2 years in the making, Griz-Cat rivalry set to make resurgence Sunday in Bozeman

Montana at Montana State
Sunday, Jan. 9 at 5 p.m.

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Montana and Montana State will meet on the hardwood on Sunday evening, a matchup that has been nearly two years in the making. The Griz-Cat rivalry did not take place last season after both games, scheduled for late January, were scrapped due to COVID-19 precautions. It marked the first time since the 1943-44 season (World War II) that the two teams did not play in a season.

SERIES VS. THE BOBCATS
With 301 all-time meetings, the Brawl of the Wild series, which dates back to 1902 and has been played in all but five seasons dating back to 1912, is the fifth most-played rivalry in college basketball history. Only four series have been played more times (Oregon/Oregon State; Oregon/Washington; Oregon State/Washington; and Oregon State/Washington State).

The last time the two teams squared off came on Feb. 22, 2020, a 59-54 Griz win in Bozeman, meaning just four current Griz players and two current Bobcats have played in the rivalry. One of those players is senior forward Mack Anderson, a Bozeman native who just played in his 100th career game as a Grizzly. Anderson is the only Montana native on the current Griz roster, while MSU has two players who hail from the Treasure State, neither who have played in a Division-I game this season.

Montana holds a slim 153-148 advantage in the series but has dominated it over the past decade, winning 19 of the past 20 games – the best 20-game stretch by either team in the series.

Montana State won the first nine games of the series, and into the 1930s held a 45-16 advantage. The Grizzlies took their first lead in series history in 2018.
Montana has won 10 consecutive games in the series in Missoula, last falling at home in February 2010, 73-67.
Montana is 9-1 in Bozeman over the past decade, with the only loss coming in 2017.
Travis DeCuire is 17-3 against Montana State, going 6-2 as a player and 11-1 so far as a coach.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE

MSU enters Sunday's game with an 11-5 record overall, tied with Montana for the best winning percentage in the Big Sky Conference (.688).
Like Montana, the Cats are coming off of a double-digit road win, beating Idaho, 92-72, in Moscow on Thursday night. All five MSU starters were in double figures for scoring.
MSU is 5-1 on its home court this season, with its only loss coming to Weber State in a game that MSU held a lead in with under 7 minutes to play and was within a possession inside the final minute.
MSU's five starters are all averaging at least 8.9 points and 25.2 minutes per game. The group is led by Jubrile Belo, who is averaging 13.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and is shooting .617 from the field.
Xavier Bishop ranks second on the team with 12.3 points per game while leading the Cats for assists and ranking second for steals. Bishop's 4.7 assists-per-game average trails only Montana's Cameron Parker in the Big Sky.
MSU ranks in the top 10 nationally for free throws made and attempted, averaging nearly 15 makes per game.
Montana's defense – which leads the Big Sky for scoring defense – will be in for a challenge, facing an MSU offense that ranks second in the league and 58th nationally at 77.8 points per game.
Montana State was picked to finish third in both the preseason coaches' and media polls, one spot ahead of the Grizzlies. Belo and Bishop were named to the preseason all-conference team.
Danny Sprinkle is in his third season at his alma mater, leading the Cats to a Big Sky tournament championship game appearance in 2021 after playing as the No. 5 seed.

RECENT GRIZ BITS

Montana is coming off of a 90-78 road win at Eastern Washington to improve to 4-1 in Big Sky Conference play. The Grizzlies have now won three consecutive games for the third time this season, and a win Sunday would give Montana a season-best four-game winning streak.
Thursday's win over Eastern Washington not only snapped a three-game skid to the Eagles, who won the Big Sky tournament championship in 2021, but also gave Montana just its second road win of the season. Montana is a perfect 9-0 at home this season but just 2-5 away from Missoula.
After shooting .867 from the free-throw line on Thursday (26-of-30, with 20 of those attempts coming in the final 137 seconds of the game), Montana now leads the nation with a .817 free-throw clip on the season.
Junior Josh Bannan is on quite a run, recording a double-double in all three games during Montana's winning streak. Bannan is averaging 16.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game during that stretch, in addition to 2.3 assists per contest. Bannan now ranks sixth in the Big Sky with 8.1 rebounds per game. He is one of three plays to average at least 12.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
Sophomore Robby Beasley III has also been in double figures during Montana's last three games. Beasley has knocked down 11 3-pointers during that stretch (.440 shooting) and has totaled 19 points in back-to-back contests.
Junior Derrick Carter-Hollinger scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting Thursday at Eastern Washington, his seventh game this season in double figures. Carter-Hollinger moved into the starting lineup on Dec. 30 at Idaho State, with Montana winning all three games since.
Senior Cameron Parker picked up his 100^th assist of the season on Thursday night. The guard – who recorded a triple-double and set school and Big Sky records with 20 assists in back-to-back games last month – ranks in the top 12 nationally for assists per game (6.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3). As a team, Montana ranks nationally 47^th for assists (16.0 per game) and ninth with a 1.61 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Grizzlies turn the ball over just 9.9 times per game (14^th in the NCAA).
Sophomore Brandon Whitney is coming off his second-best performance of the season, scoring a team-high-tying 19 points at Eastern Washington. Whitney shot 7-of-11 from the floor.
Thursday marked the first time this season that Montana has won a game while giving up more than 77 points. The Grizzlies are a perfect 10-0 when allowing 77 or fewer points.
Montana has made at least eight 3-pointers in six consecutive games. For comparison, the Grizzlies made eight or more 3-pointers in a game just five times all of last season.
Montana is shooting .485 from the floor during its three-game winning streak, while opponents are shooting just .424, including .208 from deep (10-for-48). Prior to its current stretch, opponents were shooting .424 from 3-point range against the Grizzlies, the third-worst defensive clip in the nation.
In five Big Sky games, Montana has trailed for just 25:33 of 200 minutes, approximately 12 percent of the time. During the Grizzlies' three-game winning streak, they have trailed for just 3:21 in the second half (all against Weber State) and never by more than three points.

Montana leads @EWUMBB by double digits now with this three.

Timeout Eagles with 16:49 left in the second half. pic.twitter.com/T02NgXDjeS
— SWXRightNow (@SWXRightNow) January 7, 2022

LOOKING AHEAD
Last Saturday, Montana played a game against its most-competitive rival. Montana and Weber State rank first and second in Big Sky Conference history for all-time wins, conference championships and NCAA tournament berths. On Thursday, it was a meeting between the top-two Big Sky teams in recent history, with Montana (96) and Eastern Washington (92) winning more games than any other league team since Travis DeCuire joined the conference in 2014-15. On Sunday, the Griz will face their institutional rival, in-state foes located just 200 miles apart.

But looking ahead, the stretch continues as Montana hosts Southern Utah in a battle against the 2021 Big Sky Conference regular-season champion, a team picked to repeat in the preseason polls. Tipoff on Thursday, Jan. 13, is slated for 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance online.

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

Four Grizzlies were in double figures for scoring as Montana led for the entire second half in a win over the defending Big Sky tournament champions!

📰 https://t.co/iatngGo8oC #GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/HGNbBOYGyE
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 7, 2022

2 years in the making, Griz-Cat rivalry set to make resurgence Sunday in Bozeman

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Cameron Parker

Brandon Whitney

University of Montana Athletics

2 years in the making, Griz-Cat rivalry set to make resurgence Sunday in Bozeman

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Josh Bannan

Robby Beasley III

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Cameron Parker

Brandon Whitney

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