Just five coaches in UM history have reached the century mark for wins. Soon, DeCuire will join George "Jiggs" Dahlberg, Mike Montgomery, Blaine Taylor and Wayne Tinkle. Of those, DeCuire's .645 winning percentage trails only Montgomery, a 2016 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and Taylor, who DeCuire starred for in the 1990s.

A win Saturday would also guarantee a .500 or better record for the fifth time in five season under DeCuire.

We have another big #GrizHoops game tomorrow night in Dahlberg Arena! Trust us #GrizNation, you won't want to miss it.

Still in need of 🎟️🎟️? Reply to this tweet for your chance to win two tickets to the game tomorrow night! #GoGriz #MontanaTough pic.twitter.com/qqkcJiJ9MQ
— Montana Grizzlies (@UMGRIZZLIES) February 8, 2019

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON

EWU has an 8-14 record overall but is 6-5 in Big Sky play, and if the season ended today would earn a bye into the quarterfinals.
Prior to Thursday's loss at Montana State, a game in which the Eagles led by double digits in the second half, EWU had won three consecutive games.
In the loss, Jacob Davison scored a game-high 24 points. He is the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week and has scored at least 19 points in six consecutive games, including 41 vs. Northern Arizona on Monday.
EWU ranks fourth in the Big Sky with a .451 field-goal percentage, including .380 from beyond the arc (third). Jesse Hunt leads the way with a .484 shooting percentage from deep (third).
EWU has two of the league's top-five rebounders. Hunt averages 9.0 per game (third) while Mason Peatling averages 7.6 (fifth).
Peatling also has the fourth-best shooting percentage (.583), eighth-best scoring average (16.3) and seventh-best steals average (1.3).
Over the past five seasons, Montana and Eastern Washington are the Big Sky's two winningest programs.

SERIES VS. THE EAGLES
Montana and Eastern Washington will meet for the 112th time on Saturday. The Grizzlies own a 67-44 advantage over the Eagles, an impressive feat considering they lost the first 14 games in the series. Montana has been dominant at home, winning 41 of 59 all-time meetings.

This will mark the first time since 2017 that EWU has traveled to Missoula, however. A year ago, the two teams met just once, Feb. 15, in Cheney. The Eagles have won the past two regular-season matchups, but Montana was victorious last March in the Big Sky tournament finals.

Michael Oguine has scored in double figures five times vs. EWU, including a team-high 21 points in last year's championship game and 18 last month in Cheney. In the last three games, Ahmaad Rorie is averaging 16.7 points, while Sayeed Pridgett is averaging 15.5 over the past two.

ABOUT THURSDAY NIGHT...
Montana set season highs for points, three-pointers, assists, turnovers forced and bench points during Thursday's win over Idaho, but the stat that stands out the most is the margin of victory.

Montana's 41-point win was its largest since beating Idaho – prior to the Vandals joining the Big Sky Conference – 75-33 in December 2010. The last time Montana beat a Big Sky opponent by at least 40 points was in 1996-97, when Montana beat Sacramento State 95-51. Montana led by as many as 44 points on Thursday.
The 100 points scored were tied for the most that veteran coach Don Verlin has ever given up. The only other time he has allowed 100 points was to No. 6 Michigan State during his first season in Moscow.

Last night was fun. What do you say we do it again tomorrow night?

Same time. Same place.#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/hj8idRF19b
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 9, 2019

GRIZ TRACKS

Montana has won a season-most six consecutive games. During that stretch, the Grizzlies haven't trailed by more than four points and have trailed for just 12 of 240 minutes.
Montana has held opponents under their season scoring average in 19 of 22 games this season.
Eleven of Montana's 16 wins have come by double digits, including six by at least 20 points.
Montana is shooting .488 on the season (19th in NCAA, 1st in Big Sky), and has made at least half of its shots 11 times.
Montana is the only Big Sky team to have four players rank in the top 25 for scoring. Five different Grizzlies have scored at least 20 points in a game this season.
Montana has out-rebounded its opponent in 11 of its past 12 games. During Big Sky play, the Grizzlies lead the league with a +5.4 rebounding margin. Through 10 games, largely without forward Jamar Akoh, they ranked last with 30.6 rebounds per game and a -2.5 margin.
With a veteran group, four starters have played in 100 or more career games.
Montana has made at least eight three-pointers 12 times this season. The Grizzlies hit that number just four times in 2017-18.
The Grizzlies have recorded more assists than their opponent in 15 of their 16 wins. They have recorded fewer assists just three times (1-3).
Over the past five games, Montana is averaging just 8.2 turnovers per game. On the flip side, the Griz have turned opponents over at least 10 times every game this season.
Despite playing just 12 minutes Thursday, Jamar Akoh is still nearly averaging a double-double. He ranks first in the Big Sky for steals (2.2), second for rebounding (9.1), third for field-goal percentage (.586) and ninth for scoring (16.3).
Ahmaad Rorie, an all-around contributor, ranks in the top 15 in the Big Sky for scoring (16.5, seventh), assists (3.7, eighth), steals (1.4, sixth), three-point percentage (.381, 14th), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7, second) and minutes played (34.7, fifth).
Over his past four home games, Kendal Manuel is averaging 14.8 points per game.
After scoring in double figures just twice in his first 17 games as a Griz, Donaven Dorsey has done it twice in the past two games, including a career-high-tying 17 points and personal-best six rebounds vs. Idaho.
Montana began Big Sky play 3-0 for the third time in five seasons under Travis DeCuire and 10th time ever.
Montana's 7-4 non-conference record was its best since 2010-11, and came against the nation's 43rd-toughest schedule. More impressive, the Grizzlies had their full roster available just twice, most notably being without all-conference forward Jamar Akoh for seven games.
After being one of two teams to use the same starting lineup for every game in 2017-18, the Grizzlies have used four different combinations in 2018-19. However, they have used the same lineup in 13 of their past 14 games.
Montana's 4-0 start was its best since 1995-96.
Seven players have made their collegiate or Grizzly debuts.
Montana has won 22 of its past 23 home games dating back to February 2017.

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

1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ points in 1️⃣6️⃣0️⃣ seconds. Last night was fun!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/LpttI2csHR
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) February 8, 2019

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Players Mentioned

Jamar Akoh

Donaven Dorsey

Kendal Manuel

Michael Oguine

Sayeed Pridgett

Ahmaad Rorie

University of Montana Athletics