Montana gets early taste of Big Sky play

Montana at Sacramento State
Thursday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. (MT)

Watch: ESPN+
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM/98.3 FM) / The Varsity Network
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast

Montana at Northern Colorado
Saturday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m.

Watch: ESPN+
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM/98.3 FM) / The Varsity Network
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast

After three weeks of non-conference action, Montana will briefly jump into Big Sky Conference play this week when it travels to Sacramento State (Thursday, 8 p.m. MT) and Northern Colorado (Saturday, 6 p.m.).

With Big Sky teams now playing each opponent twice, once at home and once on the road, the early December weekend is necessary to fit in all 20 league games.

Montana has done some things really well through the season's first seven games. The Grizzlies rank in the top 10 percent nationally for turnovers (9.6 per game, 14^th), free-throw percentage (.793, 20^th) and turnover margin (4.7, 33^rd). Playing four games in a 10-day stretch, Montana won three in a row, taking home the Zootown Classic title last week and now being one of three Big Sky schools with a winning record.

Montana, though, also has yet to win a game away from Dahlberg Arena (0-3) and ranks in the bottom 10 percent nationally for 3-point defense (.415, 338^th), rebounding margin (-10.3, 342^nd) and total rebounding (28.3 per game, 349^th). The Grizzlies are coming off an 87-47 loss on Monday night at Oregon, posting their worst field-goal percentage, field-goal defense and rebounding numbers in eight years under Travis DeCuire.

When asked after the game what his team needs to do in order to erase the game from their memories, however, DeCuire took a different approach – one that allows the Grizzlies to learn from the defeat rather than run away from it.

"I don't want to erase this from our memories," he said. "I think we should be a little bit upset, a little bit disappointed and a little bit embarrassed. We need to use this as motivation these next couple of days to prepare for a conference opponent. This should be fuel toward our fire."

As tough as Monday was, Montana knows that all can be made better with strong performances this week, especially with a clean slate in front of them as Big Sky play begins.

History shows that the Grizzlies have made it a habit of getting off to strong starts, too, with Montana winning 11 consecutive Big Sky openers until last season's December setback at Southern Utah, in which the Grizzlies lost back-to-back games by one point, with the winning basket coming at the free-throw line in the final 3 seconds.

Tipoff on Thursday is scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPN+. Despite being known as a tough place for opponents to play, the Grizzlies have won four of the past five meetings at The Nest, with the lone loss coming in overtime last January. Sacramento State is 3-3 on the young season, with its losses coming to Arizona and Utah of the Pac-12, plus a UC San Diego squad the Grizzlies beat by 10 last week in Missoula. The Hornets are under the guidance of interim head coach Brandon Laird, who was elevated a week before the season began after longtime coach Brian Katz stepped down.

Similarly, Montana has had some recent success in Greeley. Despite Northern Colorado being one of the top teams in the league during DeCuire's tenure (the Bears rank third during that span for total wins), Montana is 4-1 under DeCuire at Bank of Colorado Arena. Tipoff on Saturday is slated for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

BIG SKY OPENERS
Montana knows a thing or two about getting off to a good start. In fact, for more than a decade Montana opened Big Sky Conference play with a win, winning 11 in a row before last year's loss at Southern Utah. In that two-game series in Cedar City, the Grizzlies lost both games by one point, with the winning basket coming at the free throw line in the final 3 seconds.

2009-10   vs. Northern Arizona    W, 71-54
2010-11   vs. Northern Arizona    W, 83-80
2011-12   vs. Portland State          W, 75-64
2012-13   at Northern Arizona     W, 62-56
2013-14   at Idaho                            W, 72-71
2014-15   vs. Northern Colorado W, 66-48
2015-16   at Northern Arizona     W, 90-84 (2OT)
2016-17   vs. Idaho State               W, 74-62
2017-18   at Northern Arizona     W, 87-69
2018-19   at Northern Arizona     W, 86-73
2019-20   vs. Northern Arizona    W, 79-72
2020-21   at Southern Utah          L, 64-63

In seven seasons, DeCuire has a .500 or better record against every Big Sky opponent and is 92-36 in league play overall. His .719 conference winning percentage ranks fifth in Big Sky history, and first among coaches with more than five seasons in the league.

SERIES VS. THE HORNETS
Montana is 46-10 all-time vs. Sacramento State, winning eight in a row in the series before a double-overtime loss last January in Sacramento. The Nest has been a challenging place for opponents to play in; however, Travis DeCuire is 4-4 inside the facility, including 4-1 since the 2017-18 season. In March 2019, Montana clinched a Big Sky regular-season title in Sacramento.

Montana's three assistant coaches all grew up within 100 miles of Sacramento, including Jay Flores, who is a Sacramento native, playing his prep ball for Jesuit High School just five miles east of Sacramento State's campus. Additionally, Robby Beasley III (San Ramon) is from a nearby area and scored 17 points in last year's win. Fellow California native Kyle Owens has had some success in Sacramento, as well, scoring 22 points in last year's victory (then a season high, now second), shooting 8-of-13 from the floor including 3-of-5 from deep. A year prior, he scored eight of Montana's 11 points during a second-half stretch of 2:20, turning a deficit into a Griz lead. In Montana's double-overtime loss a season ago, Cameron Parker scored a career-high 20 points, in addition to five assists, taking over in the second half with 18 of his points coming after halftime. Brandon Whitney scored a career-best 28 points (13 made field goals).

SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE
Sac State enters the week 3-3 on the season, owning wins over William Jessup, Cal Poly and UC Davis... The Hornets' three losses have come to a pair of Pac-12 teams (33-point defeat at Utah, 46-point loss at Arizona) and to a UC San Diego team Montana beat last week in Missoula... Bryce Fowler leads Sac State for scoring (15.2 ppg), minutes (28.9 mpg) and assists (3.2 apg), and ranks second on the team for rebounding (5.8 rpg)... Zach Chappell is also in double figures for scoring (10.0 ppg), while two others average at least 7.0 ppg... Sac State ranks in the top-third nationally for 3-point defense, turnovers and turnover margin... The Hornets, though, rank 325th for shooting (.389) and 334th for rebounding margin (-8.0)... The Hornets are under the guidance of interim head coach Brandon Laird, who was elevated a week before the season began after longtime coach Brian Katz stepped down.

SERIES VS. THE BEARS
Montana owns a 25-12 record against Northern Colorado, not including a 1976-77 victory that was vacated. The Grizzlies have won 14 of the last 21 in the series and are 9-5 under Travis DeCuire. While Northern Colorado has won four of the past five meetings overall – splitting the two-game series last January in Missoula – Montana has had success in Greeley, winning four in a row after DeCuire took over, before a loss in its most-recent visit, in January 2020.

From 2018-20, Montana accumulated a league-best 46 Big Sky Conference wins, but second on that list, with 41 wins, was Northern Colorado. In 2018, Montana beat Northern Colorado in overtime of the tournament semifinals, in an instant classic. In 2019, the two teams entered the final day of the regular season tied for first place, before the Grizzlies beat Sacramento State to earn the No. 1 seed. The next year, Northern Colorado beat Montana in the final week of the season to finish in second place and spoil the Grizzlies' chance at a three-peat.

Montana suffered a 64-62 defeat vs. UNC last January. The Griz overcame a 13-point deficit to take a five-point lead with under 3 minutes to play, but the Bears closed the game on a 12-5 run over the final 2:20, getting a game-winning layup on the final possession of the game. Montana earned revenge two days later. Down one, Montana turned the ball over with 6.9 seconds to play. But then, the Grizzlies got the ball back on an in-bounds whistle against the Bears, before Josh Bannan buried an elbow jumper to earn a narrow win. Bannan scored 11 points in the contest, while in the previous game, Robby Beasley III (12), Kyle Owens (10) and Brandon Whitney (10) were in double figures.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO
Northern Colorado enters the week 3-5 and on a four-game losing skid – all to strong opposition… After beating Pacific, Hawaii and Colorado College in the first week of the season, UNC lost at Texas before single-digit road defeats at California Baptist, San Jose State and Colorado State… UNC is shooting .369 from 3-point range (78th in NCAA) and averages 10.4 makes per game (27th)… The Bears have five players with at least 12 made 3-pointers, led by Dru Kuxhausen (23 on .434 shooting)… Daylen Kountz leads the Bears with 18.1 ppg and ranks seventh nationally with 57 made field goals… Kur Jongkuch, who has five double-doubles already this season, leads the Bears with 9.9 rpg and ranks 18th with 3.6 offensive boards per game… UNC has used the same starting lineup every game this season, and has just six players averaging more than 10 minutes per game… All six average at least 9.0 points per game, making up 93.4 percent of the team's scoring… Longtime assistant coach Steve Smiley is in his second season as head coach.

MORE FROM MONDAY

Montana was handed an 87-47 defeat at Oregon on Monday night, suffering its second-worst loss in eight seasons under Travis DeCuire (42 points at Kansas in December 2015).
Oregon shot .660 from the floor (31-of-47) while Montana was held to just 12 made field goals (12-of-46, .261). Both the Grizzlies' field-goal percentage and their field-goal defense were worsts under DeCuire, as was Montana's rebounding total (15) and rebounding margin (-26).
Montana was playing without starting point guard Brandon Whitney, who is also the Grizzlies' top defender, often matched up against opponents' top scorers. It marked the first time in Whitney's career that the sophomore has not played (34 games, 33 starts, 29.1 minutes per game).
- It marked the first time this season Montana used a different starting lineup.
After scoring 20 points through his first five Division-I games (4.0 ppg), junior-college transfer Lonnell Martin Jr. has led the Grizzlies in scoring in each of the past two games. He scored 20 points vs. Southern Miss before totaling 12 – on four made 3-pointers – at Oregon.
- Martin has a team-high 12 made 3-pointers this season and is shooting 8-of-18 (.444) over the past two games.
- The Grizzlies have had five different players lead them in scoring through seven games.
Playing in his home state of Oregon, senior guard Cameron Parker earned his fourth UM start (and first of the season). He had a team-high five assists.
- Over the past four games, Parker has recorded at least five assists in all four contests, totaling 24 dimes compared to just four turnovers.
- He has led Montana for assists in all seven games this season.
Sophomore Josh Bannan, who leads Montana for scoring and rebounding on the season, was held to season lows for both scoring (four, one made field goal) and rebounding (one). Even still, he is averaging 12.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this season.
Senior transfer Scott Blakney played a season-high 21 minutes, scoring six points (all at the free-throw line) and a season-high-tying four rebounds.
After averaging 4.3 points per game through the first three contests of the season, sophomore Robby Beasley III has scored at least eight points in each of the past four contests (13.3 average). He had nine points at Oregon and shot 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.
After playing just 17 minutes over the previous three games combined, junior forward Kyle Owens saw 14 minutes on the floor at Oregon, scoring three points and pulling down a rebound. For Owens, who led Montana with 10.5 points per game in 2020-21, it was his first made basket since the season opener on Nov. 9, and his first this season against a Division-I opponent.
DeCuire emptied his bench in the second half, with junior Freddy Brown (14) and freshman Jack Wetzel (4) playing career highs for minutes.
Montana, which ranks 14th nationally with just 9.6 turnovers per game, recorded fewer turnovers than Oregon, despite giving the ball up a season-most 13 times. Montana has recorded more turnovers than its opponent just once this season.
While Montana was out-rebounded by a heavy margin, the Griz did limit the Ducks to six offensive boards and just five second-chance points.
Montana held Oregon's leading scorer, Eric Williams Jr. (13.0 ppg) to four points on 1-of-4 shooting. Four other Ducks, however, were in double figures for scoring.
The Grizzlies got as good of a start as they could have hoped for, scoring on their first two offensive possessions and jumping out to a 6-0 lead.
Montana led 8-4 less than 3 minutes into the game, but then was held scoreless for 7 straight minutes as Oregon went on an 11-0 run and at one point made 12 consecutive shots.
Montana had two 7-minute stretches in the first half without a made field goal, and finished the game with just two makes over the final 11:39.
Oregon has won either the Pac-12 regular-season or tournament title in three consecutive seasons and opened the year ranked No. 13 nationally. The Ducks improved to 92-4 all-time at Matthew Knight Arena against non-conference competition.

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

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Players Mentioned

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Scott Blakney

Lonnell Martin Jr.

Kyle Owens

Cameron Parker

Jack Wetzel

Brandon Whitney

University of Montana Athletics