Montana, Eastern Washington clash in rematch of past 2 title games

Montana at Eastern Washington
Thursday / 7 p.m. (MT) / Cheney, Wash.

TV: SWX Montana
Stream: Pluto TV (ch. 534)
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM, 98.3 FM) / Worldwide on TuneIn
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Two of the top teams in the Big Sky Conference will meet on the hardwood this week, with first-place Montana traveling to Eastern Washington.

It's a matchup of two of the top teams in 2019-20, with Montana picked to win the league by the league's media members while Eastern Washington was selected as the favorite by the coaches. It also, however, is a meeting between two of the league's top teams historically.

In the five-plus seasons since Travis DeCuire took over in Missoula, Montana has won a league-best 74 Big Sky games. Second is Eastern Washington, with 64. The two teams have played in three of the five Big Sky finals during that span.

While Montana has won the 'big' game each of the past two seasons – beating Eastern Washington to win the Big Sky tournament and advance to the NCAA tournament in both 2018 and 2019 – Eastern Washington has had the upper hand in Cheney.

In 2018, the Grizzlies suffered a 74-65 defeat, snapping their 13-game winning streak and marking their first conference loss of the year. A season ago, the Eagles were victorious, 78-71. The loss motivated Montana and sparked a 10-game winning streak over the next seven weeks.

Thursday could be Montana's toughest challenge yet. The Eagles have three players who average at least 15.0 points per game, and as a team, Eastern Washington ranks third nationally, with 85.9 points per contest. Even more impressive, the Eagles are a perfect 6-0 on their home court, averaging 101.0 points per game.

Without a doubt, the offense carries Eastern Washington, but the team also ranks in the top 60 nationally for assists (18.1 per game, fifth); field-goal percentage (.473, 41^st); rebounding (40.0 per game, 42^nd); scoring margin (+10.9, 52^nd); steals (8.2 per game, 59^th); and turnover margin (+2.6, 60^th).

"They shoot the ball," DeCuire said of Eastern Washington. "Their shooters who returned from last year have all increased their percentages. They have a more pure point guard handling the ball, willing to create for others, which highlights the strengths of others. You're going to have to find a way to transition in defense because they fire threes quickly. You're going to have to guard in isolated spots, and you're going to have to compete. They've always been physical and have played aggressively, and now they're a little more skilled than they have been in the past."

Montana is coming off of its first conference loss of the season – 74-66 at Northern Colorado – but enters the week as the league's only team with three wins. The Grizzlies had previously beaten Northern Arizona and Sacramento State at home and Southern Utah on the road.

Tipoff on Thursday is slated for 7 p.m. (MT) on SWX Montana. Fans can also catch the game on Pluto TV (ch. 534) and the Grizzly Radio Network.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON

EWU enters the week with a 9-5 record overall. The Eagles are one of four teams tied for second place with a 2-1 league record.
EWU has one of the nation's top scoring offenses, averaging 85.9 points per game (third in NCAA).
The Eagles are undefeated at home, averaging 101.0 points across six home contests.
EWU has three players averaging at least 15.0 points per game. Jacob Davison (17.6), Kim Aiken (16.4) and Mason Peatling (15.4) all rank in the top 10 in the Big Sky for scoring and the top 200 nationally.
Aiken is the league's only player to average a double-double, pulling down 11.1 rebounds per game (first in Big Sky, eighth in NCAA). He also ranks second for three-pointers made (41), ninth for three-point percentage (.369), fourth for steals (1.7) and sixth for free-throw percentage (.821). Aiken has nine double-doubles on the season.
Peatling ranks second in the league for blocked shots (1.3 per game) and seventh for shooting (.549).
Davison ranks third for steals (1.9 per game).
Ellis Magnuson has started all 14 games and averages a league-best 5.9 assists per game. His 2.77 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 21st nationally.
In addition to scoring, EWU ranks in the top 50 nationally for assists (fifth), field-goal percentage (41st) and rebounding (42nd).
While the Eagles have one of the nation's top offenses, they rank last in the Big Sky for scoring defense (75.1 points allowed per game).
Shantay Legans is in his third season leading the Eagles. He has helped EWU advance to the Big Sky title game in each of his first two seasons, in addition to a CBI invitation in 2018.

SERIES VS. THE EAGLES
Montana and Eastern Washington will meet for the 114th time on Thursday. The Grizzlies own a 69-44 advantage over the Eagles, an impressive feat considering they lost the first 14 games in the series. Montana won the most-recent meeting, in the 2019 Big Sky title game, but has lost two in a row in Cheney.

Sayeed Pridgett led Montana for scoring in all three meetings a season ago, including 18 in the Big Sky championship. He nearly had a double-double last year in Cheney, with 16 points and nine rebounds. Over his past four contests vs. the Eagles, Pridgett is averaging 17.3 points per game.

BIG SKY UPDATE

Montana is the only school with three wins through two weeks of league action, starting the year 3-1.
Behind the Grizzlies are four teams who are 2-1.
Just two weeks into conference action, every team has at least one win and one loss. It marks the first time in 12 seasons that every team has a loss by the third week of league play.
Montana and Portland State are the only two schools who have played four games already. The Grizzlies had a grueling stretch of four games in eight days.

TOUGH PLACES TO PLAY
When Montana travels to Eastern Washington on Thursday, it will mark the ninth road game in a row that the Grizzlies will play a team that is unbeaten on its home court this season. Montana's road opponents are a combined 62-4 (.939) on their home courts, with the only losses coming to Gonzaga, Kansas, UCLA and Montana.

DOWN TO THE WIRE

Montana's last five games have all been decided by single digits.
The Grizzlies' last five wins have also been by single digits, including the last two by two points apiece.
Montana is 2-1 in one-possession games and 2-3 in two-possession contests.

BACK-TO-BACK PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Through two weeks of Big Sky action, Montana has cleaned up the hardware, winning both player-of-the-week awards.

Kendal Manuel averaged 23.5 points per game across two road contests, including a win at Southern Utah. In addition to leading the Grizzlies for scoring on the week, he was also the team's top rebounder (6.0 per game) and swiped a team-most four passes. Manuel made 6-of-9 three-point attempts, and despite shooting nearly one-third of his shots from beyond the arc, Manuel still shot .633 overall on the week (19-of-30).

At Northern Colorado, Manuel scored a career-high 30 points. He made 13-of-16 shots, including all three three-point attempts. His shots came at clutch times, too. Of his 13 makes, seven either gave Montana the lead, tied the game or cut the deficit to a single possession. Against the Bears, Manuel also led Montana for rebounding (six) and steals (three). Two nights earlier, Montana earned a road win at Southern Utah, handing the Thunderbirds their first home loss of the season. Manuel scored 17 points, including two second-half three-pointers that extended the Grizzlies' lead after Southern Utah had cut the score to a single possession.

For the 2nd week in a row, Montana has collected hardware. Congrats, @iAmKManWell!

📰 https://t.co/HVzNhcECxV #GrizHoops #GoGriz #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/M47HlryOwI
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 7, 2020

Sayeed Pridgett was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 31, his first award of the season and fourth of his career. In two come-from-behind wins to begin league play, Pridgett averaged 20.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, in addition to a team-high five steals.

The senior had 27 points and 10 boards on vs. Northern Arizona (Dec. 28), recording his fourth double-double of the season. With Montana trailing by eight in the second half, the Grizzlies used a 15-2 run to take control of the contest. Pridgett had seven of his team's points during that stint and 18 overall during the second half. Two nights later, Montana pulled off a 52-50 win over Sacramento State (Dec. 30), winning in the closing seconds. Pridgett tied for the team lead with 14 points and eight rebounds, in addition to a game-high four steals. He scored six of Montana's final 10 points as the Grizzlies rallied from a six-point deficit with under 10 minutes to play.

FRESH FACES

Of the six players who average at least 18.0 minutes played per game, three are true freshmen.
Montana's trio of true freshmen account for 40.4 percent of the Grizzlies' rebounding and 26.4 percent of their scoring.
In a variety of combinations, Montana started multiple true freshmen in its first 10 games. It marks the first time since 2014 that a pair of Montana true freshmen have started in the same game and the first time ever that two freshmen have started more than five times in the same season.
Of the 10 players who have seen the court this season, just four played a season ago. In Montana's rotation are three true freshmen, a redshirt freshman and two transfers.

PRIDGETT 4 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior Sayeed Pridgett was one of six players named to the Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team in October, putting him on coaches' radars to earn the league's player-of-the-year award in March. Since then, he's only increased his stock:

Pridgett ranks third in the Big Sky for scoring (19.0 points per game) and rebounding (7.6) and second with 2.1 steals per contest. The versatile player also ranks 10th for assists (2.7 per game), 12th for blocked shots (0.7) and 13th for shooting (.488). He is the league's only player to rank in the top 15 for each statistical category.
Nationally, Pridgett ranks 31st for minutes per game, 45th for scoring and 50th for steals.
He has twice score 30-plus points in a game, the only Big Sky player to do so this season.
His four double-doubles trail only Eastern Washington's Kim Aiken Jr.
He was named to the All-Big Sky first team in 2019 as a junior, when he was the league's only player to rank in the top 15 for scoring (sixth), shooting (second), steals (11th), assists (13th) and rebounds (15th). He not only averaged 15.1 points per game, but did so on .605 shooting, the 19th-best rate in the nation.
As a freshman in 2016, Pridgett averaged 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting at a .524 clip (ninth in Big Sky). As a sophomore, he was Montana's top player off the bench, averaging 8.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while adding 1.2 steals per contest (11th in Big Sky).
Pridgett has been named Montana's Ryan Dick Award winner as the team's most-improved player each of the past three seasons.
DeCuire has called him the most versatile player he's ever coached.

START IT OFF

Montana has used six different starting lineup combinations, including a different one in four consecutive games in December.
The Grizzlies have used the same combination each of the past three contests: Timmy Falls, Sayeed Pridgett, Kendal Manuel, Jared Samuelson, Josh Vazquez.
Montana started two true freshmen in each of the first 10 games, and has had at least one true freshman start in all but one contest.
Seniors Kendal Manuel and Sayeed Pridgett have started every game this season.

DOMINANT DEFENSE

Montana has held all but three of its opponents under their season scoring averages.
Just once (Oregon) has Montana given up more than 74 points in regulation.
Montana has held seven opponents to 70 points or fewer (6-1).

TALKING TURNOVERS

Montana has turned the ball over more times than its opponent just one time in the past 11 games.
The Grizzlies have turned the ball over 10 or fewer times in six of the past eight games, including single digits in each of the past three.
The Grizzlies forced a season high 10 steals vs. Sacramento State (Dec. 30).
Montana is 7-3 when turning the ball over 15 times or fewer, compared to 0-5 when turning the ball over 16 or more times.

INCREASING OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY

Montana has struggled offensively, averaging just 64.7 points per game (315th in NCAA). The Grizzlies have surpassed 70 points just five times, but three of them have come in the past seven contests.
Sayeed Pridgett and Kendal Manuel are the only two players to score 27 or more points in a Big Sky game this season.
Montana scored 66 points at Northern Colorado (nation's 35th-best scoring defense), more than any other opponent had at Bank of Colorado Arena up to that point.
Facing the nation's third-best defense, Montana beat Sacramento State, despite scoring just 52 points. It was the Grizzlies' lowest scoring output in a win since beating the Hornets – by the exact same 52-50 score – in January 1998.
Montana also ranks 300th or worse nationally for rebounding (32.7 per game), rebounding margin (-3.4) and assists (11.4 per game).

A few of our favorite moments from @iAmKManWell's career night! The Billings native dropped 30 against the Bears!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/yhGMRe4qh1
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 7, 2020

PLAYING FROM BEHIND

Montana has led at halftime just three times this season (3-0). However, the Grizzlies have won three of their past four games while trailing at the break, and are 4-7 overall.
In Montana's first two conference games, the Grizzlies led for just 18:26 (23.1 percent), but won both games. The Grizzlies overcame an eight-point second-half deficit against Northern Arizona (Dec. 28) with a 15-2 run. They scored the first eight points of the second half against Sacramento State (Dec. 30) to erase a seven-point halftime deficit.

TRENDING

Montana has won four consecutive games at home. The Grizzlies picked up their first road win, at Southern Utah, after beginning the year 0-6 away from Missoula.
Montana's last five games have been decided by single digits.
Montana has held all but three opponent below their season scoring averages. The Grizzlies are 6-1 when limiting their opponents to 70 or fewer points.
Montana has turned the ball over more times than its opponent just once in the past 11 games. The Grizzlies have given up the ball fewer than 10 times in three consecutive games and four of their past five.
Montana has shot better than its opponent in seven of the past 10 games, including three of four in Big Sky play. The Grizzlies' have twice been victorious (Sacramento State, at Southern Utah) while being out-shot.
The Grizzlies are shooting .462 at home versus .391 on the road. They have made the same number of shots (186) at both locations, but with 67 fewer attempts at home.
Montana has posted a better free throw percentage than its opponent in five of the past seven games. Over the past two games, however, the Grizzlies have attempted just 14 free throws, compared to 43 for their opponents.
Montana out-rebounded its first four opponents, but has done so just twice since then (both wins).

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will have its only Saturday of the season off, but it's not a complete break. Following the weekend, the Grizzlies will host Portland State for a rare Monday night contest.

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

How good was @JaredSamuelson last night? The senior scored a career-high 21 points in Montana's road win at Southern Utah!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/ZleYw2iFlH
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) January 3, 2020

Montana, Eastern Washington clash in rematch of past 2 title games

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Timmy Falls

Kendal Manuel

Sayeed Pridgett

Jared Samuelson

Josh Vazquez

University of Montana Athletics

Montana, Eastern Washington clash in rematch of past 2 title games

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Timmy Falls

Kendal Manuel

Sayeed Pridgett

Jared Samuelson

Josh Vazquez

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