Montana basketball: 2020-21 year in review

The 2020-21 basketball season started a few weeks late, after the 2019-20 season ended a few weeks premature, and featured twists and turns, including several canceled and scheduled games on short notice. Without a doubt, Montana's 2020-21 basketball season will be remembered for its wonkiness, but there were also several on-court highlights that should be remembered, as well.

After opening the season with four consecutive losses, the Grizzlies found their form late in the year and finished with a winning record (15-13). It marked the 13^th consecutive season that Montana has posted a .500 or better record, making Montana one of just 19 schools nationally to boast that claim: 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.
Montana won two games in the Big Sky tournament, including an upset over No. 3 seed Weber State to advance the semifinals for the ninth time in the past 11 tournaments. The Grizzlies have now won 45 Big Sky tournament games all-time; for comparison, Weber State is the only other team – present or past – with more than 20 tournament wins.
Montana earned a road win at Washington, its first victory over a Pac-12 opponent since December 2010. The Grizzlies used a 17-3 first-half run to build a double-digit lead, and after Washington fought back to take a brief 53-51 advantage with 3:50 to play, Montana used a 10-0 run and held the Huskies to 1-of-10 shooting over the game's final 6 minutes.
- Over the past three seasons, Washington is 23-3 in non-conference games on its home court, with the three losses coming to No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 9 Gonzaga and Montana.
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. The previous school record was 76.7 percent, set by the 2012-13 team.
- Montana's top-nine rotation players all shot .728 or better from the free-throw line, including Robby Beasley III and Josh Vazquez, who each shot better than 90 percent.
- 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 a season ago.
Freshman Robby Beasley III made his first 33 free-throw attempts to begin his collegiate career and finished the season 65 of 70 (.929). The mark was a Montana school record and ranked second in Big Sky Conference history, just shy of Tim Erickson's record in 2000-01 (.930 for Idaho State).
Montana ranked in the top 70 nationally for overall shooting (.460, 66^th), 3-point shooting (.362, 61^st) and free-throw shooting (.782, 15^th). Montana was one of 11 schools to be ranked in the top 70 of each shooting category, joining: Bryant, Detroit Mercy, Drexel, Florida State, Liberty, Michigan, North Texas, South Dakota, VMI, Weber State
Montana was one of 12 schools nationally to rank in the top 70 for both 3-point shooting (.362, 61^st) and 3-point defense (.312, 52^nd). Montana joined American, Bryant, Campbell, Colgate, Drake, Incarnate Word, Liberty, Memphis, Northern Colorado, Toledo and Wright State.
Montana ranked in the top 80 nationally (top 25 percent) for scoring defense, allowing just 67.0 points per game.
- Seven times Montana held opponents below 60 points (7-0 record).
- Eleven times, opponents shot under .400 against the Griz (8-3 record).
- During Big Sky play, an opponent reached its regulation scoring average against the Griz just three times.
- One of Montana's most-impressive defensive performances came in a Feb. 11 win over Weber State, when the Wildcats were held to 67 points, 18 below their season scoring average. Weber State entered the game ranked seventh nationally for scoring offense. What's more, the Wildcats ranked second nationally for 3-point shooting and 10th for overall field-goal percentage, but were limited to 3-of-14 shooting from deep (.214) and a .440 clip for the game.
Montana's trio of true freshmen set several school records and ranked high nationally for a variety of categories. The group – Josh Bannan, Robby Beasley III and Brandon Whitney – accounted for 37.9 percent of Montana's scoring, smashing the previous school record of 30.1 percent (2002-03).
- Prior to this season, just 12 Griz players had scored 200 or more points during their true freshman season, but impressively, all three freshmen did so in 2020-21, led by Whitney's 279 (fourth in school history by a true freshman).
- The group made 60 starts (a school record, passing last year's trio that started 40 times). The 60 starts by a freshman class are the fifth-most in the country this season, trailing only Kentucky, Kansas State, Washington State and Duke. The Grizzlies started at least two true freshmen in 24 of 28 games and all three in the final 10, one of 10 teams nationally to start three or more true freshmen in a game this season (and one of five 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. Montana was the only team in the nation to have three true freshmen average at least 25.0 minutes per game.
- Montana was one of four schools nationally to have three true freshmen play at least 550 minutes, joining Kansas State, Oklahoma State and North Carolina.
- Whitney averaged a team-high 29.3 minutes per game, one of 10 true freshmen nationally to play at least 815 minutes this season.
Montana ran a balanced offense, with no player averaging more than 10.5 points per game, but seven totaling at least 7.9. Eight different players led Montana for scoring in a game in 2020-21.
Montana played in several tight games, with seven of the Grizzlies' 23 Division-I games being decided by four points or fewer (2-5 record) and 15 finishing with a single-digit margin of difference (7-8).
Despite a handful of canceled games due to COVID-19, the Grizzlies played 28 games on the season, more than any other Big Sky team. The Grizzlies didn't have their first COVID-19 interruption until late January. At that time, Montana was one of five teams nationally with zero postponements or alterations to its schedule.
Sophomore Kyle Owens earned All-Big Sky honorable mention honors. He led Montana with 10.5 points per game and ranked second for minutes played and rebounding (11^th in the Big Sky). He reached double figures for scoring 17 times, including 27 points in a win over Weber State and 22 in a road victory at Sacramento State.
Junior Cameron Parker led the Big Sky Conference for assists and finished the year ranked 64^th nationally with 4.7 assists per game. He was even better at protecting the ball, with his 2.28 assist-to-turnover margin ranking 50^th in the NCAA. 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.
Freshman Brandon Whitney led Montana with 29.3 minutes per game and ranked second for assists (70), steals (23) and points scored (279, 10.0 average). He scored 28 points at Sacramento State, the most by a Montana true freshman since 2017, and 17 in his collegiate debut at USC, tied for the most ever by a Griz freshman in a season opener.
Freshman Robby Beasley III averaged 10.5 points per game while setting a school record with a .929 free-throw shooting percentage. He was in double figures for scoring 11 times in 22 games, reaching 25 at Eastern Washington and 23 in Montana's quarterfinal win over Weber State. In a road win at Portland State, Beasley III hit a 35-foot 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer, to send the game into overtime.
Freshman Josh Bannan led Montana with 5.9 rebounds per game (ninth in Big Sky play), in addition to 8.6 points per contest. He was in double figures for scoring 13 times and rebounding on five occasions, leading to four double-doubles. He also made a game-winning jumper against Northern Colorado.
Sophomore Josh Vazquez led Montana with 24 steals and 44 3-pointers (on .436 shooting), in addition to averaging 7.9 points per game and shooting .929 from the free-throw line. He reached double figures for scoring 10 times, including a career-high 21 in Montana's first-round tournament win over Idaho.
Elevated to an expanded role midway through the season, junior Mack 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.
Montana's first win of the year came in dominant fashion, with the Grizzlies defeating Yellowstone Christian College 102-42. The 60-point margin of victory was the third-largest in school history, and the widest in more than 40 years.
Travis DeCuire completed his seventh season as head coach of his alma mater. DeCuire, who ranks fifth in Big Sky history – and first among coaches with five season in the league – with a .719 conference winning percentage, earned his 142^nd win at Montana in March, passing his former head coach Blaine Taylor for fourth on Montana's all-time wins list.
Montana united with their voices and actions. On the court, the Grizzlies wore jerseys with the word 'Solidarity' on the backs, while off of it, the team saw 100 percent participation in voting and created a Diversity Appreciation Library, which sits on campus and offers free anti-racism and minority-themed literature.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Kyle Owens

Cameron Parker

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

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