Montana begins tough stretch with rivalry game

MONTANA vs. WEBER STATE
Thursday, Jan. 12 / 7:00 p.m.
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MONTANA vs. IDAHO STATE
Saturday, Jan. 14 / 7:00 p.m.
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It is still very early in the Big Sky season, but it is difficult to look at the results around the league so far and not see a conference that has more parity than we have seen in recent years. You need look no further than Montana's last road trip, where they fell to Northern Arizona – a team picked to finish toward the bottom of the Big Sky – but dominated Northern Colorado, the consensus No. 2 team in the league by the coaches and media.

Or perhaps a better example would be Montana's opponents this weekend. Weber State and Idaho State come to Missoula. The two met last weekend in Ogden in a battle of unbeatens, but it wasn't perennial power Weber State who claimed victory in that game. Instead it was the Bengals, a team that hasn't finished in the top three the league since 2003-04 and had just five conference wins a season ago, that improved to 3-0 in league play.

It sets up an important weekend for Montana, as well as a very difficult upcoming stretch. The Grizzlies next five opponents are a combined 14-3 in league play and occupy the five spots above Montana in the league standings. The difficulty level will be high, but the rewards for a successful stretch of play in the coming weeks would be high.

Montana can't look ahead, and won't have trouble in focusing on Thursday's opponent. Montana and Weber State have been the class of the conference since its creation, combining for 21 Big Sky Conference Tournament titles. The rivalry will be a little different this year without Randy Rahe, the Wildcats' longtime coach that retired over the offseason.

Still, it won't be without excitement. Josh Bannan and Dillon Jones are both preseason All-Big Sky picks who are making cases for league MVP. There has been a lot of history shared between the two schools, meeting in the last three league tournaments (outside of the cancelled 2020 event). Montana ended Weber State's season twice, but the Wildcats got revenge last year in Boise.

On Saturday, Montana will face off against the most surprising team in the league. Idaho State, which went 5-15 last year to tie for last in the Big Sky, have raced out to a 3-0 record. They have done it behind the scoring of Brock Mackenzie, who the Grizzlies will need to slow down if they want to win.

Mackenzie has 20-plus points in two of three games so far, although it was the Bengals defense and depth that led them to victory at Weber State. History is on Montana's side in this one, as the Grizzlies haven't lost at home to Idaho State since 2008. Last year, a Bengal win in Pocatello snapped a 22-game winning streak for Montana in the series.

But in a Big Sky Conference where anything is possible through the opening two weeks, anything is on the table this week in Missoula.

SCOUTING WEBER STATE (7-9, 2-1 Big Sky)

Montana and Weber State have combined for nine of the past 14 Big Sky Championships. The two teams have been the litmus test for the rest of the Big Sky not only over the past decade, but since the conference's inception. They have combined for 21 Big Sky Conference tournament titles, Montana leading the way with 11.
The Wildcats enter this week at 2-1 in conference play. This will be the first road conference game for Weber State. They opened with a home sweep of Northern Colorado (81-72) and Northern Arizona (76-60). They had just a single game last week, a 67-57 home loss to undefeated Idaho State.
Long-time Weber State head coach Randy Rahe retired over the offseason, leaving after a stellar 16-year career in Ogden. Rahe is the Big Sky's all-time leader in conference wins with 198.
Defense has been the key for Weber State this year. They are second in the league in scoring defense (68.3 ppg) but rank last in offense (67.4), shooting the league's lowest rate from three and getting the fewest offensive rebounds.
Weber State's Dillon Jones leads the Big Sky in rebounding with 10 per game. He's been among the best players in the conference, also averaging 14.7 points to rank 11^th in the league. The forward also leads the league with an 87.9 percent mark from the free throw line.
Jones has been a complete player this year, also ranking fourth in the league in assists (3.9) and second in steals (1.7). The high usage has also led to a league leading 3.9 turnovers. He has eight double-doubles, the most in the Big Sky.
Steven Verplancken has provided a good scoring punch in league play, upping his average to 13.7 points against Big Sky teams. He has done it on 45.0 percent shooting while playing nearly 35 minutes per game.
Alex Tew has been good on the interior for Weber State, averaging 2.3 offensive rebounds (5^th in the Big Sky) and 1.0 block (also 5^th) in the three league games.
In Montana's last three trips to the Big Sky Tournament, they have faced off against the Wildcats. Montana eliminated Weber State in 2019 and 2021, but the Griz had their season come to an end with a 68-56 loss in the quarterfinals in 2022. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to COVID-19.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WILDCATS

These two teams are fierce rivals in basketball and have long been the standard that the rest of the conference is compared with when measuring success. It has been very even and competitive in recent years after Montana won five straight from 2017-2020. In the last eight meetings, the two sides are 4-4 against each other.
Weber State leads the all-time series 74-64, and are currently on a two-game winning streak.
The home team has a significant advantage in the history of this series. Montana is up 41-24 in games played in Missoula, while Weber State has a 47-17 edge in Ogden.
The Grizzlies have the advantage in the games that count the most. Montana is 10-7 against Weber State at the Big Sky Tournament and 6-3 against them on a neutral court.

SCOUTING IDAHO STATE (6-10, 3-0 Big Sky)

Idaho State has been the surprise of the season so far in the Big Sky Conference. The Bengals, picked by both the coaches and the media for a last-place finish in the preseason, have jumped out to a 3-0 start and are one of just two remaining unbeaten teams in the league.
The Bengals are second in the league in scoring offense and defense in league play so far. They have relied on a stout defense for their three wins. They give up the second-lowest field goal percentage and the lowest three-point percentage in the conference while leading the league in defensive rebounding.
Last weekend, the Bengals went to Ogden and knocked off Weber State in a game featuring two unbeaten teams. Idaho State trailed by seven points at halftime, but opened the second on a 17-3 run to eventually get the double-digit win.
In the first week of the season, they got a pair of home wins against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. They blew the Lumberjacks out, winning 79-53 behind 25 points from Brock Mackenzie. It took overtime and another big performance from Mackenzie (23 points) to beat Northern Colorado 90-83.
In their three Big Sky wins, the Bengals have been outscoring their opponents by an average margin of victory of 14.3 points. Last season, it took Idaho State 13 games to get three league wins. This year they've done it in three.
Brock Mackenzie leads the Bengals at 14.1 points per game, and he has upped that mark to 18.0 per game in league play. Mackenzie is one of four Bengals to average double-digit points per game.
Mackenzie has one of the best individual performances in the league so fart this year, going 7-for-7 from three-point range in a November game against Kansas City.
Brayden Parker is 13^th in the league in conference scoring, averaging 13.7 points through their first three games of the Big Sky slate.
Idaho State has been one of the better rebounding teams in the conference, but they don't have any individual players averaging over 5.0 rebounds per game. Seven different Bengals average between 2.5 and 5.0 rebounds per game.
In the same theme of depth, the Bengals have four players getting good minutes off the bench. In the win against Weber State, four reserves played at least 14 minutes and they doubled up the Wildcats bench scoring 34-17.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BENGALS

The series has been extremely one-sided in recent years, although the Bengals do enter Saturday night with a winning streak against Montana. Idaho State won 86-63 in Pocatello last season, ending a 22-game winning streak for Montana.
The Grizzlies streak lasted from 2010 all the way to last season. Prior to that win, the Bengals hadn't defeated the Griz since a 67-65 game in Pocatello during the 2009-10 season.
In Missoula, calling the Grizzlies dominant may be underselling it. The Griz have a 70-14 (.833) record against the Bengals at home and haven't lost inside Dahlberg Arena since 2008. In fact, since the turn of the century the Bengals have just three wins in Missoula.

BANNAN SET TO MAKE HISTORY
Josh Bannan is poised to become the 35^th member of Montana's 1,000-point club, entering the weekend on 996 career points. The forward has been a starter for nearly his entire Grizzly career, playing in 76 games and starting 71 of them. He has averaged 13.1 points per game in his three years, a number he has bumped up to 16.9 in the 2022-23 season.

He also eclipsed 500 rebounds this season, making him just the 18^th player in Montana history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

Bannan is also just the 17^th player to hit the milestone in his first three years on campus. Martin Breunig and Anthony Johnson each did it in a remarkable two seasons in Missoula, while Ed Argenbright, Ken McKenzie and Ahmaad Rorie each had three seasons in Missoula to reach the mark. There are 11 other Grizzlies who reached the mark in the third year of a four-year career. He is among the 10 fastest players to 1,000 points in Grizzly history.

At his current pace, Bannan could climb into the top 20 in program history by the end of the year.

Thursday should be a special day for the forward, who will have family in attendance at Dahlberg Arena to watch him play for the first time in person since joining the Griz.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana's bench has stepped up in conference play, including a big performance on the last road trip. The Griz bench scored a season-best against D-I opposition 19 points against Northern Arizona. They upped that number to 28 in the win at Northern Colorado.
After splitting the first two weekends of the league schedule, Montana fittingly sits towards the middle in many statistical categories. The Grizzlies are fourth in both scoring offense (75.0 points) and scoring defense (73.0). The +2.0 scoring margin is sixth in the Big Sky.
Late game struggles have hurt Montana this year. You could make a very easy case for the Griz to be 4-0 to start the league slate. Montana have had a halftime lead in all four games and led in the final seven minutes every league contest.
There have been three keys to success for Montana this season. Shooting, passing, and rebounding. Crucial parts of the game, obviously, but the statistics tell a pretty convincing story.
- First is field goal percentage. Montana is 8-0 when shooting at a higher rate than its opponents, and 0-8 when they are outshot.
- Next comes the battle of the boards, where Montana is 7-1 in games when it outrebounds its opponents and 0-6 when they have fewer rebounds. They have tied their opponent in two games, going 1-1 in those contests.
- The final category is assists. When Montana is moving the ball well and finished with more assists than its opponent, the Griz are 6-1. In games where they record fewer, they are just 2-7.
- It may be oversimplifying it to just compare Montana's numbers to opponents. When looking at the raw numbers in Montana's eight wins compared to its eight losses, the differences are quite noticeable. 48.1 percent shooting in wins compared to 42.5 percent in losses, with 55 more rebounds and 19 more assists in wins.
Montana actually lead the conference in assists so far in league games, averaging 14.2 per game. They are also well atop the league in assist/turnover ratio. Montana has a 1.46 ratio, far ahead of Portland State in second at 1.18.
The Grizzly defense has been solid around the rim through four league games. Montana is the best in the Big Sky at blocking shots with 4.5 per game.
Josh Vazquez has been a massive part of the Grizzlies' recent bench success. He averaged 12.5 points on the road trip, also contributing seven total steals to impact the game on both ends of the floor.
Vazquez has averaged over 30 minutes per game in the last three games, dishing out seven assists, taking away nine steals and blocking five shots during the stretch.
Anderson had his performance of the season and maybe his career in the win at Northern Colorado. He had season high's in minutes (21), points (15), rebounds (8), and blocks (2). He scored 11 points in a second-half run that saw Montana take a big lead.
Laolu Oke has been on a tear rebounding as of late. The junior has five straight games with at least three rebounds, despite playing between 3-11 minutes in all of them. He averages 11.0 rebounds per 40 minutes this season.
Jaxon Nap has seen limited minutes but has performed well in his role as a true freshman. Against Northern Colorado, he hit a three and recorded the first two steals of his career in 12 minutes of action.
Montana is in the top 100 in the country in effective field goal percentage (52.7) and turnover percentage (17.3). As a result, the Grizzlies have generally had great control of the tempo of the game.

ALL-BIG SKY BANNAN

Josh Bannan is about to make history as one of the 10 fastest players in Montana history to 1,000 career points. Here's how:
The junior leads Montana and is fourth in the Big Sky Conference in scoring. He averages 16.9 points on the season, and has increased that number to 20.8 points against league opposition.
He has reached the 20-point mark in consecutive games and five of the past seven games for Montana. The run started with a career-high 27 points in a road win at North Dakota State. On the year, his six 20-point games ranks third in the Big Sky.
In league play, Bannan is in the top 10 of the three major statistical categories. He is fourth in scoring (20.8), fifth in rebounding (7.5) and 10^th in assists (3.0).
Rebounding has been a strength this season. In addition to ranking among the best in the Big Sky, Bannan is 41^st nationally in defensive rebounds with 6.4 per game. He has five games with at least 10 rebounds, the fourth most in the Big Sky.
Bannan has recorded four double-doubles this year, which ranks fourth in the Big Sky and 80^th in the country.
He leads the Grizzlies in assists this season with 50 (3.1 per game).
He has been an efficient scorer, making nearly 50 percent of his field goal attempts. This number ranks fourth in the Big Sky and 113^th in the country. He's also making 48.4 percent of his three-point attempts, the best on the roster.
In Montana's eight wins this season, Bannan is averaging a double-double (18.0 points, 10.1 rebounds). In the other half of Montana's games, he averages 15.9 points and 6.8 rebounds.

AANEN MOODY

The fifth-year guard from Southern Utah has added maturity and experience to the Montana Grizzlies in his first season in Missoula. Moody is second on the team and 13^th in the league in scoring (14.2 points) and has expanded his game beyond just a spot-up shooter.
Moody has 26 assists this year, third most on Montana, and leads the team and ranks ninth in the Big Sky with 15 steals.
He has been an efficient scorer. Moody's 82.8 percent mark from the free throw line is fifth in the Big Sky and he has also connected on 39.2 percent of his three-pointers.
Moody has reached double-figures in 10 of the last 11 games, and has made a three-pointer in all 13 of his appearances so far this season.
The energy of Dahlberg Arena has lifted Moody this year. In home games, he averages 16.5 points on 40 percent from deep. On the road, his numbers drop to 10.8 points on 33 percent shooting from the arc.
In the win at Northern Colorado, he drew a clutch charge on a final-minute possession that the Bears could have tied or taken the lead on. He then made his free throws to clinch the victory.

BRANDON WHITNEY

An illness effected Whitney on Montana's recent road trip, but the junior guard has been a catalyst for the Griz offense all year. Prior to this last weekend, he had scored 20 points in three of the previous six games for Montana.
He has at least one assist in every game that he has finished this season, and is second on the team with 35 total dimes.
Whitney made the 70^th start of his Grizzly career on Saturday against Northern Colorado. He has been a staple in the Montana rotation since arriving on campus, starting 70 of his 71 appearances and averaging at least 29 minutes in all three seasons.

DISCHON THOMAS

The transfer from Colorado State had a bit of a homecoming against Northern Colorado, playing within an hour of his former school.
Thomas is in the top 20 in the Big Sky in both scoring (11.9 points) and rebounding (5.2). He has added some much needed size to Montana's roster, also blocking 0.6 shots per game to rank 10^th in the league.
The 6-8 forward not only adds size inside, but is also a perimeter threat. He has 21 made three-pointers this season, shooting at a 30.9 percent rate. He has made at least three shots from the arc in four games this year, with a season-high 20 points and four made triples against Eastern Washington.

LONNELL MARTIN JR.

The starting guard has put together an impressive stretch distributing the ball to start the conference season. He has matched his career-high with five assists in three of the last four games. In conference games, Martin Jr. is sixth in the Big Sky with 3.8 assists per game.
He also played a big role in Montana's win against Northern Colorado with his scoring. He had 11 of his 13 points in the second half, knocking down his first three attempts from the arc to spark a Griz run that put them up by as many as 18.

THE FREE THROW LINE CONUNDRUM
Montana has broken the school record for team free throw percentage in back-to-back seasons. There is plenty of basketball to be played, but the Grizzlies are in a good position to make yet another run at the record. The team is shooting 77.1 percent from the line this year. It is the 15th best percentage in D-1 basketball.

They shot 78.5 in 2021-22, and 78.2 in 2020-21.

The top six players for Montana are all over 75 percent from the line, including the entire starting five. Martin Jr. leads at 86.7 percent, followed by Vazquez (83.3), Moody (82.8), Thomas (82.4), Bannan (79.0) and Whitney (75.0).

And yet despite all of this, Montana has shot a better percentage than its opponent in just nine of the 16 games. The Grizzlies opponents are converting at an astonishing 77.5 percent clip. It makes Montana's free throw defense – an uncontrollable figure – 356^th in the country out of 363 teams.

On top of that, Montana allows over 23 attempts per game. Combine the high percentage with a large volume, and the Grizzlies allow nearly 18 points per game from the line. They have been outscored by an average of 4.2 points per game. The Griz are 3-1 in the games where they make more free throws, but 5-7 in contests where they make fewer.

BEYOND THE ARC
Montana have had an advantage at the three-point line this season. The Grizzlies have been among the Big Sky and nation's best at shooting from deep, hitting 36.0 percent as a team to rank second and 81^st.

On the other side, the Griz have been even better at three-point defense. They've allowed opponents to make just 30.7 percent of their attempts. It's again second-best in the Big Sky, but the 70^th best defense in the country. As a result, Montana has outscored it's opponents by 81 total points from three-point range.

AN EXPERIENCED SQUAD
For the first time in several seasons, Travis DeCuire has a roster full of upperclassmen and experienced players. The Griz currently have four different players with at least 100 D-1 appearances under their belts.

Mack Anderson (124 games played), Aanen Moody (107), Dischon Thomas (106) and Josh Vazquez (106) lead the way in total experience for Montana, while they also have a pair of three-year starters in Brandon Whitney and Josh Bannan that have combined for 141 career starts.

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Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Josh Bannan

Aanen Moody

Jaxon Nap

Laolu Oke

Dischon Thomas

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

University of Montana Athletics