Griz close non-conference slate at Arizona

MONTANA AT ARIZONA
Tuesday / 5 p.m. / Tucson, Arizona

TV: Pac-12 Networks
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM, 98.3 FM) / Worldwide on TuneIn
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After opening the 2020-21 basketball season with four consecutive losses, the Grizzlies have followed with three consecutive wins. Montana knew its 0-4 record wasn't indicative of the team's talent, falling on the road to Power-5 programs USC (Pac-12) and Georgia (SEC), and losing back-to-back road games to Southern Utah by a combined two points.

Similarly, Montana's wins come with a bit of a caveat, as well, with the two blowouts coming against non-Division-I competition (102-42 win over Yellowstone Christian and 78-51 victory over Dickinson State). The other win, however, was quite impressive. On Wednesday, Montana traveled to Pac-12 territory and took down the Washington Huskies, 66-58, to earn its first win over a Pac-12 program in a decade.

Now, Montana will try to repeat the feat when it travels to Tucson, Arizona, to close non-conference play against the Wildcats. Arizona is 5-1 on the young season, with its only loss coming Saturday at Stanford, 78-75. Tuesday's game comes on the two-year anniversary of Montana's road win at South Dakota State, snapping the Jackrabbits' 26-game home win streak, which led the nation at the time.

SCOUTING ARIZONA

Arizona enters Tuesday's matchup with a 5-1 mark, most-recently dropping its first contest of the season (78-75 at Stanford). The Wildcats own victories over Grambling State, Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona, CSU Bakersfield and UTEP.
Arizona is averaging 41.5 rebounds per game (56^th nationally) and owns a +12.8 rebounding margin that is the 13^th-best in the country. Just on the offensive end, Arizona averages 13.2 rebounds per game.
The Wildcats rank in the top 100 nationally for scoring offense, but are even better on defense, allowing just 62.3 points per game (52^nd).
In Arizona's win over UTEP, the Wildcats shot 0-of-9 from 3-point range, marking the first time 2009 that they did not make a 3-pointer in a game. Even still, the Wildcats rank 35^th nationally with a .393 mark from deep.
Junior guard Jemarl Baker Jr. was the Pac-12 Player of the Week last week, averaging 19.7 points on .647 shooting (10-of-20 from deep) across three wins. He scored 33 points on 12-of-16 shooting against Northern Arizona, the most points ever scored by a player under Sean Miller. He added 29 points on Saturday at Stanford and ranks in the top 45 nationally for 3-pointers made and percentage. Overall, Baker is averaging 16.7 points per contest on .522 shooting (.476 from 3-point range).
Senior guard Terrell Brown Jr. has a 7.7 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranks sixth in the nation.
Junior guard James Akinjo, a transfer from Georgetown, was named Preseason All-Pac-12 honorable mention before the season started. His 12.7 points per game rank second on the team, while his 33.2 minutes per contest are a team best. Akinjo also has a team-high 28 assists and nine steals.
Freshman Bennedict Mathurin has scored in double figures in four of six games to begin his collegiate career. He is averaging 10.3 points per contest and has made half of his shot attempts from the field, and is 19-of-22 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Jordan Brown has two double-doubles on the season. He is averaging 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest, while shooting .605 from the floor and blocking eight shots.
Arizona is facing plenty of turnover from last year's squad, ranking last among all Pac-12 schools for returning points (14.7 percent, 338^th nationally) and starts (1.3 percent, 343^rd).
Arizona was picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll.
Sean Miller is in his 12^th season at Arizona, having compiled a 290-101 record in Tucson and a 410-148 career mark overall. He has never had a losing season and became the 22^nd-fastest coach in college basketball history to win 400 games. In his 11 seasons at Arizona, his Wildcat teams have won eight Pac-12 crowns (five regular-season, three tournament), which is as many as all other active Pac-12 coaches combined. Heh has taken Arizona to seven NCAA tournaments, including five Sweet 16 appearances and three Elite Eights.
Arizona has won more than 1,800 games in its history, and its .659 winning percentage as a program is the ninth-best in all of college basketball. The Wildcats have produced 31 All-Americans and 75 NBA Draft Picks.
Over the past decade, Arizona is 269-86 (.760).
While it won't look like it usually does, the McKale Center consistently averages more than 13,000 fans per game, which has ranked in the top 25 nationally – and led the Pac-12 – in 36 consecutive seasons. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Arizona is 157-18 (.897) on its home court.

SERIES VS. THE WILDCATS
Montana and Arizona will meet on the hardwood for just the third time on Tuesday, but the second time in three seasons. The Grizzlies held Arizona without a made basket for more than 10 minutes in the December 2018 meeting, but couldn't get their offense going in a 61-42 defeat. The two teams also met during the 1995-96 season, an 84-66 loss in Tucson.

Only Freddy Brown III (3 points in 2 minutes of action) and Mack Anderson (1 minute) played in the most-recent meeting against Arizona. Head coach Travis DeCuire, though, has plenty of familiarity with the Wildcats, going 5-5 against them while an assistant coach at Cal. The Golden Bears twice won inside the McKale Center and twice beat top-10 Arizona teams, including the No. 1 team in the nation in 2013-14, when DeCuire was associate head coach.

SERIES VS. THE PAC-12
Montana will face its third Pac-12 opponent of the season on Tuesday when it travels to Tucson, Arizona. The Grizzlies have played at least one Pac-12 school in eight consecutive seasons, and last week, earned their first Pac-12 victory in a decade. It snapped the Grizzlies' 14-game losing skid to the Conference of Champions.

Montana is hoping it isn't another decade before its next Pac-12 victory, and history may be on its side. The last time Montana beat a Pac-12 school, the Grizzlies did so twice in a row, beating UCLA on the road (Dec. 5, 2010) before earning a home win over Oregon State (Dec. 15, 2010).

All-time, Montana is 57-221 against current members of the Pac-12.

In two games this season against Pac-12 competition, Brandon Whitney (13.5), Josh Bannan (12.5) and Kyle Owens (12.0) are all averaging double figures. Bannan is also averaging 8.0 rebounds per game, while Whitney is dishing out 2.5 assists per contest. In five career games against the Pac-12, sophomore Josh Vazquez has also been impressive, totaling 37 points (7.4 per game) and 18 rebounds (3.6).

THEN VS. NOW
Even with varying levels of competition, it's easy to see why Montana is having more success over the past three games. Below is a statistical comparison from Montana's first four games (all losses) compared to the last three (all wins):

Category	1st 4 Games	Last 3 Games
Scoring Offense	62.2	82.0
Scoring Defense	69.5	50.3
Scoring Margin	-7.2	+31.7
Field-Goal Shooting	.419	.538
Field-Goal Defense	.413	.353
3-Point Defense	.297	.242
Rebounding	29.8	43.0
Rebounding Margin	-10.7	+20.3

During Montana's three wins, several individuals have stood out in particular:

Six players are averaging at least 9.0 points per game, led by senior Michael Steadman's 16.0 on .690 shooting (20-of-29).
Freshman Josh Bannan is averaging a double-double with 15.7 points (.593 shooting) and 10.3 rebounds per game. He has a double-double in Montana's last two contests.
Sophomore Kyle Owens is also nearly averaging a double-double with 11.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Sophomore Josh Vazquez is averaging 10.7 points per contest and has made half of his 3-point attempts (6-of-12).
In addition to his 9.0 points per game on .588 shooting, junior Cameron Parker is averaging 4.7 assists per contest.
Freshman Brandon Whitney is averaging 9.7 points per game on .667 shooting, in addition to 2.3 assists and a team-best 2.0 steals.

PLAYING FROM IN FRONT
Montana has led wire to wire in its two non-Division-I victories, and led for nearly 33 minutes against Washington. In total, the Grizzlies have trailed for just 3:51 during their three-game winning streak, and never by more than four points.

Even in Montana's two road losses to Southern Utah, the Grizzlies led for the majority of both contests, including for 32 minutes in the first game against the Thunderbirds.

DEFENSIVE DOMINATION
Montana ranks high national for a variety of defensive categories:

Scoring defense: 61.3 (43^rd)
3-point field-goal defense (.276 (49^th)
Field-goal defense: .387 (59^th)

During Montana's three-game winning streak, opponents are averaging just 50.3 points per game on .351 shooting, with the Grizzlies out-rebounding their opponents 129 to 68.

STRONG SHOOTING
Montana has made at least half of its shots in three of its last five contests, and shot .490 in another game. Overall, the Grizzlies are shooting .472 on the season, a figure which ranks 81^st nationally (top 25 percent).

MONEY FROM THE LINE
Montana owns the nation's 86^th-best free-throw shooting percentage (top 30 percent nationally), connecting on 73.5 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe. That number is even more impressive, considering the Grizzlies shot .581 during their first two games (both losses). Since then, Montana is shooting 72-of-89 (.809).

Not only is Montana making its shots, though, it is also getting to the line at a greater frequency. The Grizzlies have attempted more free throws than their opponents in four consecutive games, and on the season rank 86^th nationally for total free throws made; a season ago, they ranked 313^th.

Gallery: (12-18-2020) MBB: vs. Dickinson State (12.18.20)

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Montana has improved its rebounding numbers over the past three games, averaging 43.0 per game during its winning streak, but is still struggling overall, being out-rebounded against all Division-I opponents. Montana was, however, nearly even on the glass at Washington (34 to 35).

Montana continues to turn the ball over more than it has in recent memory, averaging 14.3 turnovers per contest. The Grizzlies have turned the ball over at least 12 times each game, and have posted fewer turnovers than their opponents just three times (USC, Yellowstone Christian and Washington).

Over the past three seasons, Montana has consistently ranked in the top 20 percent nationally for fewest turnovers and even better for turnover margin. A season ago, the Grizzlies ranked 41^st with a +2.4 margin.

MORE NEW FACES
Two additional Grizzlies made their collegiate debuts on Friday, with Robby Beasley III and Hunter Clarke seeing their first action. Beasley III missed the first six games due to a leg injury, while Clarke was a late arrival from Australia, getting to Missoula in late November. Both freshmen are expected to see significant time throughout the season.

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will now break for the holidays, before returning to practice post-Christmas and stepping back into Big Sky Conference action on Jan. 2 and 4 vs. Northern Colorado (note the date change).

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

Good to see you on the floor, Robby! Making his collegiate debut, freshman Robby Beasley III scores his first career basket!#GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/3KxWbMaXLA
— Montana Griz BB (@MontanaGrizBB) December 18, 2020

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Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Freddy Brown III

Hunter Clarke

Kyle Owens

Cameron Parker

Michael Steadman

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

University of Montana Athletics