Griz take winning streak on the road

Montana at Oregon
Monday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. (MT)

Watch: Pac-12 Networks
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM/98.3 FM) / The Varsity Network
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast

Riding a three-game winning streak and coming away from the Zootown Classic with a tournament title, Montana now looks to keep things going on the road, beginning with a test at Oregon of the Pac-12. The Griz and Ducks will tip for the third time in the past six seasons on Monday night at 8 p.m. (MT) on the Pac-12 Networks.

ZOOTOWN CLASSIC CHAMPIONS
After beginning the season 1-2, Montana has won three consecutive games – all at home – most-recently winning the Zootown Classic title. The Grizzlies earned double-digit wins over UC San Diego and Southern Miss (UNC Wilmington withdrew from the tournament after one game) to win their fourth consecutive home tournament championship.

In the pair of wins, Montana held opponents to 61.5 while forcing 14.0 turnovers per contest. On offense, Montana shot .409 from deep (9.0 makes per game) and totaled 28 assists compared to 14 total turnovers. Sophomore Josh Bannan was named tournament MVP after nearly averaging a double-double (15.5 points on .500 shooting, 9.5 rebounds). Fellow sophomore Robby Beasley III was also named to the all-tournament team (18.0 points per game), while junior Lonnell Martin Jr. (20 points vs. Southern Miss) and senior Cameron Parker (7.5 points, 7.0 assists per game) also had strong weeks.

Gallery: (11-24-2021) MBB: vs. UC San Diego (11.24.21)

SERIES VS. THE DUCKS
Montana is 3-24 all-time against Oregon, with most of the meetings happening prior to 1960. This will be the fifth meeting since the turn of the century, including the third in the past six seasons.

The Grizzlies earned a 68-55 road win at Oregon during the 2009-10 season, a campaign that ended with 22 victories and a CBI berth. The Grizzlies and Ducks also met in the 2002 NCAA tournament, an 81-62 Oregon win in Salt Lake City, and in both December 2017 (81-67 Oregon win) and December 2019 (81-48 Ducks victory).

In the most-recent matchup, No. 8 Oregon used an 11-0 run in the first half to take control of the game after the two teams were tied at 12-12 early. The Ducks used a 16-0 run during a 6-minute stretch in the second half to put the game away, forcing 20 Montana turnovers and out-rebounding the Griz 40-24. Four current Grizzlies played in that contest, including Mack Anderson, who made both of his shots (four points), while blocking two shots, pulling down two rebounds and recording a steal. Derrick Carter-Hollinger and Josh Vazquez each scored five points.

SERIES VS. THE PAC-12
Montana will play a Pac-12 opponent for the ninth consecutive season when it travels to Eugene, Oregon. The Grizzlies had success a season ago, snapping a 14-game losing skid against the Conference of Champions with a 66-58 win at Washington. In three games last season vs. the Pac-12, Montana held its own, losing by an average of 4.0 points (16-point loss at USC, eight-point win at Washington, six-point defeat at Arizona).

In those three games, three Grizzlies averaged double figures for scoring: Kyle Owens (12.3); Josh Bannan (10.3); and Brandon Whitney (10.0). Bannan also averaged 8.3 rebounds in those contests, while Robby Beasley III scored 17 points at Arizona, his only game against a Pac-12 foe after sitting out the first several weeks of the season due to injury. In six career games against the Pac-12, junior Josh Vazquez has also been impressive, totaling 47 points (7.8 per game) and 22 rebounds (3.7).

All-time, Montana is 57-222 against current members of the Pac-12.

SCOUTING OREGON

Oregon started the season ranked No. 13 in the AP top-25 poll, but has gotten off to a slow start, entering Monday's game with a 3-3 record. The Ducks are 2-0 at home this season but lost to BYU on a neutral court by 32 and went 1-2 at the Maui Invitational, including double-digit losses to Saint Mary's and No. 12 Houston.
Senior forward Eric Williams Jr. is Oregon's top threat, averaging 13.0 points per game while shooting .474 from 3-point range. He is averaging a team-high 30.3 minutes per game, in addition to 12 steals (first) and 5.0 rebounds per game (second). Last year, he became the 36th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
Senior guard Will Richardson earned preseason All-Pac-12 honors (first team) after averaging 11.3 points, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game last season. He was joined on the preseason team by second-team picks Quincy Guerrier and De'Vion Harmon.
Several players were named to national watch lists prior to the season, including Richardson, who was selected to the John R. Wooden Award list, awarded to the top-50 players in the country.
Oregon has won 36 of its past 38 home games. All-time at Matthew Knight Arena, the Ducks are 91-4 against non-conference foes, with their last loss coming Nov. 26, 2018 vs. Texas Southern.
Dana Altman owns 693 career wins, which ranks 24th in NCAA history. He is one of five active coaches with 24 consecutive winning seasons.
Oregon went 21-7 a season ago, winning the Pac-12 regular-season title and advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
The Ducks have won either the Pac-12 regular-season or tournament championships – or both – in five of the past six seasons, qualifying for the Sweet 16 in four of those years, the Elite Eight twice and the Final Four in 2017.

Beasley does it AGAIN!

💻 Watch: https://t.co/4a3JnYDP2X #GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/vCsCZMn51z
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 27, 2021

GRIZ BITS

Through six games, Montana has done a tremendous job at protecting the basketball. In fact, the Grizzlies rank eighth nationally, committing just 9.0 turnovers per game. The Grizzlies also rank 17th in the NCAA for assist-to-turnover ratio (1.61) and 27th for turnover margin (5.3).
- Montana has turned the ball over just seven times in each of its past three games.
Montana hasn't turned the ball over more than 12 times in a game this season, but is 4-0 when turning the ball over fewer than 10 times, compared to 0-2 when giving it up 12 times.
Montana is allowing just 60.3 points per game, a figure that ranks 55th in the entire country.
- Montana has held two opponents below 50 points, after doing so just once all of last year – a season in which Montana ranked 77th nationally (top 25 percent) at just 67.0 points allowed per game.
- Montana is 4-0 this season when holding opponents to 78 or fewer points.
After setting a school record from the charity stripe in 2020-21 (.782, 15th in the NCAA), Montana again is connecting on its free-throw attempts (.795, 20th).
- Montana has shot a better percentage from the free-throw line in all six games this season.
Montana has three players averaging at least 8.0 points per game and has had five different players lead the team in scoring (in six games).
Montana has used the same starting lineup each game this season, featuring three sophomores, a junior transfer who is new to the program this year and a senior forward. Interestingly, two players have come off the bench to average more minutes (all 20 or more) than two of Montana's starters.
In order to have success this season, the Grizzlies will have to do a better job crashing the glass. Montana ranks 348th nationally (out of 350 teams) for offensive rebounding (5.3 per game). Additionally, the Grizzlies rank 331st for total rebounds per game (30.5) and 328th for rebounding margin (-7.7).
- Montana has been out-rebounded by all five Division-I opponents, for an average margin of -11.0. The Grizzlies were hurt badly at Mississippi State, when they allowed 47 rebounds (-19), and lost the rebounding battle by at least 12 in each of its past two games.
The Grizzlies will also have to improve their perimeter defense, with teams shooting .396 from distance against the Grizzlies (330th in NCAA). In a win over Dickinson State (Nov. 9), Montana held the Blue Hawks to 1-of-20 shooting from 3-point range. Against Division-I competition, though, opponents are averaging 7.8 made 3's per game on .481 shooting (39-of-81). This comes after the Grizzlies ranked 52nd nationally in 2020-21, holding opponents to 31.2-percent shooting from deep.
- Montana is 2-0 this season when limiting opponents to eight or fewer made 3-pointers.
Sophomore forward Josh Bannan leads Montana for scoring (13.5 points per game) and rebounding (9.2).
- Bannan was named the Zootown Classic MVP after nearly averaging a double-double in a pair of Griz wins (15.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.0 spg, 1.5 apg, 0.5 bpg). He scored 15 points vs. Southern Miss, with 13 of them coming in the game's final 9 minutes as Montana overcame a deficit.
- Bannan has three double-doubles on the season, including a career-high 24 points (10-of-14 shooting) and 12 rebounds in a win over Omaha (Nov. 20).
- After making two 3-pointers in a game once during his freshman season, he has already done so three this year. He is shooting .529 from deep (9-of-17), needing just six games to surpass last season's 3-point total (eight).
Senior guard Cameron Parker has only attempted 17 shots this season, but he's made 11 of them, shooting a team-best .647. He also leads the team with 4.8 assists per game, leading the team in that category every game this season.
- Parker recorded his 500th career assist vs. Omaha (Nov. 20). While the majority of them have come during his two-year career at Sacred Heart, for comparison, Travis DeCuire's Montana record for career assists stands at 435.
- Parker recorded 14 assists in two games of the Zootown Classic (Nov. 24-26) and has 19 assists compared to two turnovers during Montana's three-game winning streak (Nov. 20-26).
- Parker ranks third among active NCAA players with a career assists-per-game average of 6.20. He ranks 12th among active players for career assists (515) and 22nd for assist-to-turnover ratio (1.94).
Sophomore guard Brandon Whitney ranks second on the team with 10.8 points per game. He also leads the team for minutes (28.1) and ranks second for assists (15).
- Whitney scored a career-high 30 points at North Dakota (Nov. 15). He scored 14 of Montana's final 16 points, being the only Grizzly to make a field goal over the game's final 11 minutes (Montana's other two points came from the free throw line).
- After playing the 10th-most minutes of any freshman in college basketball in 2020-21, Whitney is expected to reach 1,000 career minutes played on Monday, just his 35th collegiate game. Currently, he has played 988 career minutes, an average of 29.3 per contest.
Guard Robby Beasley III had a slow start to his sophomore season, scoring 21 points through his first four games, before shooting 10-of-24 at the Zootown Classic and averaging 18.0 points per game. He earned all-tournament honors after making a career-high five 3-pointers vs. Southern Miss, including several during a second-half run.
- After setting a school record from the free-throw line in 2020-21 (.929), Beasley III attempted his first free throws last week, shooting 9-of-10.
Junior forward Derrick Carter-Hollinger has been in double figures for scoring in three games this year and is shooting .514 while averaging 21.2 minutes played per game. He is also 4-of-7 from deep, making two triples in each of Montana's road games.
- Carter-Hollinger is doing all of this despite scoring in double figures just once in 2020-21. After battling injuries most of last season, he looks very much like the player who earned Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors in 2019-20.
Junior Lonnell Martin Jr. scored a game-high 20 points vs. Southern Miss, playing a season-high 34 minutes and knocking down four 3-pointers. For comparison, Martin made four 3-pointers and scored 20 points through his first five games combined.
Senior Mack Anderson has nine blocked shots through six games, averaging a block for every 11.1 minutes on the floor. He also ranks second on the team for rebounding (3.7 per game).
- In a win over Southern Miss (Nov. 26), Anderson played a career-high 32 minutes while totaling six points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and an assist.
- Anderson played his 1,000th career minute vs. Southern Miss (Nov. 26) and enters Monday's game needing two rebounds to reach 200 for his career.
Senior Scott Blakney had his best game as a Grizzly vs. UC San Diego, shooting 4-of-4 and scoring eight points. For his career Blakney's .582 career field-goal percentage ranks 27th among active Division-I players.
Junior guard Josh Vazquez averaged 9.0 points per game over Montana's two-game road trip (Nov. 13-15), shooting 4-of-7 from deep while also adding two steals at North Dakota.
- Vazquez ranks second in Montana history for single-season free-throw shooting (.929 in 2020-21) and has missed just seven free throws during his career. He has made 15 in a row dating back to Feb. 27, 2021.
- Vazquez recorded his 400th career point and 100th career assist vs. Omaha (Nov. 20) but has missed six consecutive shots since, playing just 4 minutes in the Zootown Classic (Nov. 24-26).
After opening the season shooting 4-of-5 in the first half vs. Dickinson State (Nov. 9), junior forward Kyle Owens has missed 15 of his past 16 shots, including 13 in a row. Owens led the Grizzlies with 10.5 points per game a season ago, being named All-Big Sky honorable mention, but played just 3 minutes last week at the Zootown Classic (Nov. 24-26), including zero vs. UC San Diego (first DNP of his career).
- He is 48 points shy of reaching 500 for his career.

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will remain on the road following Monday's contest, next dipping into Big Sky Conference action for a week. The Grizzlies will play at Sacramento State (Thursday) and Northern Colorado (Saturday), before returning home for a pair of non-conference matchups the following week.

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

The Big Man cannot be stopped 💪 16 points on the night for Josh Bannan!

💻 Watch: https://t.co/4a3JnYDP2X #GrizHoops #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/mvPz444OMG
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 25, 2021

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Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Scott Blakney

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Lonnell Martin Jr.

Kyle Owens

Cameron Parker

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

University of Montana Athletics