Montana closes home slate with Monday-night tilt vs. NAU

Monday, March 4

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

Northern Arizona

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Photo by: Todd Goodrich

Montana closes home slate with Monday-night tilt vs. NAU

3/3/2019 7:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

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

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While Montana celebrated its senior class on Saturday night, Griz fans still have one more opportunity to see their team in action at home this season. Montana hosts Northern Arizona on Monday night at 7 p.m.

The last time Montana and Northern Arizona met up, the calendar was still 2018 and it marked the conference opener for both teams. Since then, Montana has played eight other teams twice, including some as few as 19 days apart.

Montana won the initial meeting, 86-73, behind 24 points from Ahmaad Rorie and 22 points and nine boards from Jamar Akoh. The Grizzlies trailed at halftime, and by as many as nine points, but led for the final 16:30 of the contest.

FANS CAN GET SUPPORT A GOOD CAUSE, GET IN FREE
Fans can get in free by donating to SAAC's "One Shirt One Body" T-shirt drive. Three used T-shirts equals one free general-admission ticket; one new T-shirt (with tags on) earns two free general-admission tickets. In order to take advantage of the ticket offer, fans must visit the T-shirt drive table, which will be located in the main lobby of the Adams Center.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA

NAU is 9-19 overall, including 7-11 in Big Sky play. The Lumberjacks have lost back-to-back games overall, but won consecutive games in mid-February, including a road win over Sacramento State.
In Saturday's 84-73 loss at Montana State, freshman Luke Avdalovic scored a career-high 24 points and sophomore Bernie Andre pulled down a career-best 18 rebounds.
Andre leads the team with 13.8 points per Big Sky game. Carols Hines (12.4) and Ted McCree (11.2) are also in double figures.
NAU is one of three schools to have a pair of players average at least 6.4 rebounds per game (Andre, 9.7, second; Brooks Debisschop, 6.4, 11^th).
Avdalovic is shooting .496 during Big Sky play (ninth). He is connecting on .473 percent of his three-point attempts (third).
Hines ranks in the top 10 in Big Sky play for assists (4.8 per game, fourth) and steals (1.4 per game, sixth) and
NAU's best statistical categories are offensive rebounds (9.6 per game, second in Big Sky) and three-point defense (.346, third).
The Lumberjacks rank last in the league with a .434 shooting percentage and ninth with a -2.8 scoring margin.
Jack Murphy is in his seventh season at NAU. He is 77-147 overall, but has improved from last year's 5-27 mark (2-16 in Big Sky play).

SERIES VS. THE LUMBERJACKS
In a series that dates back to 1970-71, the Griz and Lumberjacks have played 102 times. Montana holds a 70-32 edge, including an 8-0 record under Travis DeCuire. In fact, over the past 11 seasons, Montana is 18-3 against the Lumberjacks.

The Grizzlies shot .565 in their December meeting vs. NAU and have made at least half of their shots in three of their past four meetings vs. the Lumberjacks. In six career games vs. NAU, Michael Oguine is averaging 14.7 points. In last year's contest in Missoula, he scored his 1,000^th career point. In that game, Montana opened the second half making 11 of its first 12 shots to turn a one-point halftime lead into a 28-point advantage in just 6 minutes, 29 seconds.

CONFERENCE-TITLE IMPLICATIONS
A win on Monday would give Montana a full game lead on second-place Northern Colorado, which is idle until Thursday. The Bears travel to Southern Utah on Thursday before closing the regular season with a home game vs. Northern Arizona. Montana, which travels to Portland State (Thursday) and Sacramento State (Saturday) this week, can win a second consecutive regular-season title by winning out. Should Montana and UNC tie in the standings, Montana would hold the tiebreaker – as of today's standings – based off of the Grizzlies' sweep over third-place Weber State (UNC went 1-1 vs. the Wildcats). That could change, however, as Montana State is tied with Weber State at 10-7 and Eastern Washington is a half-game back, at 10-8.

ONE MORE CHANCE TO CELEBRATE THE SENIOR CLASS
The 2019 senior class will be remembered as one of the most successful in school history, winning 84 games – and counting – over the past four seasons. If Montana wins its final three games and wins the Big Sky tournament title, this group would be just the second ever to win 90 games in a four-year stretch, not to mention winning back-to-back conference championships.

Jamar Akoh – After spending his first two seasons at Cal State Fullerton, Akoh transferred to Montana where he has been an unstoppable force down low. The 2018 All-Big Sky Conference selection has started all 49 games of his Griz career, averaging 13.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Before suffering an injury in February, Akoh ranked in the top 5 in the Big Sky for scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage. The double major is an Academic All-Big Sky selection and will graduate this spring with degrees in marketing and management.
Ahmaad Rorie – Rorie began his collegiate career at Oregon, but in three seasons since transferring to Montana, he has rewritten UM record books. The senior is the only player in Griz history to score 1,500 career points in three seasons, and will finish his career ranked in the top 10 for both scoring and assists. He's well on his way toward a second All-Big Sky first-team selection, currently ranked in the top 10 in the league for scoring, assists and three-pointers made. The Tacoma native graduated in December with a degree in communication studies.
Bobby Moorehead – Fans may remember him for his headband or big shot in the semifinals of the 2018 Big Sky tournament, but his biggest attribute has been his defense, often times matching up against – and shutting down – opponents' top shooters. In addition to his defense, Moorehead will finish his career with more than 700 career points and nearly 500 rebounds. He has started 66 consecutive games and is on pace to set a school record for career games played. The Tacoma native will graduate in May with a degree in business management.
Michael Oguine – Oguine will finish his career as one of the best players in school history, ranking in the top 10 for scoring and top five for steals and career games started. In 2018, he was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year and the Big Sky Championships Most Outstanding Player, helping the Griz win a conference title and play in the NCAA tournament. The business marketing major is a three-time Academic All-Big Sky selection.

One of the greatest senior classes in Montana Basketball history.

Thank you, Michael, Jamar, Ahmaad and Bobby! #GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/1Lv83ueQUL
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) March 3, 2019

TRENDS FROM SATURDAY'S WIN OVER SUU

Montana limited Southern Utah to 54 points, the fewest by a Griz opponent since Idaho scored 51 on Jan. 19, and the fourth-fewest of the season.
Montana held Southern Utah without a point for 6:09 midway through the first half. The Thunderbirds shot 0-for-9 with two turnovers during that span.
After shooting just 38.5 percent in the first half, the Griz connected on 69.6 percent of their shots in the second half (16-of-23). Overall, Montana shot 53.1 percent, marking the 15^th time the team has made at least half of its shots.
During a span of 2:00, Montana used an 11-2 run to open up a 13-point lead. Ahmaad Rorie scored six points and had assists on the other two buckets.
Montana out-rebounded SUU, 34-23, including nine each from Bobby Moorehead and Michael Oguine. The Thunderbirds had just eight rebounds in the second half.
Montana made 73.7 percent of its free throws (14-of-19).
Sayeed Pridgett missed his first four shot attempts but made his final eight. He scored a game-high 20 points, marking the sixth time in the past seven games he has led Montana for scoring. He is averaging 21.1 points per game during that span.
Since Jamar Akoh went down with a knee injury, Bobby Moorehead has stepped up and is averaging 6.0 rebounds per game during that span. He was averaging 4.2 prior to that.
Moorehead also recorded a pair of blocks in the first half, including one in which he chased down SUU's Brandon Better and made an incredible block after being several steps behind him.
Rorie turned the ball over twice in the game's first 8 minutes but didn't record another turnover. He had six assists over the final 25 minutes of game action to increase his league-best assist-to-turnover ratio.
Timmy Falls scored all seven of his points in the first half, including a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer that game Montana the lead.
No Thunderbird player made more than three field goals.

HOME-COURT DOMINANCE
Montana holds one of the nation's top hold-court advantages, winning 25 of its past 27 games inside Dahlberg Arena, dating back to February 2017. Looking back even further, Montana is 128-26 (.831) at home over the past decade and 710-246 (.743) all-time.

Entering Monday's game, Montana is averaging 4,274 fans per game, a figure which ranks in the top-third nationally and ahead of a trio of Pac-12 schools.

Tonight might have been Senior Night, but we've still got one more.

Monday night. Home finale. Be there! #GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/oxGhNS9PpF
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) March 3, 2019