Postseason Guide: Montana at Big Sky Championship

ON TOP OF THE BIG SKY
Throughout history, it's hard to find many teams across the region who have enjoyed more success than Montana. The Grizzlies have won 12 Big Sky Conference regular-season titles, 11 tournament championships and have played in the NCAA tournament 12 times.

The Grizzlies' 12 regular-season titles rank second to Weber State, but more recently, Montana has been the league's best. The Grizzlies have the most Big Sky titles in the past decade, and are tied with Weber State since the turn of the century (eight of Weber State's championships came prior to 1973).

Montana has been even better in the tournament. The school's 11 tournament titles are a league record. Of the past 11 tournaments, Montana has advanced to the title game eight times, including in four of six tournaments under Travis DeCuire. On a national scale, only Gonzaga, New Mexico State and San Diego State have played in their conference championship game more times since 2010.

TOURNAMENT TALK

Montana has advanced to the Big Sky tournament 43 times in the past 45 seasons, tied with Weber State for the most appearances during that span (1978-present).
Montana is 45-30 all-time in the tournament, the second-most wins of any Big Sky team.
The Grizzlies have won the championship a league-best 11 times.
Montana has played in the finals 20 times (first), including in eight of the past 11 tournaments and four of six under Travis DeCuire.
From 2018-21, the Grizzlies won a league-record eight consecutive tournament games, winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
Montana has won at least one game in nine of the past 11 tournaments, and 25 of 42 tournament appearances overall.
Since its first tournament title in 1991, Montana is 11-4 in the championship game.
Montana won eight consecutive semifinal games from 2010-19, before its semifinal loss last year to Eastern Washington.
The No. 1 seed has won the conference tournament in 27 of 46 seasons, including eight of the past 10.
The No. 1 seed has advanced to the title game in 13 of the past 15 tournaments, with 2010 (Weber State) and 2021 (Southern Utah) being the lone exceptions.

PLAYING AS THE NO. 5 SEED

Montana is playing as the No. 5 seed for just the fifth time in program history, going 1-3 in its previous quarterfinal matchups (1998, 2002, 2008 and 2017).
While the Grizzlies have lost their past two games as the No. 5 seed (2008 and 2017), they won a championship in 2002, beating Northern Arizona, Montana State and Eastern Washington to earn a trip to the NCAA tournament. Ironically, with a win on Thursday, the Grizzlies could again face No. 1-seed Montana State, which is playing as the top seed for the first time since that 2002 season when the Bobcats were upset by the No. 5-seed Grizzlies.
Over the past two decades, the 4/5 matchup has virtually been a coin flip, with the No. 5 seed owning a slight 11-9 advantage over the No. 4 seed.
The No. 5 seed has advanced to the championship game three times during that span, with Weber State doing so in 2005, Montana State doing so in 2021 and Montana winning it all as the No. 5 seed in 2002.

The #BigSkyMBB bracket is set for Boise‼️

🎟 https://t.co/035vUGRsoN #ExperienceElevated pic.twitter.com/C9rJTMfxgu
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) March 6, 2022

TOURNEY HISTORY VS. WEBER STATE

Montana and Weber State will meet in the Big Sky tournament for the ninth time in the past 12 tournaments. The Grizzlies are 7-1 in those matchups.
Under Travis DeCuire, Montana is 3-1 vs. Weber State in the tournament, beating the Wildcats in the 2015 quarterfinals, 2019 semifinals and 2021 quarterfinals; and losing in the 2016 title game, 62-59, in overtime.
Overall, the two teams have previously met 16 times in the tournament, with the Griz owning a 10-6 record. The Griz and Wildcats have played in the finals eight times (4-4) and semis six times (4-2). Thursday will be the third time that the two teams have met in the quarterfinals (also 2015, an overtime win for Montana, and 2021, a Grizzly upset over the No. 3 seed).
Five of the past nine tournament meetings have been decided by one possession, not including last year's five-point win, which was a one-point game with 17 seconds to play before a Mack Anderson block and four free throws padded the lead.
Additionally, in the 2019 semifinals, Montana blew out Weber State, 78-49. In that game, Montana never trailed while holding Weber State to a season low for points. The Grizzlies led by double-digits for the final 35 minutes, at least 20 points for the final 14 minutes and posted their largest margin of victory ever in a Big Sky tournament game.
Of course, no one can forget the Anthony Johnson game in 2010, when the senior scored a tournament-record 42 points – 34 in the second half – including the Grizzlies' final 21 points as Montana overcame a 20-point halftime deficit to win the 2010 title on the Wildcats' home court.

For more on Montana-Weber State history, click here.

NO MOMENTUM, NO PROBLEM
Having lost its final two games to close the regular season, Montana will enter the Big Sky tournament on a losing skid. While momentum has generally helped the Grizzlies – and any Big Sky champion – the lack of momentum doesn't necessarily have to be cause for concern.

Montana has had a multi-game losing streak entering the Big Sky tournament four times, the last being in 1990. While Montana lost its first tournament game three of those times, the other, in 1984, the Grizzlies advanced to the finals.

Of Montana's 11 tournament titles, two have come after the Grizzlies lost their regular-season finale (2002, 2010). In 2010, the Griz lost two of their final three games.
Nine of the 46 tournament champions (20 percent) lost their regular-season finale before winning the conference tournament. In 2004, Eastern Washington – like Montana – entered the tournament on a two-game skid, before winning the title.
On the flip side, momentum doesn't necessarily seem to boost a team the way one might assume. For example, in 2019, Montana lost its second-to-last regular-season game only to sweep through the tournament.
Three times Montana has had a three-game winning streak or better going into the tournament, only to lose its first game.

WIN 3 AND YOU'RE IN
Montana has been on a slide over the past several weeks, including a 1-4 stretch since Feb. 13. However, the Grizzlies also know that they are just three wins away from reaching their goal of cutting down nets and making a return to March Madness.

Four times this season, Montana has rattled off three straight wins, including once coming off of back-to-back losses.
In eight seasons under Travis DeCuire, Montana has put together a three-game winning streak 24 separate times, including twice during the Big Sky tournament.
Under DeCuire, the Grizzlies have won three or more games 11 times after suffering back-to-back defeats.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Three Grizzlies earned recognition from the Big Sky Conference on Tuesday, with senior Cameron Parker being named the league's Co-Top Reserve, while sophomores Josh Bannan (second-team All-Big Sky) and Robby Beasley III (honorable mention All-Big Sky) were also honored.

In December, Parker recorded the third double-double in Griz history, one game before setting school and Big Sky records with 20 assists in a game (the most by a Division-I player this season). Parker leads the Big Sky for assists (4.35 per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.79) in 2021-22, ranking in the top 50 nationally for both categories.

Bannan became the first Montana true sophomore to earn All-Big Sky honors since Kareem Jamar did so in 2012, a year before he was named the league's MVP. He is the conference's only player to average at least 17.0 points (seventh) and 8.0 rebounds (second) per game in league action, also shooting .520 from the floor (second).

A pair of Grizzlies earned big, and well-deserved, honors on Tuesday!

📰 https://t.co/WklKjuEr6z #GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/2cAoTdSZRi
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) March 8, 2022

ANOTHER WINNING SEASON
With a current record of 18-13, Montana is guaranteed of a winning, marking the 14th consecutive season the Grizzlies will finish the year .500 or better.

Entering the 2022 Big Sky tournament, Montana is one of 18 schools nationally to boast that claim, joining: Arizona, Baylor, Belmont, Cincinnati, Dayton, Duke, Florida State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Memphis, Michigan State, Ohio State, Saint Mary's, San Diego State, Vermont, VCU and Xavier.

GRIZ BITS

Montana is guaranteed of a winning record for the 14th consecutive season, currently one of 18 programs nationally to boast that claim.
With two wins this week, the Grizzlies could reach 20 wins for the fifth time in eight seasons under Travis DeCuire.
After beginning Big Sky play 8-2, the Grizzlies are just 3-7 since the start of February. However, they enter the Big Sky tournament having beat every league opponent aside from Northern Colorado, with sweeps over No. 6 seed Eastern Washington and No. 7 seed Portland State.
Montana has three players – all sophomores – averaging at least 30.0 minutes per game. Those three are also the Grizzlies' top-three scorers, accounting for more than half (50.8 percent) of the team's scoring.
Montana runs a tight rotation, with just seven players seeing the floor for more than 13 minutes per game.
Montana has had eight different players lead them in scoring.
A total of 30 Big Sky players are shooting .500 or better (making at least one shot per game), with the Grizzlies having four of those players.
Montana went 14-3 at home this season, winning its first 12 games before a Feb. 10 overtime loss to Northern Arizona. At the time, the Grizzlies' 14-game home winning streak, dating back to the 2020-21 season, was the eighth-longest active streak nationally. Over the past five seasons, Montana is 59-12 on its home floor (.831).
A year after setting a school record from the charity stripe, Montana is on pace to again break a school record, currently ranked 11th nationally (.787).
The Grizzlies turn the ball over just 10.1 times per game, the 13th-best rate in the country. Montana's +2.9 turnover margin ranks 28th while its 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 33rd.
The Grizzlies rank in the top-third nationally for scoring defense (66.3 points allowed per game), but have dropped more than 80 spots in the national ranking in the last month (entering February, the Grizzlies ranked 28th, surrendering just 62.2 points per game.
Montana ranks low nationally for rebounding (30.9 per game, 337th), rebounding margin (-2.7, 303rd) and 3-point defense (.362, 298th).