1st-place Grizzlies return home to host Portland State

Montana vs. Portland State
Monday / 7 p.m. / Missoula, Mont.

TV: SWX Montana
Stream: Pluto TV (ch. 537)
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM, 98.3 FM) / Worldwide on TuneIn
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Montana is in a spot where it has spent plenty of time in over the past several seasons: alone in first place, atop the Big Sky Conference standings.

The positioning is somewhat surprising, given the team's youth and up and down non-conference performance. Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is that Montana is 4-1 considering who the Grizzlies have played through three weeks of league action.

Montana opened Big Sky play with home wins over Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. Neither team is a powerhouse in the Big Sky, and both were picked to finish in the bottom half of the preseason polls, but both were coming into league play hot, ranked first and second for non-conference winning percentage.

Following was a three-game road trip in which Montana was an underdog in each game. The road swing came against three teams ranked in the upper-half of the Big Sky preseason polls, and against teams who were all unbeaten on their home courts this season.

Montana went 2-1, picking up wins over Southern Utah and the coaches' preseason favorite Eastern Washington. The win at Southern Utah showed Montana's ability to close out a tight game while the victory in Cheney showed Montana's ceiling, as the Grizzlies put on a dominant display in every facet. Even the loss at Northern Colorado showed promise, seeing Montana erase an early 13-point deficit.

Even more impressive, Montana was one of only two teams in the league to play five games through the first 13 days of the Big Sky calendar. To come out of that 4-1 is something Travis DeCuire is very pleased with.

"Given everything, if you would have asked me a few weeks ago how I'd feel about being 4-1 at this point, I'd say I'd take it," DeCuire said. "Now that we're where we're at, we wish we could be 5-0. That's the mindset of a competitor, though, always looking to get better. We're in a good spot right now, though, and the biggest thing has been being able to get a few wins on the road."

Now, Montana must do what it has successfully done each of the past two years. Perched at the top, every team will be gunning for the Grizzlies from here on out.

Next up is a Portland State team that beat Montana in both meetings a season ago. The veteran group is coming off of a one-point road win at Montana State on Saturday and features one of the nation's top rebounding squads and one of the league's top players in Holland Woods.

As for Montana, the Grizzlies seem to be finding their footing. Montana is coming off of its best performance of the season. Offensively, Montana shot a season-best .542 and scored a season-high 90 points against Eastern Washington. The Eagles ranked third nationally for scoring offense, but were held to 63 points – one point above their season low and nearly 23 points below their season scoring average. Montana has taken a good defense up a notch and its offense is starting to click, even getting a boost from three-point range. Perhaps biggest, though, is that secondary players are starting to step up.

Sayeed Pridgett led Montana for scoring in 10 of the Grizzlies' first 13 contests. Either he or Kendal Manuel – Montana's two returning seniors – were the leading point-scorer through each of the first 13 games. Over the past three games, however, it's been someone different each night. Jared Samuelson scored a career-high 21 points at Southern Utah. Manuel had his career-high 30 points at Northern Colorado. Last week at Eastern Washington, it was freshman Derrick Carter-Hollinger who stepped up with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

PROMOTIONS FOR UM STUDENTS, FACULTY
Tip vs. Portland State is slated for Monday at 7 p.m. from Dahlberg Arena. With Monday being UM students' first day back for the spring semester, the athletics department is giving away free food and T-shirts to students, in addition to a chance to participate in the Coke Dash 4 Cash and win scholarship money. Admission for students is always free. Additionally, Monday is faculty and staff appreciation night, with all UM faculty and staff, and their families, getting free general admission tickets.

The game will be broadcast statewide on SWX Montana and streamed worldwide on Pluto TV (ch. 537).

Help us get Dahlberg Arena rocking Monday night as your @MontanaGrizBB team takes on Portland State at 7 PM!#GoGriz #UpWithMontana pic.twitter.com/OgKFvXkzRD
— Montana Grizzlies (@UMGRIZZLIES) January 10, 2020

BIG SKY UPDATE

Montana is alone in first place as the only team with four victories. Northern Colorado and Southern Utah are each a half-game back at 3-1.
By Jan. 4 every team had at least one win and one loss. It marked the first time in 12 seasons that every team had a loss by the third week of league play.
Monday is considered the final game of the week, spanning Jan. 7-13. Of the eight games played so far, six have been won by the road team.

SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE

Portland State enters the week with an 8-9 record overall, including 2-3 in Big Sky play. The Vikings are coming off of a 77-76 road win at Montana State on Saturday, in which Holland Woods scored with 2.4 seconds remaining to give the Vikings the win.
Four of PSU's past five games have been decided by four points or fewer (2-2), including the last two by three points combined.
The Vikings will be playing their fourth consecutive road game, where they are 3-7 on the season.
PSU has the league's second-best scoring offense (77.5 points per game) but also has the second-worst scoring defense (73.9 points allowed per game).
The Vikings crash the glass well, ranking second in the Big Sky with 38.6 rebounds per game. The Vikings' 15.2 offensive rebounds per game ranks second in the NCAA.
Returning All-Big Sky selection Holland Woods leads the Vikings with 18.4 points per game (fourth in Big Sky). The junior guard also leads PSU for assists (second) and steals (fourth), and ranks second for three-pointers made (12th).
Nearly half of Matt Hauser's makes have been from three-point range, averaging 2.6 makes per game (fourth in Big Sky), including nine vs. CSUN. The Santa Clara graduate transfer ranks second on the Vikings for scoring (15.3 points per game), in addition to second for assists and steals.
6-8 center Sal Nuhu led the Big Sky with 2.0 blocks per game a season ago. He has 23 blocked shots so far as a senior, while averaging 8.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
The Vikings have several weapons, with 11 of 12 players averaging at least 4.8 points per game.
Barrett Peery is in his third season in Portland, where he is 44-39. He led the Vikings to the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament during his first season, before helping PSU to its best conference finish (fourth place) since 2011-12 a season ago.

SERIES VS. THE VIKINGS

Montana lost both meetings a season ago to Portland State, marking just the second time in Travis DeCuire's tenure that his team has been swept in a season series against a Big Sky opponent (Sacramento State in 2016-17). In January, the Vikings beat the Grizzlies in overtime to snap Montana's 20-game home win streak. In March, Portland State handed Montana another loss, despite the Grizzlies out-shooting the Vikings.
In the January meeting in Missoula, Montana led by seven with 2 minutes to play, but couldn't score again in regulation. Portland State's Holland Woods hit a three-pointer with 40 seconds on the clock to send the game to overtime, where the Vikings held the Grizzlies to 2-of-9 shooting. Overall, Montana shot 5-of-9 from three-point range in the first half, but 0-for-15 in the second half and overtime. On the positive, Portland State led the nation with 18.7 offensive boards entering the contest, but Montana limited the Vikings to 13, and out-rebounded the Vikings overall, 40-39. In that game, Kendal Manuel scored a then-career-high 22 points. Sayeed Pridgett had 28 in the March meeting in Portland.
Montana and Portland State first met in 1965-66 and played at least once in 13 of the next 16 seasons. The two teams then took a 16-year hiatus before the series resumed in 1996-97, and have played every season since. Montana holds a 40-25 edge in the series, including a 25-6 mark in Missoula. From 2008-09 through 2012-13, Montana won nine consecutive in the series, and under DeCuire the Grizzlies are 7-3. First-year assistant coach Zach Payne was an assistant coach for Portland State last season.

NOTABLES FROM THURSDAY'S WIN

Montana handed Eastern Washington its first home loss of the season. The Eagles entered the night with a perfect 6-0 record at Reese Court.
Eastern Washington ranks third nationally averaging 85.9 points per game, including 101.0 points per six home contests. The Grizzlies held the Eagles 23 points below their season average, and nearly 40 points below their home season average.
- The 63 points scored were Eastern Washington's second-fewest of the season (62 vs. Saint Louis).
Mack Anderson converted a steal into a made jumper in the paint to give Montana an 11-10 lead with 13:35 remaining in the first half. The Grizzlies led for the final 33:35 of the game, including the final 23:53 minutes by double figures.
- The Grizzlies held an 18-point lead at halftime, 46-28. It was the most first-half points and largest halftime margin of the season. The Grizzlies are now 4-0 when leading at halftime this season.
- Montana led by as many as 29 points, 85-56, and never fell behind by more than four points.
- Montana led by at least 13 points for the entirety of the second half.
Freshman Derrick Carter-Hollinger had a career night, scoring 20 points, in addition to 14 rebounds and four blocked shots. All three stats were career bests.
- Carter-Hollinger surpassed his previous career high for scoring (15) by the intermission, scoring 16 first-half points.
- Carter-Hollinger made his first seven shot attempts.
- Carter-Hollinger recorded his second double-double of the season.
Montana shot a season-best .542, while holding Eastern Washington to .382 shooting. The Grizzlies shot better than .500 in both halves.
- After Eastern Washington cut the deficit to 13 in the second half, 50-37, Montana held the Eagles without a made field goal for nearly 6 minutes. They missed six consecutive shots while also turning the ball over once during the drought.
Montana made half of its three-point attempts (6-for-12), with four different players connecting. Both Carter-Hollinger and Kendal Manuel were 2-for-2 from deep.
Montana recorded a season-best .870 free-throw percentage (20-for-23). The 20 makes were the second-most of the season.
Eastern Washington entered the night ranked 42^nd nationally with 40.0 rebounds per game. Montana out-rebounded the Eagles, 37 to 29.
Montana recorded a season-high 21 assists.
- Sayeed Pridgett had a career-high eight dimes, including seven through the game's first 9 minutes.
- Timmy Falls had a season-high six assists, in addition to three steals and two blocked shots.
- In Montana's previous game, at Northern Colorado, the Grizzlies recorded just five assists.
Montana had four players in double figures for scoring: Carter-Hollinger (20), Pridgett (18); Manuel (14) and Falls (12).
Montana's 27-point victory was its largest of the season.
- Montana's previous five games had all been decided by single digits.
- Montana's previous five wins had all been decided by single digits.
Eastern Washington's top-three scorers – who all rank in the top 10 in the Big Sky – were all held below their season scoring averages.
Anderson had one of his better games, scoring eight points on 4-of-5 shooting. At one point in the second half, he scored six consecutive Griz points, helping Montana push its lead to 20 points for the first time.
- In his previous 10 games, Anderson scored a combined seven points.
Manuel was efficient, scoring his 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Over the past two games the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week is 5-for-5 from deep.
Pridgett nearly had a triple-double, scoring 18 points while recording eight rebounds and eight assists, despite playing 31 minutes. He was 10-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Falls entered the night having missed 14 consecutive shots, but was big early, scoring nine of Montana's first 20 points. He finished with 14 points – the second-highest total of the season. He also had a season-high six assists, and tied for his season best for steals (3) and blocked shots (2).
Montana's bench scored 36 points, including 20 from Carter-Hollinger and eight from Anderson.
Thursday marked the first time this season a senior hasn't led the Grizzlies for scoring.

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will have a rare Thursday off before hosting Idaho on Saturday (7 p.m.). The Grizzlies will then play their next three games on the road.

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

1st-place Grizzlies return home to host Portland State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Timmy Falls

Kendal Manuel

Sayeed Pridgett

Jared Samuelson

University of Montana Athletics

1st-place Grizzlies return home to host Portland State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Timmy Falls

Kendal Manuel

Sayeed Pridgett

Jared Samuelson

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