Thursday, January 6
Cheney, Wash.
7 PM (MT)
Montana
at
Eastern Washington
Photo by: John Sieber
Griz, Eagles set to clash in battle of Big Sky titans
1/4/2022 3:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana at Eastern Washington
Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. (MT)
Montana closed 2021 on a high note, with a 78-54 win over Idaho State, before ringing in the new year with a dramatic victory over Weber State, scoring the game-winning basket with 3.3 seconds remaining on a play from Cameron Parker to Lonnell Martin Jr. that was featured at No. 9 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays. With the wins, the Grizzlies remained perfect at home this season and improved to 3-1 in Big Sky play to move into a tie for second place.
Since Travis DeCuire joined the Big Sky Conference in 2014-15, Montana and Eastern Washington have been the two best programs. Montana (95 wins) and Eastern Washington (92) have the most wins during that span, with Weber State next on the list, at a distant 80 victories. Additionally, Montana and Eastern Washington have combined to win the past three Big Sky tournament championships (and three of the past four regular-season titles), with the Grizzlies winning both in 2018 and 2019 before the Eagles won the regular-season championship in 2020 (there was no tournament due to COVID-19) and the tournament title in 2021.
SERIES VS. THE EAGLES
Montana and Eastern Washington will meet for the 119th time on Thursday. The Grizzlies own a 71-47 advantage over the Eagles, an impressive feat considering they lost the first 14 games in the series.
Travis DeCuire is 8-8 against Eastern Washington, impressively his lowest winning percentage against any Big Sky team. The Grizzlies won four in a row in the series from February 2019 through February 2020 – including in the 2019 Big Sky championship game – but the Eagles won all three meetings a season ago and have won three of the past four in Cheney.
Prior to last season, DeCuire had lost a Big Sky game by more than nine points just once – by 12 to Eastern Washington in 2016-17 – but the Eagles had the Grizzlies' number in 2020-21, beating Montana in all three meetings by at least 24 points (25.3 average).
The Grizzlies' last win in Cheney came in January 2020 when Montana beat Eastern Washington 90-63, holding an Eagles team that had been averaging 86.0 points per game (third in the NCAA) to 23 points below their season average. Montana shot .542 while limiting Eastern Washington to .382 shooting and 14 turnovers, and it was the coming-out party for Derrick Carter-Hollinger, who scored 20 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked four shots on his way to Big Sky Player-of-the Week honors. Last year in Cheney, Robby Beasley III recorded a career-high 25 points. He was in double figures for scoring twice a year ago vs. the Eagles, as was Josh Bannan and Cameron Parker.
SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON
Montana, which leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks 50th nationally for scoring defense, is a perfect 10-0 this season when allowing 77 or fewer points. Conversely, opponents have surpassed 77 points in all five of Montana's losses.
Montana is also unbeaten this season when out-shooting its opponents (10-0, compared to 0-5 when being out-shot); holding opponents under .450 shooting (8-0); shooting more free throws (6-0); shooting a better 3-point percentage (6-0); and out-rebounding its opponents (4-0).
PROTECTING THE BASKETBALL
The Grizzlies are among the nation's leaders for turnovers, ranking 13th in the NCAA with just 9.9 giveaways per game. The Grizzlies also rank 26th nationally for turnover margin (+4.1) and seventh with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Montana has recorded more turnovers than its opponent just three this season and has recorded fewer than 10 turnovers in more than half of its games (7-1 record). The Grizzlies are also 6-1 when forcing 15 or more turnovers.
COOL FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Montana is connecting on an impressive 81.1 percent of its free-throw attempts this season (202-of-249), a figure that ranks third in the NCAA, one make away from leading the country (Portland, 81.4; Colorado State, 81.3). 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.
Opponents are averaging just 60.9 points per game against Montana, putting the Grizzlies in the top 50 nationally for scoring defense. Montana has held five opponents under 50 points, including three straight opponents at home (Dec. 8-13).
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 .366 clip (57th) while averaging 8.1 makes per game (125th). Over the past five contests, the Grizzlies are averaging 11.6 made 3-pointers per game while shooting .403 from distance.
Already this year, Montana has made at least eight 3-pointers in eight of its 15 games (6-2 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 12.3 points-per-game average only ranks 18th in the Big Sky Conference. Instead, the Grizzlies have used a balanced offense that features five players averaging at least 7.5 points per game and all rotation players scoring 4.5 points or more. Eight different Grizzlies have led Montana for scoring in a game this season, with none doing so more than three times.
Gallery: (1-1-2022) MBB: vs. Weber State (1.1.22)
DISHIN' OUT DIMES
Senior guard Cameron Parker was one of the nation's best passers prior to his arrival in Missoula, setting an NCAA single-game record while playing for Sacred Heart with 24 assists in a win over Pine Manor, but he has continued to elevate his game in his second season in Missoula.
Parker was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week in mid-December after an historic week that saw him average 10.7 points on .526 shooting, in addition to 13.0 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals across three Griz wins.
In a 19-point win over Air Force, he scored a team-high 20 points, before recording the third triple-double in school history vs. Yellowstone Christian (10 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists). Three nights later, vs. SAGU AIC, Parker played just 19 minutes but set Montana and Big Sky records with 20 assists.
On the season, Parker ranks eighth in the NCAA with 6.5 assists per game and 11th with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. For his career, he has accumulated 584 assists (10th among active players nationally), an average of 6.36 assists per game (third). He also has a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.04 (19th).
As a team, Montana is averaging 16.3 assists per game, which ranks 43rd nationally, and owns the nation's seventh-best assist-to-turnover margin (1.6). The Grizzlies are getting an assist on 62.6 percent of its made shots this season.
HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE
Montana is a perfect 9-0 at home this season, and dating back to last March has won 11 consecutive games inside Dahlberg Arena. The Grizzlies are one of 13 teams nationally, entering Tuesday, with an undefeated home record and at least nine wins (also: California Baptist, Drake, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Providence, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, SMU, Texas and Xavier). The Grizzlies are one of 29 teams with an active home win streak of 11 or more games.
Strong play at home is nothing new for the Grizzlies, however:
Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. (MT)
- Watch: SWX / ESPN+
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- Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Montana closed 2021 on a high note, with a 78-54 win over Idaho State, before ringing in the new year with a dramatic victory over Weber State, scoring the game-winning basket with 3.3 seconds remaining on a play from Cameron Parker to Lonnell Martin Jr. that was featured at No. 9 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays. With the wins, the Grizzlies remained perfect at home this season and improved to 3-1 in Big Sky play to move into a tie for second place.
- Montana now sits at 10-5 on the season, tied for the most wins in the league, along with Montana State and Weber State.
- Montana's win over Idaho State was its 22nd in a row in the series dating back to December 2009. Travis DeCuire improved to 13-0 all-time vs. the Bengals.
- Montana trailed Idaho State for just 20 seconds – at 4-3 – and held a double-digit lead for the entire second half.
- Saturday's win over Weber State was Montana's ninth in the last 11 meetings with its most-competitive rival historically.
- Sophomore forward Josh Bannan recorded a double-double in both games last week (16.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg average), including a team-high 19 points vs. Idaho State. Bannan leads the Grizzlies for both scoring (12.3) and rebounding (7.9).
- Sophomore guard Robby Beasley III led all UM players with 19 points vs. Weber State, connecting on five 3-pointers. Over the past five games, Beasley has made multiple 3-pointers in each game, shooting .500 (16-of-32).
- Senior guard Cameron Parker ranks eighth nationally for assists (6.5 per game) and 11th with a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. He is averaging 10.8 assists over the past five games.
- Forward Derrick Carter-Hollinger made the first two starts of his junior season last week. He leads the Grizzlies with a .481 3-point shooting percentage after shooting 2-of-11 (.182) a season ago.
- Montana's two-point win over Weber State was its narrowest win of the season. The Grizzlies were previously 0-2 in games decided by six points or fewer. Conversely, eight of their 10 wins have come by double figures.
- Over the past five games, Montana is averaging 11.6 made 3-pointers per game on .403 shooting. Against Weber State, Montana made 10 triples (season-high-tying vs. DI competition) on .526 shooting (season best). Additionally, despite still ranking low nationally for 3-point defense, Montana's opponents shot just 7-of-30 (.233) from distance last week.
- The win over Weber State marked the second time this season that the Grizzlies have overcome a halftime deficit.
- The Grizzlies, which rank 13th nationally with just 9.9 turnovers per game, recorded a season-low six giveaways vs. Idaho State.
- While the Grizzlies are a perfect 9-0 at home this season – one of 13 teams nationally to boast at least nine home wins without a loss – they are just 1-5 on the road, with their lone win coming at Sacramento State (Dec. 2).
NO. 1 VS. NO 29️⃣- 0️⃣ at home 💪#GrizHoops | #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/LamYJKjXQr
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 2, 2022
Since Travis DeCuire joined the Big Sky Conference in 2014-15, Montana and Eastern Washington have been the two best programs. Montana (95 wins) and Eastern Washington (92) have the most wins during that span, with Weber State next on the list, at a distant 80 victories. Additionally, Montana and Eastern Washington have combined to win the past three Big Sky tournament championships (and three of the past four regular-season titles), with the Grizzlies winning both in 2018 and 2019 before the Eagles won the regular-season championship in 2020 (there was no tournament due to COVID-19) and the tournament title in 2021.
SERIES VS. THE EAGLES
Montana and Eastern Washington will meet for the 119th time on Thursday. The Grizzlies own a 71-47 advantage over the Eagles, an impressive feat considering they lost the first 14 games in the series.
Travis DeCuire is 8-8 against Eastern Washington, impressively his lowest winning percentage against any Big Sky team. The Grizzlies won four in a row in the series from February 2019 through February 2020 – including in the 2019 Big Sky championship game – but the Eagles won all three meetings a season ago and have won three of the past four in Cheney.
Prior to last season, DeCuire had lost a Big Sky game by more than nine points just once – by 12 to Eastern Washington in 2016-17 – but the Eagles had the Grizzlies' number in 2020-21, beating Montana in all three meetings by at least 24 points (25.3 average).
The Grizzlies' last win in Cheney came in January 2020 when Montana beat Eastern Washington 90-63, holding an Eagles team that had been averaging 86.0 points per game (third in the NCAA) to 23 points below their season average. Montana shot .542 while limiting Eastern Washington to .382 shooting and 14 turnovers, and it was the coming-out party for Derrick Carter-Hollinger, who scored 20 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked four shots on his way to Big Sky Player-of-the Week honors. Last year in Cheney, Robby Beasley III recorded a career-high 25 points. He was in double figures for scoring twice a year ago vs. the Eagles, as was Josh Bannan and Cameron Parker.
SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON
- Eastern Washington has been one of the biggest surprises in the Big Sky Conference so far this season, sitting at 8-6, including a non-conference win over Washington State of the Pac-12. The Eagles are fresh off of a road sweep at Portland State and Northern Arizona after being picked to finish eighth by the Big Sky coaches.
- EWU has five players averaging at least 9.4 points per game, with all five also chipping in with between 4.4 and 7.2 rebounds per contest. As a team, EWU ranks in the top 100 nationally for scoring offense and rebounding margin, in addition to rebounds per game, free-throw percentage and assists per game.
- EWU brought in 12 newcomers in the offseason, including several Division-I transfers. Among them is senior guard Rylan Bergersen (previously at BYU and Central Arkansas), who is averaging 12.9 points per game on .475 shooting, also adding 5.4 rebounds per game and a team-best 60 assists and 20 steals.
- Steele Venters is the team leader for scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game on .491 shooting (.462 from deep).
- San Francisco State transfer Linton Acliese III, a senior forward, is the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week. Acliese is averaging 15.8 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game this season and had a 30-point performance last week at NAU. On the week, he averaged 22.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
- EWU returned just six players from last year's squad, with only Ellis Magnuson (3.6 points per game across 13 starts) being a rotation player.
- EWU went 16-8 a season ago and won the Big Sky Conference tournament, before giving Kansas a strong fight in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
- David Riley is in his first season as head coach, taking over after Shantay Legans departed in the offseason for Portland. Riley, though, is a veteran in Cheney, now in his 11th season overall with the program.
Montana, which leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks 50th nationally for scoring defense, is a perfect 10-0 this season when allowing 77 or fewer points. Conversely, opponents have surpassed 77 points in all five of Montana's losses.
Montana is also unbeaten this season when out-shooting its opponents (10-0, compared to 0-5 when being out-shot); holding opponents under .450 shooting (8-0); shooting more free throws (6-0); shooting a better 3-point percentage (6-0); and out-rebounding its opponents (4-0).
PROTECTING THE BASKETBALL
The Grizzlies are among the nation's leaders for turnovers, ranking 13th in the NCAA with just 9.9 giveaways per game. The Grizzlies also rank 26th nationally for turnover margin (+4.1) and seventh with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Montana has recorded more turnovers than its opponent just three this season and has recorded fewer than 10 turnovers in more than half of its games (7-1 record). The Grizzlies are also 6-1 when forcing 15 or more turnovers.
COOL FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Montana is connecting on an impressive 81.1 percent of its free-throw attempts this season (202-of-249), a figure that ranks third in the NCAA, one make away from leading the country (Portland, 81.4; Colorado State, 81.3). 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.
DOMINANT DEFENSEBRINGING THE ENERGY TO DAHLBERG!#GoGriz pic.twitter.com/FtF6QZC6Hy
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 31, 2021
Opponents are averaging just 60.9 points per game against Montana, putting the Grizzlies in the top 50 nationally for scoring defense. Montana has held five opponents under 50 points, including three straight opponents at home (Dec. 8-13).
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 .366 clip (57th) while averaging 8.1 makes per game (125th). Over the past five contests, the Grizzlies are averaging 11.6 made 3-pointers per game while shooting .403 from distance.
Already this year, Montana has made at least eight 3-pointers in eight of its 15 games (6-2 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 12.3 points-per-game average only ranks 18th in the Big Sky Conference. Instead, the Grizzlies have used a balanced offense that features five players averaging at least 7.5 points per game and all rotation players scoring 4.5 points or more. Eight different Grizzlies have led Montana for scoring in a game this season, with none doing so more than three times.
DISHIN' OUT DIMES
Senior guard Cameron Parker was one of the nation's best passers prior to his arrival in Missoula, setting an NCAA single-game record while playing for Sacred Heart with 24 assists in a win over Pine Manor, but he has continued to elevate his game in his second season in Missoula.
Parker was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week in mid-December after an historic week that saw him average 10.7 points on .526 shooting, in addition to 13.0 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals across three Griz wins.
In a 19-point win over Air Force, he scored a team-high 20 points, before recording the third triple-double in school history vs. Yellowstone Christian (10 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists). Three nights later, vs. SAGU AIC, Parker played just 19 minutes but set Montana and Big Sky records with 20 assists.
On the season, Parker ranks eighth in the NCAA with 6.5 assists per game and 11th with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. For his career, he has accumulated 584 assists (10th among active players nationally), an average of 6.36 assists per game (third). He also has a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.04 (19th).
As a team, Montana is averaging 16.3 assists per game, which ranks 43rd nationally, and owns the nation's seventh-best assist-to-turnover margin (1.6). The Grizzlies are getting an assist on 62.6 percent of its made shots this season.
HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE
Montana is a perfect 9-0 at home this season, and dating back to last March has won 11 consecutive games inside Dahlberg Arena. The Grizzlies are one of 13 teams nationally, entering Tuesday, with an undefeated home record and at least nine wins (also: California Baptist, Drake, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Providence, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, SMU, Texas and Xavier). The Grizzlies are one of 29 teams with an active home win streak of 11 or more games.
Strong play at home is nothing new for the Grizzlies, however:
- Montana has gone 55-9 inside Dahlberg Arena dating back to February 2017, a winning percentage of .860.
- During a decade span from 2011-21 through 2020-21, Montana went 121-26 at home (.823), the nation's 37th-best home winning percentage during that period.
- All-time, Montana is 1,021-415 on its home court (.711), including 741-254 (.744) inside Dahlberg Arena. The Grizzlies are one of just 10 Division-I schools nationally to have won at least 70 percent of its home games while playing in its current facility for at least 60 years.
- In the most-recent season with fans, in 2019-20, Montana averaged more than 4,000 fans per game, a better figure than three Pac-12 schools.
- Montana will play 17 regular-season home contests in 2011-12, its highest number since the 1992-93 season.
Our game-winner from @CameronParker23 ➡️ @lon_mart made #SCTop10 over the weekend!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/7t8mBgSNAx
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 4, 2022
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