Thursday, January 20
Portland, Ore.
8 PM (MT)
Montana
at
Portland State
Photo by: Derek Johnson
Back in action, Grizzlies hit road looking to move up standings
1/18/2022 3:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana at Portland State
Thursday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. (MT)
Saturday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m.
The postponed game (now scheduled for Monday, Feb. 7), was a disappointment for Montana's student-athletes and fans, as the Grizzlies were excited to play the preseason favorites and a team currently near the top of the Big Sky standings. It was going to be a big-time matchup featuring two teams who expect to be at the top come March.
It also was a disappointment for Montana's student-athletes, who last played on Jan. 9 and suffered a 66-59 loss to rival Montana State, just the team's second loss to the Bobcats in its past 21 tries.
The bad taste in their mouths was going to take a few extra days to get out.
"It's hard, because we have guys who just want to get back out there and compete – which is what we want – but it's been good to get a couple days in the gym working on some things and also just getting bodies fresh," head coach Travis DeCuire said.
The team took advantage of the unexpected break in action, practicing through Friday before taking the weekend to rest and recover.
Now, the Grizzlies are back on the court preparing for a big road trip, facing Portland State and Northern Arizona squads who are currently in the bottom-half of the league standings with sub-.500 records.
DeCuire has long said that in order to win a championship, a team has to take care of business at home – which the Grizzlies have done, currently 9-0 – and beat the teams it should on the road. Montana is just 2-6 on the road, but is 2-2 in league action, beating a Sacramento State team that handed Northern Colorado its only Big Sky loss and an Eastern Washington squad that won the tournament title in 2021 and previously owned a three-game winning streak over the Grizzlies.
Montana's two losses have come to teams currently in the top four in the Big Sky standings, by a total of 10 points.
"The top of the conference is tight, and right now you have five or six teams who believe this can be their conference to take," DeCuire said. "There's a logjam at the top, and I think it's going to stay that way because this conference keeps getting better every year. Two or three teams used to separate themselves, but now you find the 10th-best team sweep the second- or third-best team, and a lot of that to me is how well this conference is coached – top to bottom from execution to preparation to style of play."
Tipoff Thursday at Portland State will come at 8 p.m. (MT) while Saturday in Flagstaff will be a matinee tilt (2 p.m.). Both games can be streamed on ESPN+ and the Grizzly Radio Network.
SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE
Montana owns a 42-27 all-time record over Portland State, but the Vikings hold the series edge in Portland (19-16) and have won four of the past six meetings overall.
The two teams first met in 1965-66 and played at least once in 13 of the next 16 seasons. The two teams then took a 16-year hiatus before the series returned in 1996-97, and has been played every season since. From 2008-09 through 2012-13, Montana won nine consecutive games in the series, and under Travis DeCuire, the Grizzlies are 9-5.
The two teams split last year's February meetings in Portland, including a 70-64 overtime win in which Robby Beasley III sank a 35-foot 3-pointer as time expired in regulation to send the game to an extended period. After being forced to foul down three with 4.9 seconds to play in regulation, Montana got new life when the Vikings missed the front end of a one-and-one. That led to Beasley's game-tying shot, which led to the Grizzlies never trailing in overtime. Two days later, Montana lost by five points after being within a possession in the final minute. The Grizzlies led by as many as seven points during the contest but lost the lead during a 6-minute scoreless drought.
SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA
In a series that dates back to 1970-71, the Griz and Lumberjacks have played 108 times. Montana holds a strong 75-33 advantage, including an 11-2 record under Travis DeCuire. However the two defeats have come in the past three meetings, with the Grizzlies losing in February 2020 in Flagstaff, damaging their chances at a three-peat, before splitting last year's meetings in Missoula.
Led by 15 points from Josh Vazquez and 13 from Kyle Owens, the Grizzlies beat Northern Arizona last January in Missoula, opening the game on a 17-0 run and never trailing. Montana shot .512 from the floor, including .400 (8-of-20) from deep. Two days later, the Griz led for more than 33 minutes, including by eight, 58-50, with 5:32 to play, before Northern Arizona closed the game on a 12-0 run to hand Montana a painful defeat. Brandon Whitney scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
Gallery: (1-1-2022) MBB: vs. Weber State (1.1.22)
TRENDING
Montana is connecting on an impressive 81.7 percent of its free-throw attempts this season (241-of-295), a figure that ranks first in all of Division-I college basketball. Montana has shot a better percentage than its opponent in all but two games this season.
All 10 of Montana's rotation players are shooting at least 71.4 percent from the free-throw line.
A season ago, Montana owned the nation's 15th-best free-throw percentage, connecting on a school-record 78.2 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe. Both Robby Beasley III (.929) and Josh Vazquez (.929) broke individual school records, which now rank second in Big Sky Conference history.
PROTECTING THE BASKETBALL
The Grizzlies are among the nation's leaders for turnovers, ranking 14th in the NCAA with just 10.0 giveaways per game. The Grizzlies also rank 20th nationally for turnover margin (+4.4) and 12th with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Montana has recorded more turnovers than its opponent just three times this season and has recorded fewer than 10 turnovers in nearly half of its games (7-1 record). The Grizzlies are also 7-1 when forcing 15 or more turnovers.
77 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Montana, which leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks 60th nationally for scoring defense, is a near-perfect 10-1 this season when allowing 77 or fewer points (the only exception is last week's 66-59 loss at Montana State). Conversely, opponents have surpassed 77 points six times this season, five being Griz losses.
DOMINANT DEFENSE
Opponents are averaging just 63.2 points per game against Montana, putting the Grizzlies in the top 60 nationally for scoring defense. Montana has held five opponents under 50 points.
HEATING UP FROM DEEP
A season ago, Montana shot .362 from 3-point range, good for the 61st-best percentage in the nation (top 18 percent), but ranked 313th with just 5.5 makes per game (bottom 8 percent). It was similar the year before, in 2019-20, when the Grizzlies shot .358 from distance (53rd) but averaged just 5.6 makes per game (312th).
This year, Montana is combining accuracy with frequency, shooting at a .359 clip (80th) while averaging 7.9 makes per game (148th). Over the past seven contests, the Grizzlies are averaging 10.0 made 3-pointers per game while shooting .380 from distance.
Already this year, Montana has made at least eight 3-pointers in nine of its 17 games (7-2 record), a stark contrast from 2020-21, when the Grizzlies did so five times in 28 games, or 2019-20, when they did so six times out of 31 contests. That's a good sign for Montana considering in 2018-19, the last time it made the NCAA tournament, Montana averaged 8.2 makes per game on .367 shooting, connecting on eight or more treys 22 times (19-3 record).
BALANCED SCORING
Sophomore Josh Bannan leads Montana for scoring, but his 12.5 points-per-game average only ranks 16th in the Big Sky Conference. Instead, the Grizzlies have used a balanced offense that features five players averaging at least 7.8 points per game and all rotation players scoring 4.0 points or more. Eight different Grizzlies have led Montana for scoring in a game this season, with none doing so more than four times.
LOOKING AHEAD
After this week's action, Montana will play eight of its final 12 regular-season games at home, beginning next week with regional rivals Idaho (Jan. 27) and Eastern Washington (Jan. 29).
Thursday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. (MT)
- Watch: ESPN+
- Listen: KGVO (1290 AM/98.3 FM) / The Varsity Network
- Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Saturday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m.
- Watch: ESPN+
- Listen: KGVO (1290 AM/98.3 FM) / The Varsity Network
- Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
The postponed game (now scheduled for Monday, Feb. 7), was a disappointment for Montana's student-athletes and fans, as the Grizzlies were excited to play the preseason favorites and a team currently near the top of the Big Sky standings. It was going to be a big-time matchup featuring two teams who expect to be at the top come March.
It also was a disappointment for Montana's student-athletes, who last played on Jan. 9 and suffered a 66-59 loss to rival Montana State, just the team's second loss to the Bobcats in its past 21 tries.
The bad taste in their mouths was going to take a few extra days to get out.
"It's hard, because we have guys who just want to get back out there and compete – which is what we want – but it's been good to get a couple days in the gym working on some things and also just getting bodies fresh," head coach Travis DeCuire said.
The team took advantage of the unexpected break in action, practicing through Friday before taking the weekend to rest and recover.
Now, the Grizzlies are back on the court preparing for a big road trip, facing Portland State and Northern Arizona squads who are currently in the bottom-half of the league standings with sub-.500 records.
DeCuire has long said that in order to win a championship, a team has to take care of business at home – which the Grizzlies have done, currently 9-0 – and beat the teams it should on the road. Montana is just 2-6 on the road, but is 2-2 in league action, beating a Sacramento State team that handed Northern Colorado its only Big Sky loss and an Eastern Washington squad that won the tournament title in 2021 and previously owned a three-game winning streak over the Grizzlies.
Montana's two losses have come to teams currently in the top four in the Big Sky standings, by a total of 10 points.
"The top of the conference is tight, and right now you have five or six teams who believe this can be their conference to take," DeCuire said. "There's a logjam at the top, and I think it's going to stay that way because this conference keeps getting better every year. Two or three teams used to separate themselves, but now you find the 10th-best team sweep the second- or third-best team, and a lot of that to me is how well this conference is coached – top to bottom from execution to preparation to style of play."
Tipoff Thursday at Portland State will come at 8 p.m. (MT) while Saturday in Flagstaff will be a matinee tilt (2 p.m.). Both games can be streamed on ESPN+ and the Grizzly Radio Network.
SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE
- PSU enters the week with a 4-9 mark overall, including a 2-3 record in Big Sky action. The Vikings played just one game in a 25-day stretch, including zero games for more than two weeks, before playing Sacramento State (67-62 win) and Southern Utah (86-76 loss) last Saturday and Monday.
- PSU leads the Big Sky with 9.1 steals per game (27th in NCAA) and is in the top-three in the league for scoring defense, rebounding, blocked shots and turnover margin.
- While PSU shoots just .399 from the floor (325th in NCAA), the Vikings make up for the low percentage with extra shots, ranking 28th nationally with 12.8 offensive rebounds per game. James Jean-Marie, a 6-8 senior forward, ranks fourth nationally with nearly four offensive rebounds per game.
- On the flip side, the Vikings rank last in the Big Sky for 3-point shooting (.270, 342nd out of 350 teams in the NCAA), which will be an interesting matchup against a Grizzlies team that ranks last for 3-point defense (.380, 342nd nationally).
- Jean-Marie is the Vikings' top threat offensively and defensively, nearly averaging a double-double with 12.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game (27th in NCAA).
- Teammates Marlon Ruffin (11.7) and Khalid Thomas (10.0) are also in double figures for scoring, with Thomas also leading the team for 3-pointers made and steals and ranking second for rebounding.
- Of the 15 players on PSU's roster, just three began their collegiate careers there.
- Current Montana assistant coach Zach Payne spent one season as an assistant at Portland State (2018-19).
- Longtime assistant coach Jase Coburn is in his first season at the helm of the Vikings.
Montana owns a 42-27 all-time record over Portland State, but the Vikings hold the series edge in Portland (19-16) and have won four of the past six meetings overall.
The two teams first met in 1965-66 and played at least once in 13 of the next 16 seasons. The two teams then took a 16-year hiatus before the series returned in 1996-97, and has been played every season since. From 2008-09 through 2012-13, Montana won nine consecutive games in the series, and under Travis DeCuire, the Grizzlies are 9-5.
The two teams split last year's February meetings in Portland, including a 70-64 overtime win in which Robby Beasley III sank a 35-foot 3-pointer as time expired in regulation to send the game to an extended period. After being forced to foul down three with 4.9 seconds to play in regulation, Montana got new life when the Vikings missed the front end of a one-and-one. That led to Beasley's game-tying shot, which led to the Grizzlies never trailing in overtime. Two days later, Montana lost by five points after being within a possession in the final minute. The Grizzlies led by as many as seven points during the contest but lost the lead during a 6-minute scoreless drought.
SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA
- NAU enters the week with a 6-9 record overall, including a 4-3 mark on its home court and a 2-2 record in Big Sky action.
- The Lumberjacks beat Idaho on Monday night, 74-72, in the team's first game since Jan. 5.
- Virginia Tech transfer Jalen Cone is one of the league's top players, averaging 18.4 points per game while also leading the team with 47 3-pointers (.416) and ranking second for assists (51). His points-per-game average ranks 57th nationally while his 3.13 3-pointers per game ranks 21st.
- Redshirt freshman forward Carson Towt is nearly averaging a double-double with 8.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. He is also the team-leader with 60 assists. Towt's rebounding numbers rank 15th nationally.
- NAU leads the Big Sky with 3.5 blocked shots per game, also ranking in the top four in the conference for 3-point shooting (.371), 3-pointers per game (8.5), rebounding (38.1 per game) and rebounding margin (+2.4). Ezekiel Richards, a 6-10 center, ranks 57th nationally with nearly two blocked shots per game.
- Shane Burcar is in his third season as head coach of the Lumberjacks, after having his interim tag pulled following the team's 16-14 record in 2019-20. It marked NAU's first winning season since 2014-15, and snapped four straight years of 20-plus losses. Last year, the Lumberjacks earned a 77-66 win over Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament for the program's first tournament victory since 2015.
- Montana assistant coach Zach Payne has a connection to the Lumberjacks, with his father, Harry, playing in Flagstaff from 1984-87 and ranking in the top 12 in Big Sky history for career assists.
In a series that dates back to 1970-71, the Griz and Lumberjacks have played 108 times. Montana holds a strong 75-33 advantage, including an 11-2 record under Travis DeCuire. However the two defeats have come in the past three meetings, with the Grizzlies losing in February 2020 in Flagstaff, damaging their chances at a three-peat, before splitting last year's meetings in Missoula.
Led by 15 points from Josh Vazquez and 13 from Kyle Owens, the Grizzlies beat Northern Arizona last January in Missoula, opening the game on a 17-0 run and never trailing. Montana shot .512 from the floor, including .400 (8-of-20) from deep. Two days later, the Griz led for more than 33 minutes, including by eight, 58-50, with 5:32 to play, before Northern Arizona closed the game on a 12-0 run to hand Montana a painful defeat. Brandon Whitney scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
TRENDING
- Montana is a perfect 11-0 this season when out-shooting its opponents, compared to 0-6 when being out-shot.
- Montana is 11-0 in games this season in which it scores more second-half points (compared to 0-6 when being out-scored in the second half).
- Montana is 9-2 when leading at halftime, also overcoming two halftime deficits.
- The Grizzlies are 11-1 this season when giving up 77 or fewer points.
- Montana is 11-1 this season when recording more assists than its opponent (0-5 when failing to do so).
- The Grizzlies are 7-1 when turning the ball over fewer than 10 times, compared to 4-5 when turning the ball over more than 10 times. They also are 7-1 when forcing opponents into 16 or more turnovers.
- Montana is 9-0 when holding opponents under .450 shooting, compared to 2-6 when the opposition shoots .450 or better. Conversely, the Grizzlies are 11-2 when shooting .400 or above, compared to 0-4 when failing to do so.
- Montana is 7-0 when shooting a better 3-point percentage and 6-0 when making more free throws than its opponents.
Montana is connecting on an impressive 81.7 percent of its free-throw attempts this season (241-of-295), a figure that ranks first in all of Division-I college basketball. Montana has shot a better percentage than its opponent in all but two games this season.
All 10 of Montana's rotation players are shooting at least 71.4 percent from the free-throw line.
A season ago, Montana owned the nation's 15th-best free-throw percentage, connecting on a school-record 78.2 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe. Both Robby Beasley III (.929) and Josh Vazquez (.929) broke individual school records, which now rank second in Big Sky Conference history.
PROTECTING THE BASKETBALL
The Grizzlies are among the nation's leaders for turnovers, ranking 14th in the NCAA with just 10.0 giveaways per game. The Grizzlies also rank 20th nationally for turnover margin (+4.4) and 12th with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Montana has recorded more turnovers than its opponent just three times this season and has recorded fewer than 10 turnovers in nearly half of its games (7-1 record). The Grizzlies are also 7-1 when forcing 15 or more turnovers.
77 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Montana, which leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks 60th nationally for scoring defense, is a near-perfect 10-1 this season when allowing 77 or fewer points (the only exception is last week's 66-59 loss at Montana State). Conversely, opponents have surpassed 77 points six times this season, five being Griz losses.
DOMINANT DEFENSE
Opponents are averaging just 63.2 points per game against Montana, putting the Grizzlies in the top 60 nationally for scoring defense. Montana has held five opponents under 50 points.
HEATING UP FROM DEEP
A season ago, Montana shot .362 from 3-point range, good for the 61st-best percentage in the nation (top 18 percent), but ranked 313th with just 5.5 makes per game (bottom 8 percent). It was similar the year before, in 2019-20, when the Grizzlies shot .358 from distance (53rd) but averaged just 5.6 makes per game (312th).
This year, Montana is combining accuracy with frequency, shooting at a .359 clip (80th) while averaging 7.9 makes per game (148th). Over the past seven contests, the Grizzlies are averaging 10.0 made 3-pointers per game while shooting .380 from distance.
Already this year, Montana has made at least eight 3-pointers in nine of its 17 games (7-2 record), a stark contrast from 2020-21, when the Grizzlies did so five times in 28 games, or 2019-20, when they did so six times out of 31 contests. That's a good sign for Montana considering in 2018-19, the last time it made the NCAA tournament, Montana averaged 8.2 makes per game on .367 shooting, connecting on eight or more treys 22 times (19-3 record).
BALANCED SCORING
Sophomore Josh Bannan leads Montana for scoring, but his 12.5 points-per-game average only ranks 16th in the Big Sky Conference. Instead, the Grizzlies have used a balanced offense that features five players averaging at least 7.8 points per game and all rotation players scoring 4.0 points or more. Eight different Grizzlies have led Montana for scoring in a game this season, with none doing so more than four times.
LOOKING AHEAD
After this week's action, Montana will play eight of its final 12 regular-season games at home, beginning next week with regional rivals Idaho (Jan. 27) and Eastern Washington (Jan. 29).
Another semester over 3.0 in the classroom!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/I0vtp7HiAS
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 16, 2022
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