Montana back on road to face familiar foe

Wednesday, December 16

Seattle, Wash.

9 PM (MT)

Montana

Washington

Cameron Parker at Georgia - 12/8/20 [Photo by Tony Walsh, UGA Athletics]

12/15/2020 7:48:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)Schedule Roster

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA AT WASHINGTON
Wednesday / 9 p.m. (MT) / Seattle, Wash.

TV: Pac-12 Networks
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM, 98.3 FM) / Worldwide on TuneIn
Live Stats

Montana will continue its stretch against elite competition, traveling to nearby Seattle, Washington, to face the Huskies of the Pac-12. It marks the second season in a row, and third time in the past four seasons that the two teams will meet on the hardwood.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON

Washington enters Wednesday's matchup with a 1-4 record, with its lone victory coming over Seattle (73-41). The Huskies have also lost to No. 2 Baylor, UC Riverside, Utah and Oregon.
Washington is averaging just 60.0 points per game, although its two best offensive outputs have come in the past two games.
While its offense has been subpar, Washington's defense has been stout, limiting opponents to 66.8 points per game on .399 shooting. Only No. 2 Baylor has scored more than 76 points against the Huskies.
Washington converts well from the free-throw line, ranking 14th nationally with a .804 percentage. A season ago against Montana, Washington went to the line 46 times.
Senior guard Quade Green is the Huskies' top player, leading the team for scoring (17.0 ppg), 3-pointers (10) and assists (15). He is shooting .516 from the floor and .435 from deep.
Green, who began his career at Kentucky, accounts for nearly one-third of Washington's points and is the only Husky in double figures for scoring. The team has six other players who average between 5.3 and 7.8 points per game.
Sophomore forward Nate Roberts is Washington's top rebounder (7.4). He also makes 55.6 percent of his shot attempts.
Washington went 15-17 a season ago, including 5-13 in Pac-12 play. The Huskies began the year 10-2, handing Baylor one of its only losses of the season and being ranked throughout non-conference play, before struggling in the second half of the season.
The Huskies had two players selected in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft (Isaiah Stewart, No. 16 to Detroit; Jaden McDaniels (No. 28 to Minnesota).
Mike Hopkins, the longtime Syracuse assistant, is in his fourth season in Seattle. He is a two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a 2019 NCAA tournament berth. During his 22 seasons at Syracuse, the Orange reached the NCAA tournament 16 times, including four Final Four appearances and a 2003 national championship.

SERIES VS. THE HUSKIES

Aside from Gonzaga and Washington State, Montana has played the Huskies more than any other Division-I non-conference opponent, meeting for 56th time on Wednesday. The Huskies lead the all-time series, 46-9, but Montana has had some bright spots. The Grizzlies won five of six meetings between 1982-83 and 1994-95, including three in a row during Travis DeCuire's playing career.

The series between Montana and Washington dates back to 1923-24, and the two teams played twice most seasons through 1940-41, including as Pacific Coast Conference mates for a short stretch. The series picked back up in 1961-62 and continued semi-regularly through the end of DeCuire's playing career (20 meetings in 34 seasons).

The two teams have played seven times since then, including in the 2005 NCAA tournament in Boise, Idaho. The Huskies won that meeting by 11 to snap Montana's three-game winning streak in the series and have won the last seven in the series overall. The Grizzlies gave the Huskies a run for their money in 2013-14, falling by four on the road in a game in which Montana missed a free throw with 12 seconds remaining that would have tied the game. It was a similar tale in December 2017, when Montana had the chance to tie the game in the final 7 seconds, but was unable to convert from the foul line. In last year's meeting, Montana held a brief lead in the second half, but couldn't overcome No. 25 Washington's 46 free-throw attempts.

MONTANA VS. THE PAC-12

Montana has played at least one Pac-12 team every season since 2013-14, and once again has three on its schedule this year. The Grizzlies are looking for their first win over a Pac-12 program since beating both Oregon State and UCLA in 2010-11. Since then, the Grizzlies have lost 14 in a row. All-time, Montana is 56-221 against current members of the Pac-12.

SEATTLE CONNECTION

While it's not as prominent as the past few years, when the Grizzlies had several ties to the Seattle area, there is still a strong connection. Redshirt sophomore Freddy Brown III starred at nearby Nathan Hale High School from 2015-18 and head coach Travis DeCuire is a native of the Rainier Valley, where he played at Mercer Island High School before getting his coaching start at Sammamish High School and Green River Community College. He also started a non-profit in the area, the Fastbreak Basketball Association, and worked away from basketball at the Echo Glen Children's Center in Snoqualmie and with the Ryther Children's Center in North Seattle.

Montana's 60-point win today was the 3rd-largest margin of victory in school history!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/M5Q2uiTLST
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 13, 2020

DOMINANT DEFENSE

Montana's opponents are averaging just 64.0 points per game (72nd nationally). Opponents are shooting .384 (58th), including .284 from 3-point range (81st).

None of Montana's opponents have scored more than 76 points, and three haven't surpassed 64.
After USC (Nov. 28) shot .714 in the first half (15-of-21), Montana held USC to .320 shooting the second half. USC went nearly 8 minutes late in the game without a made field goal, and shot 2-of-10 over the game's final 10 minutes.
USC freshman Evan Mobley, the No. 1 high school recruit in the country and a projected NBA lottery pick, was limited to three made field goals and four shot attempts. In USC's other two games, Mobley is averaging nine makes and 13.5 attempts.
Dec. 3 at Southern Utah, the Grizzlies limited the Thunderbirds to .327 shooting (16-of-49), including a .286 clip from deep. Over the game's final 14 minutes, Southern Utah shot just 3-of-14 from the floor.
Georgia entered its matchup vs. Montana ranked in the top 30 nationally for scoring and shooting. The Bulldogs, however, were held 26 points below their season scoring average, and were limited to .397 shooting and 63 total points.
Montana held Yellowstone Christian to .279 shooting and 42 points.

GOOD AT BOTH

Montana ranks in the top 100 nationally for several offensive and defensive categories, ranking 77th for field-goal shooting (.474) and 58th for field-goal defense (.384). The Grizzlies also rank in the upper-third of college basketball for scoring defense (64.0, 72nd); 3-point defense (.284, 81st); and 3-point shooting (.373, 72nd).

TRENDING

After being held to .339 shooting in its season opener at USC, Montana has shot a combined .514 in the four games since, including a season-high .684 Saturday vs. Yellowstone Christian. Montana has made at least 49 percent of its shots in three of its last four games.
After struggling from the free-throw line through the first two games (.581), Montana seems to have fixed its issues, shooting .833 in the three games since (40-of-48), making at least 80 percent of its shots in three consecutive games.
Montana has out-shot its opponents from 3-point range in each of the past four games.
Montana's top six rotation players are all averaging at least 7.4 points per game, with four at 9.8 or higher.
After being out-rebounded in the first four games of the season, Montana took advantage of its size vs. Yellowstone Christian, limiting the Centurions to 15 total rebounds. Overall, Montana won the rebounding game 49-15 (+34).
Montana has led at halftime three times this season, but is just 1-2 in those contests.
Montana has three times held opponents under .400 shooting, but is just 1-2 in those contests as well.
Montana has surrendered 58 offensive rebounds through five games (11.6 per game)
The Grizzlies are averaging 14.6 turnovers per game, and have given the ball up at least a dozen times in every contest. Last year, the Grizzlies lost the turnover battle just six times in 31 games.

FINALY A WIN
Montana earned its first win of the season on Saturday, defeating Yellowstone Christian College in dominant fashion (102-42). Before the win, Montana was 0-4 for just the third time in the past 50 seasons.

Two of the Grizzlies' losses came to Power 5 teams – USC of the Pac-12 and Georgia of the SEC – and two more – both at Southern Utah – came by a combined two points, marking the first time in 37 years that the Grizzlies lost back-to-back one-point games.

The good news for Montana? During that 50-year span, both times that Montana has started a season 0-4, the Grizzlies have finished .500 or better both times (1971-72 and 2016-17).

WINNING BY A WIDE MARGIN

Montana led from start to finish Saturday vs. Yellowstone Christian College, routing the Centurions 102-42.

The 60-point margin of victory is the third-largest in school history and widest in more than 40 years. The only other times Montana has won a game by 60 or more points came in 1945-46 (103-34 over Gonzaga) and 1979-80 (94-33 over Carroll).
Montana scored 100 points for the 31st time in school history, including the fifth time in the past two decades.

INDIVIDUAL SUPERLATIVES

#0 Kyle Owens – Has scored in double figures in all five games this season, including a career-high 21 points vs. Southern Utah (Dec. 5) and his first career double-double vs. Yellowstone Christian (Dec. 12).
#1 Michael Steadman – After totaling just three rebounds through his first two games, has reached seven or more in three straight games (7.7 average)... Is coming off of a season-best 19-point performance.
#3 Josh Vazquez – Is shooting .419 from 3-point range this season, making multiple treys three times... Scored 15 points vs. Yellowstone Christian (Dec. 12), the second-best scoring performance of his career.
#11 Cameron Parker – Is averaging 6.7 assists per game over the past three contests, including nine vs. Yellowstone Christian (Dec. 12)... Has scored in double figures in two of the last three games, including 19 vs. Southern Utah (Dec. 3)... Has shot 5-of-6 from 3-point range in the last three games.
#12 Brandon Whitney – Has played 32-plus minutes in four games... Has scored in double figures three times... Has three-plus assists (and zero or one turnover) in three games.
#13 Josh Bannan – Is coming off of a 19-point performance (8-of-10 shooting) vs. Yellowstone Christian (Dec. 12)... Added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

MORE FROM SATURDAY'S WIN

Montana scored on its first offensive possession and never trailed in the game. The Grizzlies led by as many as 63 points.
Montana started strong out of the gates, jumping out to a 15-3 advantage.
- The Grizzlies led by 21 just 12 minutes into the contest, 33-12, making 13 of their first 16 shot attempts.
- Montana held a 30-point halftime lead, 49-19, and led by at least 30 points for the remainder of the contest.
- The Grizzlies used a 17-0 run midway through the second half to extend their lead. For more than 6 minutes (from 11:37 to 5:33), Montana missed just a single shot.
After being out-rebounded in the first four games of the season, Montana crashed the glass well on Saturday, totaling 49 rebounds. The Grizzlies only gave up 15 rebounds (+35 advantage).
- In comparison, sophomore Kyle Owens recorded 13 rebounds by himself.
Montana made 68.4 percent of its shot attempts (39-of-57) while holding Yellowstone Christian to a .279 clip (17-of-61).
Montana shot 19-of-23 from the free-throw line, marking the second consecutive game the Grizzlies have shot 80 percent or better from the charity stripe.
Montana took advantage of its size, scoring 60 points in the paint.
The Grizzlies forced 16 turnovers, leading to 24 points.
All nine players who played 3 minutes or more scored, with six reaching double figures.
Seven different Grizzlies tallied an assist.
Sophomore Kyle Owens, who has been in double figures for scoring in all five games this season, recorded his first career double-double (10 points, career-high 13 rebounds).
Senior Michael Steadman had the best performance of his short Griz career, scoring 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Steadman also added eight rebounds.
- Steadman drew six fouls on the day, without being whistled for a single foul.
Freshman Josh Bannan made all eight of his 2-point shot attempts (8-of-10 overall, plus 3-for-3 from the free-throw line). He finished the day with a career high for points (19), rebounds (7), assists (3) and steals (2).
Sophomore Josh Vazquez stayed hot from 3-point range, connecting on 3-of-5 attempts for 15 points (one shy of a career high).
- Over the past four games, Vazquez is shooting 9-of-17 (.529) from 3-point range.
Freshman Brandon Whitney played a team-most 32 minutes. He made the most of the time, too, scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, in addition to four assists and a team-most three steals.
Junior Cameron Parker was a single assist shy of a points-assists double-double. He finished the day with 12 points and nine dimes, in addition to five rebounds and two steals. Parker did not miss a shot, shooting 4-of-4 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Freddy Brown III, who redshirted a season ago, scored a career-high eight points. After playing 32 total minutes during his freshman season, Brown played 14 minutes on Saturday, also recording two rebounds.

LOOKING AHEAD

Montana finalized a contract with Dickinson State on Monday afternoon and will host the Blue Hawks (NAIA) Friday at 4 p.m.

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

Things look a little different, but basketball is back in Missoula!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/WlKIHOoIBN
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 12, 2020