Montana faces another big-time series against red-hot Eastern Washington

MONTANA VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON
Thursday / 7 p.m. (MT) / Cheney, Washington
Saturday / 12 p.m. / Missoula, Montana

TV: SWX Montana (both games)
Stream: Pluto TV (ch. 1053) (Thursday) | Pluto TV (ch. 1056) (Saturday)
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM, 98.3 FM) / Worldwide on TuneIn
Live Stats: Thursday | Saturday

While last week saw a battle between Montana and Weber State – the two winningest programs in Big Sky Conference history – this week is perhaps even bigger, with the Grizzlies playing a two-game home-and-home series with Eastern Washington. Over the past five years, the two programs have won more games than any other Big Sky team.

Additionally, Montana and Eastern Washington have combined to win the past three Big Sky regular-season titles, with the Griz doing so in 2018 and 2019, before the Eagles won a season ago. During Travis DeCuire's five Big Sky tournament appearances (there was no tournament in 2020), Montana has played in the title game four times, including three appearances against Eastern Washington. The Eagles won in 2015, in Missoula, before Montana won in 2018 and 2019 to advance to the NCAA tournament.

"Our confidence is rising and our togetherness is getting tighter," DeCuire said of his group. "Guys are focused, and there's a lot of respect for our opponent.

"They score the ball. They're very versatile offensively and shoot a lot of 3's, but they have the ability to score in a lot of ways. Right now, they probably have more low-post presence than they have in a few seasons, so they're a tough team to guard. If you can slow them down, though, you can win, so we're going to have to be locked in defensively more than ever."

Montana is coming off of a series split for the fourth consecutive week, beating Weber State on Thursday before the Wildcats came to life on offense on Saturday, in a 91-82 win.

While Montana is still looking for its first series sweep of the year, DeCuire was encouraged by what he saw last week, particularly from Thursday's performance.

Montana reached 80 points in both games – its two-highest regulation Division-I totals of the season – while on defense, Montana held the Wildcats to 67 points in Thursday's win. Weber State entered the contest ranked seventh nationally for scoring, but was held 18 points below its season average and to its second-lowest total of the season. The Wildcats also ranked second nationally for 3-point shooting and 10^th for field-goal percentage, but Montana held the Wildcats to 3-of-14 shooting from deep (.214) and .440 overall.

"I think it's the best 40-minute stretch that we've played all season," DeCuire said of Montana's 80-67 win over Weber State. "It wasn't just one guy who had a hot hand, but we had a lot of guys fill their roles, on both sides of the ball, and everyone who checked in helped us win that game. It was a complete performance.

"Even on Saturday, in a loss, I thought we were tuned in and playing good ball."

Montana enters the final three weeks of the regular season looking to hit its stride entering the Big Sky tournament in Boise. This week's series vs. first-place Eastern Washington won't be easy – the Eagles have won seven consecutive games – but the Grizzlies have won four consecutive games over the Eagles, and used a 90-63 blowout road win last January as a springboard through the next two months of the season. Despite Eastern Washington winning the Big Sky regular-season title in 2020, Montana handed the Eagles two of their four league losses, sweeping the season series.

Tipoff on Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. (MT) on SWX Montana and Pluto TV (channel 1053). The two teams will then travel to Missoula for a rematch on Saturday afternoon (12 p.m. on SWX Montana and Pluto TV (channel 1056)).

NO. 1 VS. NO 2
Since Travis DeCuire joined the Big Sky Conference in 2014-15, Montana and Eastern Washington have been the two best programs.

Montana (90 wins) and Eastern Washington (87) have the most wins during that span. Next closest is Weber State, who has a distant 74 victories.
Montana and Eastern Washington have combined to win the past three regular-season titles, with the Grizzlies doing so in 2018 and 2019 before the Eagles won in 2020.
The two teams have played in the past two Big Sky tournament titles games, with Montana winning in both 2018 and 2019. The two teams also met in the 2015 championship game, which went to Eastern Washington.
Since DeCuire's arrival, four different teams have earned a conference championship (regular-season or tournament). The Grizzlies lead the way with five titles, followed by Eastern Washington (three), North Dakota (two) and Weber State (two).

SERIES VS. THE EAGLES
Montana and Eastern Washington will meet for the 116th and 117th times this week. The Grizzlies own a 71-44 advantage over the Eagles, an impressive feat considering they lost the first 14 games in the series. Montana has won four in a row, including a season sweep a season ago when Eastern Washington won a Big Sky Conference regular-season title.

Travis DeCuire is 8-5 against Eastern Washington, with two of those wins coming in the Big Sky tournament championship game. A season ago, the Grizzlies beat Eastern Washington in Cheney, 90-63, for its first road win over the Eagles since 2017. They also were victorious at home, where they haven't lost to Eastern Washington since 2017.

In its January 2020 road win, Montana scored 90 points, but more impressive was the fact that the Grizzlies limited the Eagles to 63. Entering the game, Eastern Washington ranked third nationally with 86.0 points per game, including a 101.0 points-per-game average on its home floor. Montana shot .542 compared to .382 for the Eagles, while forcing 14 turnovers and blocking seven shots. Derrick Carter-Hollinger put himself on the Big Sky Conference Freshman-of-the-Year radar by making his first seven shots. He finished the night with 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Montana again reached 90 points the following month, in a 92-82 win over the Eagles in Missoula, with both teams shooting above .500 from the floor. Montana regained the lead early in the second half and led for the final 17:20 of the contest, after trailing by as many as six points. The game featured six technical fouls, but Montana made its final 14 free-throw attempts, including eight in the final 28 seconds, to ice the game.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON

Eastern Washington, the 2020 Big Sky Conference regular-season champion and favorites to repeat, is currently the hottest team in the league, winning seven consecutive games dating back to Jan. 23. The past five wins have all been by double figures, by an average of 17.4 points.
Overall, Eastern Washington is 10-6 on the year, including 9-2 in Big Sky play and 5-1 on its home court.
The Eagles have the Big Sky's top scoring offense, and run a balanced attack with six different players averaging at least 8.5 points per game.
Eastern Washington leads the Big Sky for scoring offense, scoring margin, rebounding average, rebounding margin, assists and free-throw percentage.
Sophomore guard/forward Tanner Groves leads the Eagles with 17.1 points per game on .586 shooting, in addition to 8.5 rebounds per game and a team-high 17 blocked shots. His shooting percentage ranks 25^th nationally, and the talented player has a league-best six double-doubles.
Groves is a player-of-the-year candidate, ranking second in Big Sky play for both scoring (19.3 points per game) and rebounding (8.2), and leading the league with a .613 shooting percentage.
The Eagles have the Big Sky's top-two rebounders, with junior guard/forward Kim Aiken Jr. (8.8 per league game) and Groves (8.2) both averaging more than eight rebounds per game. Both players also rank in the top 10 in Big Sky play for blocked shots.
Three different Eagles have made 20 or more 3-pointers, led by senior guard Jacob Davison (28 on .378 shooting) and sophomore guard/forward Tyler Robertson (26 on .388 shooting). In a January game vs. Southern Utah, Davison – the 2021 Big Sky preseason player of the year – scored 31 points while connecting on nine made 3-pointers.
Robertson averages a league-best 3.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio and ranks eighth in the conference for assists.
Eastern Washington went 23-8 a season ago (16-4 in Big Sky play), winning a regular-season conference championship and entering the Big Sky tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Shantay Legans is in his fourth season leading the Eagles. He helped Eastern Washington advance to the Big Sky title game in each of his first two seasons, in addition to a CBI invitation in 2018 and a Big Sky regular-season title in 2020.

STILL SEARCHING FOR CONSISTENCY
Montana is still looking to find consistency, splitting its fifth consecutive Big Sky Conference series last week, beating Weber State on Thursday (80-67) before losing on Saturday (91-82). Interestingly, Montana is 0-6 in Big Sky play on Saturdays, compared to 5-1 on other days of the week.

The Grizzlies haven't lost consecutive games in more than six weeks, losing at Arizona on Dec. 22 before falling to Northern Colorado 11 days later, but also haven't been able to string more than three consecutive wins together on the season.

GRIZ TRACKS

Montana is 5-7 in Big Sky play, with its first six losses coming in the final minute of the game. In total, Montana's losses have come by an average of 4.0 points per game, none by more than nine points.
Eleven of Montana's 16 Division-I games have been decided by single digits, including four of the past five and nine of the past 12.
Montana ranks third nationally for free-throw percentage, connecting at a .802 clip. The Grizzlies are coming off of a 21-of-22 performance last week vs. Weber State.
Montana has two players converting higher than 90 percent from the charity stripe, with freshman Robby Beasley III shooting 43-of-46 and sophomore Josh Vazquez making 26 of his 27 attempts.
Vazquez is coming off of a career-high 17 points vs. Weber State, sinking three 3-pointers.
Sophomore Kyle Owens, who leads Montana for scoring and rebounding, scored a career-high 27 points in the opener vs. Weber State, scoring 11 of Montana's first 13 points.
Junior Cameron Parker scored 15 points in both games last week vs. Weber State, but even bigger might have been his passing. Parker tallied 13 assists compared to just two turnovers, and ranks second in Big Sky play for both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.
After turning the ball over eight times vs. Portland State (Feb. 4), freshman Brandon Whitney has 15 assists compared to just four turnovers in three games since.
Both Parker and Whitney rank in the top five in Big Sky play for assist-to-turnover ratio.
Parker is shooting .593 from 3-point range this season, after connecting at just a .293 clip a season ago at Sacred Heart. The junior made seven consecutive 3-point shots stretching from Jan. 23-Feb. 13.
Freshman Josh Bannan scored in double figures in both games vs. Weber State, making nine consecutive shots at one point.
Montana's defense held 15 consecutive opponents to 70 points or fewer, prior to Weber State's 91-point performance last Saturday. The Wildcats entered the week ranked seventh nationally for scoring, but were held to 67 points in the series opener, their second-lowest total of the season and 18 points below their season average.
Montana ranks 56th nationally, allowing just 65.3 points per game. Just twice has a Big Sky school surpassed its season scoring average against the Griz (Sacramento State in double overtime, Jan. 23; Weber State, Feb. 13).
Montana is 6-0 on the season when holding its opponents under 61 points, compared to 0-5 when its opponents reach 70.
Montana has out-shot its opponent in seven of its past nine games.
Montana has recorded a better 3-point shooting percentage than its opponent in six of the past nine games. The Grizzlies rank in the top 50 nationally for both 3-point shooting (.371, 48th) and 3-point defense (.295, 24th).
Montana has shot better than its opponent from the free-throw line in 14 of the past 16 games, but more importantly, the Grizzlies are getting to the line with frequency. Montana is 8-2 when shooting more free throws than its opponent, compared to 1-8 when failing to do so. The Grizzlies made more free throws than their opponent in 11 consecutive games from Dec. 8-Jan. 21, but have done so just once since Jan. 23.
Montana is unbeaten when out-rebounding its opponent, but has only done so five times in 19 games (twice against Division-I competition). One of the Grizzlies' most impressive rebounding performances came Feb. 4 at Portland State, when Montana out-rebounded Portland State, 41-37, a team that ranked 18th nationally for rebounding at the time.
Montana has turned the ball over more times than its opponent 10 times this season, including a season-high 24 giveaways at Portland State (Feb. 4). In comparison, the Grizzlies only turned the ball over more times than their opponent six times in 31 games a season ago.
- From 2018-20, Montana recorded fewer turnovers than its opponent in 74 of 100 contests, and posted a 77-percent winning percentage when doing so.
Montana has led at halftime in eight of its last nine games and has led at the intermission in 14 of 19 games overall this season (8-6).
Seven different Grizzlies have led Montana for scoring in a game this season, with none doing so more than five times.
After using the same starting lineup in 11 consecutive games from Dec. 5-Jan. 16, Montana used a different lineup in six consecutive games from Jan. 16-Feb. 11. No player has started every game this season.

MONEY FROM THE LINE
Montana owns the nation's third-best free-throw percentage, connecting on 80.2 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe. That number is even more impressive considering the Grizzlies shot 58.1 percent during their first two games (both losses). The Grizzlies are coming off of a 21-of-22 performance from the free-throw line last Saturday vs. Weber State.

Not only is Montana making its shots, though, it is also getting to the line at a greater frequency. The Grizzlies have made more free throws than their opponents in 12 of the past 16 games, and on the season rank 54th nationally for total free throws made; a season ago, they ranked 313th.

TAMING THE WILDCATS
Montana has been solid defensively all season, but turned in one of its best performances of the year last Thursday vs. Weber State. Facing a Wildcats team that ranked seventh nationally for scoring offense, Montana limited Weber State to 67 points, 18 below its season average and its second-lowest total of the season.

Not only that, but Weber State entered the contest ranked second nationally for 3-point shooting and 10th for field-goal percentage overall. Montana held the Wildcats to 3-of-14 shooting from deep (.214) and a .440 clip for the game. The Grizzlies trailed for just 14 seconds in the game.

DEFENSIVE DOMINATION
The Grizzlies held 15 consecutive opponents to 70 points or fewer, prior to Weber State's 91-point game last Saturday. Seven teams have been held under .400 shooting against the Griz, and just twice in the past 10 games has an opponent shot .360 or better from 3-point range.

Montana ranks high national for a variety of defensive categories:

3-point field-goal defense .295 (24th)
Scoring defense: 65.3 (57th)
Field-goal defense: .421 (130th)

BEYOND THE ARC
Montana doesn't take 3-pointers often, averaging just 5.1 triples per game, ranking in the bottom 3 percent nationally. However, when the Grizzlies do shoot from deep, it's generally for good reason.

Montana ranks 48th nationally with a .371 3-point shooting percentage. Not only are the Grizzlies shooting for a high percentage, but they're also defending the arc. Montana's opponents are shooting just .295, ranking the Griz 24th nationally for 3-point defense.

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will close the regular season with a pair of series against teams from the Gem State. The Grizzlies will travel to Idaho State, one of the surprises of the 2020-21 season (Feb. 25-27), before hosting winless Idaho (March 4-6).

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

Gallery: (2-13-2021) MBB: vs. Weber State (02.13.21)

Montana faces another big-time series against red-hot Eastern Washington

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Players Mentioned

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Kyle Owens

Cameron Parker

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

University of Montana Athletics

Montana faces another big-time series against red-hot Eastern Washington

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Kyle Owens

Cameron Parker

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

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