Season preview: 22 things to know for the '22 basketball season

Montana opens its 2021-22 men's basketball campaign on Tuesday, a highly anticipated season for several reasons. From the players on the court to the fans back in the stands, below are 22 things to know before the ball tips for the 2022 season!

1. Fans are back! Yes, we know this point has been hammered over and over again, but can you blame us for being excited? From February 2017 through February 2020, Montana went 41-3 on its home court, the nation's 13^st-best home winning percentage during that span. In the most-recent season with fans, the Griz averaged more than 4,000 per game, a better figure than three Pac-12 programs.

We don't think it's a coincidence that Montana lost four home games for just the second time in 13 years in a season in which there was no home-court edge.

So yes, we're excited for fans to return to Dahlberg Arena, and yes, we also believe that Griz Nation is eager to see its team play live inside Dahlberg Arena for the first time in 612 days.

Shameless plug: season tickets, mini plans and single-game tickets are now available online.

2. There's lots of basketball to see! Not only are fans back in the stands, but they are in for a treat with Montana's schedule. For just the first time in 28 years, fans will be able to watch the home team play 17 regular-season games! Non-conference home dates include Tuesday's season-opener vs. Dickinson State, Nov. 20 vs. Omaha and Dec. 8 vs. Air Force. Plus…

3. Spend your Thanksgiving at the Zootown Classic! For the first time under Travis DeCuire, the Grizzlies are hosting a regular-season tournament in Dahlberg Arena. The three-day, round-robin tournament consists of UC San Diego, a team that two years ago was a Division-II power, going 30-1; UNC Wilmington, a team that made back-to-back NCAA tournaments in 2016 and 2017 after winning three straight Colonial Athletic Association titles; and Southern Mississippi of Conference USA, a team that won 20 games as recently as 2019.

4. The expectations are high. OK, so maybe not as high as in 2019, when the Grizzlies were unanimous favorites to repeat as league champs (and did, by the way), but still high. The consensus among those who follow the league is that there are four or five viable teams who could win a Big Sky title this year. Montana, which was picked fourth in both the coaches' and media polls is firmly in that mix of contenders.

5. Montana was the No. 6 seed at least year's Big Sky tournament. What makes them a contender, you might ask? Well, partially, because of steep tradition.

Montana is one of 19 teams across the country who can proudly claim that they've posted a .500 or better record in 13 consecutive seasons.

For the curious types, the others on the list are: Arizona, Baylor, Belmont, Cincinnati, Duke, Florida State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan State, Montana, Ohio State, Saint Mary's, San Diego State, Vermont, VCU and Xavier.

6. Narrow losses and late-season momentum and also play a role. Nearly half (seven of 13) of Montana's losses were by six points or fewer, with Montana dropping a handful of games in the closing seconds or in overtime. The Grizzlies, though, won their final four regular-season contests, before keeping it going at the Big Sky tournament in Boise. Playing in the first round as a No. 6 seed, Montana took down Idaho in a game that wasn't as close as the final score (69-64) showed. The Griz led for the final 29 minutes, by as many as 15 points and shot .500 from the floor.

One night later, Montana upset No. 3 seed Weber State. Led by 23 points from Robby Beasley III and a huge block late by Mack Anderson, the Grizzlies never trailed in the second half while taking down the Wildcats.

It was the eighth consecutive Big Sky tournament win for Montana, setting a league record. Over the past 11 tournaments, Montana has played in the title game eight times, winning it all five times. Expectations are always high at Montana.

7. The biggest reason for optimism, though, is the bevy of returning talent. Montana had some midseason roster turnover last year, but among the group that played the final month for the Griz, they return 91.8 percent of their minutes, 94.4 percent of their scoring, 90.9 percent of their rebounding and 93.8 percent of their steals.

That includes the team's top-three scorers and top-two rebounders.

8. Montana returns basically everybody. But it also has a couple exciting transfers who will be part of the mix in 2021-22. That Idaho game we mentioned up above? Well No. 34 for the Vandals – the one who scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting while also leading Idaho with eight boards – yeah, him… He now wears No. 34 for Maroon. Scott Blakney came to Missoula as a graduate transfer and will have one year of immediate eligibility remaining. He joins senior forward Mack Anderson as 6-9 post players who will look to score around the rim while also defending down low. In addition to Blakney, Montana brought in junior-college transfer Lonnell Martin Jr., a wing-type who showed he can be dangerous from range while at Otero Junior College, averaging 15.2 points per game on .454 shooting, including .395 from deep, as a sophomore.

For more on the transfers, check out GoGriz.com feature stories on Blakney and Martin.

9. Blakney and Martin come to Missoula with the most collegiate experience, but Montana brought in a handful of other players who will look to fill roles. The list includes freshmen guards Johnny Braggs (Las Vegas, Nevada), Cooper Kriegmont (Juneau, Alaska) and Jack Wetzel (Cedar Rapids, Iowa); forward John Solomon (Sarasota, Florida); plus sophomore transfer Trey Lawrence (Bellevue College).

Gallery: (10-27-2021) MBB: Maroon-Silver Scrimmage (10.27.21)

10. Last year's freshman class is now a year older, and that's a very good thing. How big was last year's trio of freshmen? We'll, let the numbers do the talking:

The group accounted for 37.9 percent of Montana's scoring in 2020-21, a school record previously held by the 2002-03 class (30.1).
Prior to last season, just 12 Griz players had scored 200 or more points during their true freshman season. That number is now at 15, after all three did so in 2020-21, led by Brandon Whitney's 279 (fourth in school history).
The group made 60 starts (another school record), smashing the previous year's trio that started 40 times. The 60 starts were the fifth-most by a freshman class in the nation last year, trailing only Kentucky, Kansas State, Washington State and Duke. Montana was one of 10 teams to start three or more freshmen in a game, and one of five schools to do so at least 10 times.
Montana's freshman class combined to play more than 2,000 minutes in 2020-21, something only Kansas State also did. The Grizzlies were the only team in the nation to have three true freshmen average at least 25.0 minutes per game. Whitney's 29.3 minutes per game made him one of 10 freshmen nationally to play at least 815 minutes last year.

Whitney led Montana for minutes played, while ranking second for assists, steals and points scored. Robby Beasley III averaged 10.5 points per game while breaking a school-record from the free-throw line. Josh Bannan ranked ninth in Big Sky play with 5.9 rebounds per game, while also chipping in with 8.6 points per contest.

11. So the sophomores will be good, but so too will the junior class. Let's not forget that before there was a buzz about the 2020-21 freshmen, that attention was on the 2019-20 newcomers. The group started 40 games (then a school record), and included Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year Derrick Carter-Hollinger. During his sophomore season, Josh Vazquez led Montana with 24 steals and 44 3-pointers, in addition to averaging 7.9 points per game, scoring in double figures 10 times. Kyle Owens earned All-Big Sky honorable-mention honors after leading Montana with 10.5 points per game and ranking second on the team for minutes played and rebounding (11^th in the Big Sky). He scored in double figures 17 times.

12. Montana's senior class includes Blakney, who is new to the program this year, and Cameron Parker, who joined the group last offseason. It also includes Montana native and fan favorite Mack Anderson. Elevated to an expanded role midway through last season, Anderson elevated his game, averaging 8.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game over the final seven contests, after scoring 44 points total through the first 21 games. He also led Montana with 19 blocked shots on the year.

13. Cameron Parker came to Montana with some hype, setting an NCAA single-game record the previous season with 24 assists in a game while playing at Sacred Heart. He didn't disappoint in his first season in Missoula, leading the Big Sky for assists (4.7 per game) and finishing the year ranked 64^th nationally. He was even better at protecting the ball, with his 2.28 assist-to-turnover margin ranking 50^th in the NCAA. Playing starter minutes as the team's sixth man, he became the first Grizzly in at least 30 years to come off the bench and record a points-assists double-double, scoring 12 points and dishing out 10 assists vs. Eastern Washington.

14. Perhaps bigger than any incoming player or any player returning is the fact that the team got a full offseason of training together. The 2020 offseason was thrown for a loop after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled spring workouts and severely altered the summer. To have several months of uninterrupted training this summer was crucial, and something only two current Grizzlies had previously experienced.

15. Free-throw shooting should again be a strength. In 2020-21, Montana set a school record from the charity stripe, connecting on 78.2 percent of its free-throw attempts, a figure that ranked 15^th nationally. There's no reason to think the Grizzlies can't have continued success at the line, as their top-nine rotation players all shot .728 or better, including Robby Beasley III and Josh Vazquez, who both broke a school record by shooting .929 from the stripe.
Montana connected on the majority of its free-throw attempts, but also got to the line at great frequency. The Grizzlies ranked 19^th in the NCAA for free throws made, after ranking 313^th the season before.
16. Defense has been a staple under Travis DeCuire-led teams, but on offense, however, Montana was one of 11 schools nationally to rank in the top 70 (20 percent) for three main shooting categories: overall shooting (.460, 66^th), 3-point shooting (.362, 61^st) and free-throw shooting (.782, 15^th).

17. For the record, Montana's defense wasn't too shabby either, ranking in the top 80 nationally (top 25 percent) for scoring defense, allowing just 67.0 points per game. Seven times opponents were held below 60 points, and 11 times opponents shot under .400 against the Griz. A Big Sky opponent reached its regulation scoring average against Montana just three times in 2020-21.

18. After a balanced effort led to zero players named to the 2021 first- or second-team All-Big Sky lists, and no Grizzlies being named to the preseason all-Big Sky team this fall, there's definitely a little bit of a chip on these Grizzlies' shoulders.

19. After four years on Pluto TV, Montana and the Big Sky Conference will get a wider exposure with a new broadcast deal with ESPN+. Every Big Sky game, plus every home non-conference game, will be broadcast on the platform, allowing fans nationwide to watch the Griz with an ESPN+ subscription.

20. The first sign of greater exposure from the deal came last month when it was announced that the Brawl of the Wild vs. Montana State (Sunday, Feb. 27) will be televised on ESPNU. It marks the first time a home game will be played in front of a national audience since the Big Sky tournament was held in Missoula in 2015.

21. A season ago, Montana took down Washington of the Pac-12. This year, the Grizzlies will have two Power-5 opponents on its schedule, including nationally ranked Oregon. Can the Grizzlies take down another Pac-12 foe?

22. In his first seven seasons, Travis DeCuire has been part of several historic feats. In 2018, he became the fastest coach to 50 Big Sky wins, needing just 65 games to do so. A year later, he led Montana to back-to-back Big Sky regular-season and tournament championships – and NCAA tournament berths – as the Grizzlies won 52 games, the best two-year stretch in school history.

He now has 142 wins, needing 17 to pass Wayne Tinkle and move into second place on Montana's all-time wins list.

Bonus: Beer. More to come on that soon.

Gallery: (10-26-2021) MBB: vs. Washington State (10.23.21)

University of Montana Athletics

Season preview: 22 things to know for the '22 basketball season

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Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Scott Blakney

Johnny Braggs

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Cooper Kriegmont

Trey Lawrence

Lonnell Martin Jr.

Kyle Owens

Cameron Parker

John Solomon

Josh Vazquez

Jack Wetzel

Brandon Whitney

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