Griz face Lights after quick turnaround

MONTANA VS. MSU-NORTHERN
Tuesday, Nov. 17 / 7 p.m. / Missoula, Mont.
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It will be a quick turnaround for Montana men's basketball when they take the floor on Tuesday against MSU-Northern. The game will be the fourth in six days for the Grizzlies, all coming at home, as they look to close out a successful run inside of Dahlberg Arena.

The start of the non-conference schedule has been grueling for the Griz, which is by design for head coach Travis DeCuire. They have played against D-I competition in all five of their games so far, the longest streak to start a season since 2016-17. They get their first matchup against a non-DI team on Tuesday, but they do so with very little rest.

Montana showed flashes in the Zootown Classic of the team's potential. They finished the tournament 2-1 and co-champions with St. Thomas and Troy. They led for much of the game in the finale of the tournament, but ran out of gas down the stretch against a Trojan team that has a road win against Florida State on its resume this year.

It will take a Griz team that returns just over 50 percent of last year's minutes time to fully come together as a unit, but a difficult opening schedule should provide the challenge needed. Aanen Moody and Dischon Thomas have both proven to be more-than-solid starters. Moody, from Southern Utah, led the Grizzlies on the weekend with nearly 18 points per contest. Thomas, a Colorado State transfer, averaged 9.3 points and 6.0 rebounds over the three games.

Combine that with the work of Josh Bannan and Montana's fellow returners, and the pieces are certainly there for a highly-successful team. Bannan has been operating at a very high level for most of his Grizzly career, but he seemed to find another gear in the Zootown Classic.

He willed Montana to a win in the opener, scoring 23, hauling in 17 rebounds, and dishing out six assists. It was only the eighth time since 2010 that any D-I player reached all of those numbers in the same game. Bannan averaged a double-double on the weekend (14.3 points/13.3 rebounds) en route to winning the Zootown Classic MVP.

The Lights enter undefeated with an offense that scores nearly 90 points per game. It should provide a great test for a Grizzly defense looking to find its stride. The game will tip at 7:00 p.m.

Gallery: (11-19-2022) MBB: Montana vs. Troy

SCOUTING MSU-NORTHERN

The Lights enter this weekend a perfect 6-0 with one of the best offenses in all of the NAIA. Their most recent game was a 51-49 victory over Pacific Lutheran University. It was the only single digit game they have played in this year.
The offense has been clicking early for MSU-Northern. They are currently scoring 88.2 points per game. They are sixth in the NAIA with 11.7 made threes per game and are also shooting nearly 40 percent. The Lights have eclipsed the century mark in three games, scoring a season-high 108 points in the season opener against The King's University.
Last year, MSU-Northern finished 19-13 overall and 6-9 in the Frontier Conference. They were eliminated in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Head coach Shawn Huse is in his 21^st season in Havre. He went over 400 career wins earlier this season and is in the top 20 among active NAIA men's basketball coaches.
The offense has come from all over the floor so far this season for the Lights. They have 11 players on the roster who are currently averaging at least 5.0 points per game. Tanner McCliment-Call leads the team in scoring at 10.5.
They have gone deep in their roster in the opening month of games with 10 players averaging between 12 and 23 minutes per game.
Jesse Keltner was named to the Preseason All-Frontier Conference team. The 6-6 senior is averaging 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season.
TJ Reynolds, the older brother of Montana freshman Rhett Reynolds, is a member of the Lights team. The two played together for one year at Shelby HS.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE LIGHTS
This is the fifth meeting between the two schools with Montana winning all of the previous four. They have all taken place in Missoula. The Griz won 83-42 in 2006-07, 72-47 in 2007-08 and 57-43 in 2009-10. They also met for the first time under DeCuire in 2019-20, another Montana win (64-50).

ALL-BIG SKY BANNAN

Preseason All-Big Sky selection Josh Bannan has been off to a tremendous start this season, averaging a double-double for the year. He currently averages 14.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, one of just 20 players in the country to be in double-figures for both categories.
Bannan also leads Montana this season with 26 assists (5.1 per game). The Griz have operated through him often, and his playmaking ability has been on full display. He is now over 100 assists in his career.
In Montana's win against St. Thomas at the Zootown Classic, Bannan had a career day with 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. He is one of just eight players to reach those numbers in the same game, according to the website sports-reference.com.
Bannan earned the Zootown Classic MVP award for the second consecutive season. He averaged 14.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game as Montana went 2-1 to share the tournament title.
Bannan's season averages rank towards the top of the Big Sky in all the major categories. He is sixth in scoring (14.8), second in rebounding (10.4) and third in assists (5.2).

You might want to double him... Bannan iso for the bucket to get him over 20 on the night. #GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/t5SErbA8I6
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 18, 2022

IN A GOOD MOODY

Redshirt-senior Aanen Moody set a new career-high for points in the win against Merrimack on Nov. 18. He is 11^th in the Big Sky in scoring, averaging 12.6 on the season after scoring nearly 18 per contest in the Zootown Classic.
Moody will be making his 100^th career appearance across his three different schools when he takes the floor on Tuesday night. He is also closing in on 2,000 career minutes and 750 career points.
A career 88.5 percent free throw shooter, Moody was nearly perfect during the Zootown Classic. He made 20-of-21 attempts from the stripe, and is shooting 96 percent on the year. He leads the Big Sky in free throw percentage of players with at least 10 attempts.

Aanen MOODY! That is a massive three-pointer from the senior to tie this game back up! He's into double-digits for the second straight night.#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/B4ynlPdmuF
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 20, 2022

HAVE TO MAKE THE FREE ONES
Montana has broken the school record for team free throw percentage in back-to-back seasons. It may be early in the year, but the Grizzlies are on pace to do it yet again. The team is shooting 80.6 percent on over 100 free throws attempted this year. They shot 78.5 in 2021-22, and 78.2 in 2020-21.

The three leading scorers on Montana's roster have all been lights out from the charity stripe. Aanen Moody (22-for-23), Dischon Thomas (11-for-12) and Josh Bannan (26-for-32) are all shooting above 81 percent.

IMPROVING ON THE GLASS
One of the keys to the off season for Montana was to improve in the rebounding department. So far, it has been a success. They are leading the Big Sky in The Grizzlies outrebounded two of their three opponents in the Zootown Classic by double-digits. They lost the battle of the boards by just two in the loss to Troy.

Josh Bannan has been a big reason for that. The junior set a new career high with 17 rebounds against St. Thomas and is currently averaging 10.4 on the season. The added size of Dischon Thomas has also been helpful, as the transfer has grabbed 6.0 rebounds per game.

RETURN OF THE MACK
Redshirt-senior Mack Anderson used his COVID-19 exemption to return to play this year. After missing the end of last season due to injury, he is looking to get back to 100 percent during the non-conference schedule.

Anderson sat out of Friday's win against Merrimack, but returned to play a big role against Troy. Anderson had eight points, including some roar-inducing slams, in his first start of the season.

Forgive us for wanting one more angle of the connection between @jwbrown235 and @LaoluOke. This one handed slam was 𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔. We will see you tonight for more of this Griz Nation. #GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/24595oDxgK
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 18, 2022

GRIZ NOTES

Josh Vazquez currently sits on 99 career made three-pointers. His next make will get the senior to the century mark. He is averaging nearly 20 minutes per game, up 10 from his junior season.
Dischon Thomas has been in double-figures scoring for Montana in four of the five games to start the season and ranks 17^th in the Big Sky with 11.8 points per game. The Colorado State transfer is also second on the team and 13^th in the Big Sky with 6.0 rebounds per game.
Lonnell Martin Jr. went 3-for-4 from the arc in the loss against Troy, his best shooting performance of the season. He was also one off his career high with seven rebounds in the loss.
Laolu Oke brings size and athleticism to the Montana team, and Griz fans got their first taste of that during the Zootown Classic. He made four baskets during the tournament, three of which were dunks and the other an and-one finish at the rim. You don't want to leave your seats when Oke is on the floor.
The Griz debuted the new gray alternate uniforms at home for Friday's game against Merrimack. They are now 1-1 wearing the uniforms this year, 1-1 in the home whites and 0-1 in the road maroons.
Defense has been the key point to Montana's wins this season. They are 2-0 when holding opponents under 60 points, and they also outshot opponents in both of those games. In all three of Montana's losses, they have allowed over 70 points. While Montana's shooting percentage doesn't change much based on result(41% in wins, 39% in losses), there is a significant difference in field goal percentage allowed. Montana's opponents are shooting 56 percent in Griz losses; only 35 percent in Griz wins.
Moody was a spark in both of Montana's wins so far this season. He is averaging 18.5 points per game in the two wins, and being held under 10 points in Montana's three losses.

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Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Josh Bannan

Lonnell Martin Jr.

Aanen Moody

Laolu Oke

Rhett Reynolds

Dischon Thomas

Josh Vazquez

University of Montana Athletics