Griz renew rivalry in Bozeman

MONTANA AT MONTANA STATE
Saturday, Jan. 20 / 7:00 p.m. / Watch / Listen / Live Stats

Montana takes its red-hot offense east over the Continental Divide this week for the first showdown in the Brawl of the Wild series this season. The Grizzlies are coming off their largest conference win since 1997 last Saturday but face off with a 3-1 Bobcat team that is currently in second-place in the league standings.

The offense has been the story of recent weeks for Montana. The Grizzlies are averaging 90 points per game over their last four outings, shooting better than 50 percent from the floor in three of them. It's been a balanced attack for Montana as three different players have led them in scoring during the stretch and six different players have had at least a 15-point game.

Montana have won nine of the previous 11 games, but are off to a 2-2 start in Big Sky play to sit near the middle of the pack. The Griz lost their first game without Money Williams at Weber State fresh off the holiday break, and then dropped a heartbreaker in overtime vs. Northern Colorado last weekend.

Outside of those two games, Montana have been rolling. They are averaging 85.6 points per game in their 11 wins this season and those victories have come by an average margin of 20.4 points. Plenty of the games have been blowouts, as Montana have an average halftime lead of 12.9 points in wins and are 9-1 when leading at halftime.

The depth has been key, but the stars have also been shining brightly for Montana in conference play. Dischon Thomas struggled slightly during the non-conference stretch but has come alive with seven straight double figure scoring games. He's third in the Big Sky in scoring (18.3) and fourth in rebounding (7.5) during league play.

Thomas enters Saturday's contest just nine points away from reaching 1,000 in his career. He scored 446 in three seasons at Colorado State and now has 545 in two years at Montana.

Brandon Whitney has also broken out during conference play. He's the top assist man in the Big Sky in league games, averaging 6.5 per contest after setting a new career high with 11 in the win over Northern Arizona. Whitney is also Montana's second leading scorer in Big Sky games at 14.8 points per contest.

The duo has led the way, but much of their success is drawn from the attention that opposing teams are giving preseason All-Big Sky pick Aanen Moody. He's averaging 12.3 points per game in league play, but has the second-best scoring game by any league player this season with 36 against North Dakota State on Jan. 3.

Montana will need to play to its strengths in order to stop Montana State's recent run in the series and pick up their first win in Bozeman since 2020. The Griz are among the nation's leaders in field goal percentage and ball control statistics. The Bobcat defense relies on turnovers to create offense. If Montana wins the possession battle, it may well win the game.

It's a new-look Bobcat team under first-year head coach Matt Logie. Former coach Danny Sprinkle moved to Utah State, where he has the Aggies at No. 16 in the country following a terrific start to the season.

Logie has been forced to rebuild with less than a quarter of his team's points and starts returning. A proven winner at previous stops, Logie has Montana State playing well in conference play and in second place in the league standings.

In a wild first two weeks of Big Sky play, the conference appears to be wide open. Montana has a chance to establish itself as a title contender on the road Saturday, and then again with a rematch against Weber State on Monday night in Missoula.

THOMAS CLOSES IN ON 1,000 POINTS
Dischon Thomas needs just nine more points to reach 1,000 in his collegiate career following a 22-point performance against Northern Arizona last Saturday. Thomas spent three seasons at Colorado State before moving to Missoula.

In 48 games with the Griz, Thomas has 545 points (11.4 per game) on impressive shooting numbers. The big man stretches the floor for the Grizzlies, connecting on 79-of-201 (.393) three-pointers over his season and a half. He's also got 238 rebounds and 50 assists while at Montana.

Thomas will be the third 1,000-point scorer on Montana's roster, joining Moody and Whitney. Whitney is the only current player to score all 1,000 for the Grizzlies.

SUCCESS BEYOND THE ARC
Montana made 14 three pointers in the 90-47 win over Northern Arizona (1/13). It's the most makes in a single game for Montana since also making 14 last February in a road win over Weber State. It's the eighth-most makes from deep in 10 years under DeCuire.

The Grizzlies have caught fire from deep in recent weeks after a slow start to the season. They have made at least a dozen threes in three consecutive games, and have shot over 40 percent in all three. They join Nebraska as the only other D1 team with three games of 12-or-more made three pointers in 2024.

Since Jan. 1, 2024, Montana have made 45 total threes. It's tied for 9^th-most in the NCAA during the span. The Grizzlies have made 44.6 percent of their attempts, which is the 6^th-best mark in the country.

The 39 threes over the last three games are the most in such a span since making 40 over the course of three games in Dec. 2021, although two of those games were against non-D1 teams. It's the most in a three-game span in the DeCuire era vs. D1 opposition.

RED-HOT OFFENSE
The Griz are averaging 90.0 points per game over the last four contests. It's the best four-game stretch against D1 opposition since averaging 92 points over a four-game stretch from Jan. 4-13, 2018. The Grizzlies averaged 91 points over a four-game stretch in 2021, but two of those games were against Yellowstone Christian (104) and SAGU AIC (118).

Montana are currently 82^nd in the NCAA in scoring offense at 78.6 points per game. It's the fourth-best scoring offense in program history, and the most points per game by a Montana team since the 2005-06 Grizzlies averaged 79.0 points per game.

They've done it by taking care of the ball and getting high quality shots. Montana are 33^rd in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.51) and 41^st in field goal percentage (47.9).

FROM ONE EXTREME TO ANOTHER
Montana haven't played in many close games this year. The six-point overtime loss to Northern Colorado is the only game decided by fewer than eight points, and only three out of 17 games had a single-digit scoring margin.

They have also been on both ends of the extremes. They have 48 and 43 points victories and have also lost multiple games by 30-plus points. In fact, the 43-point win over Northern Arizona was the largest margin of victory for Montana in a league game since 1997, while the 30-point loss to Weber State was the largest margin of defeat since 2008.

𝐻𝐼𝒢𝐻𝐿𝐼𝒢𝐻𝒯𝒮 from a 90-47 win over NAU on Saturday!#BANDTOGETHER x #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/OuRFC70d31
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 16, 2024

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE (7-8, 3-1 BIG SKY)

It's a completely new-look team in Bozeman for the 2023-24 season. Head coach Danny Sprinkle is now at Utah State after leading the Bobcats to back-to-back Big Sky titles, and first-year head coach Matt Logie has 10 newcomers and returns just 22.4% of scoring, 34.7% of rebounding, and 29.2% of assists.
Despite plenty of turnover, this hasn't been a rebuild season for Montana State. They enter the weekend 3-1 in league play, good for solo second-place in the Big Sky standings.
Logie has a career record of 284-67 with stops at Whitworth and Point Loma. He entered the season with the third-highest winning percentage in NCAA men's basketball history.
The Bobcats rank fifth in the league in scoring offense and eighth in scoring defense. They make a lot of threes – 9.0 per game, a top 50 mark in the country – and average nearly nine steals per game to also rank in the top 50.
Montana State have allowed opposing teams to shoot 47.1 percent from the floor this season, which ranks 330^th out of 351 teams. Efficient shooting has been Montana's strength, as the Griz are 41^st in the NCAA with a 47.9 team field goal percentage this year.
The league-leaders in steals and turnovers forced per game, Saturday will be a battle of strengths for the two teams. MSU is 6-3 when their opponent has more turnovers. Montana are 39^th in the country in turnovers per game at just over 10.
Brian Goracke followed Logie from D-II Point Loma and has been the top offensive option in his first year at the D-I level. Goracke averages 16.1 points per game, third in the Big Sky, and has made a team-high 43 three-pointers.
Robert Ford III returns from last year's squad and has been arguably the best all-around player for the 'Cats. He is averaging 13.4 points per game and is the top rebounder on the team (7.9) despite being a 6-0 guard. He averaged 14.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game last week in a sweep of Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado to earn co-Player of the Week in the Big Sky.
Tyler Patterson is the only returning starter for Montana State. He leads the team with 34.8 minutes per game and averages 8.8 points and 2.6 rebounds.
Assistant coach Zach Payne spent the previous four seasons at Montana under DeCuire. Payne played at Whitworth and was a graduate assistant coach for three seasons under Logie.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BOBCATS

Montana lead the all-time series 154-151 and have dominated since 1990, compiling a 48-21 record in that time span. The Bobcats have won three of the previous four meetings, their best stretch in the rivalry since winning three straight from 2008-10. Montana had won 19 of 20 meetings prior to 2022, including 13 straight from 2011-20.
The Bobcats are 95-52 on their home floor against the Grizzlies all-time, but again Montana has had plenty of success in recent times. The Griz have won nine of the past 12 meetings inside Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
Montana State swept the season series last year for the first time since 2008-09.
The Grizzlies' last win in Bozeman came on Feb. 22, 2020. They have lost two straight, and had the 2021 game canceled due to COVID-19. It's the longest time between wins in Bozeman since losing three straight from 2002-06.

Griz Notes

Montana made a season-low four free throws on just five attempts in the win over Northern Arizona.
On the road, Montana have a .500 record through eight games. They have won their previous two contests away from home and four of the last five.
The last time Montana won 10 out of 12 games was in 2018-19, when they went on a 10-game winning streak during conference play.
The shooting splits for the Griz have been drastically better at home, which is more likely a result of difficult competition on the road than anything else. The Griz splits at home and on the road are: FG%, 50.8/44.3 – 3FG&, 38.9/28.0.
The Grizzlies haven't trailed by more than six points in 10 of the last 11 games. In the same span, the Griz have had a double-digit lead in 10 games.
Montana have shot better than 50 percent in eight games. They are 8-0 when doing so this year.
The Griz outrebounded Northern Arizona 41-30 and improved to 9-2 when winning the rebounding margin this year.
Saturday has been good to Montana this year. The Grizzlies are 5-0 in games played on Saturdays.
Montana's 98-92 overtime loss to Northern Colorado was the first defeat for the Grizzlies when scoring at least 70 points this year, and just the second loss for a DeCuire-coached team when they scored at least 90 (12/10/14 vs. Davidson).
The Grizzlies are now 11-1 when scoring at least 70 points following the Northern Arizona win.
The team that reaches 67 points first is 16-1 in Montana's 17 games this year. There have been just three games that featured second-half lead changes, and the team that enters the break with the advantage is 13-2 overall.
Montana have not had a three-minute scoring drought in five games.
Three of Montana's losses have come to top 50 teams in the country in Houston, Nevada, and Oregon. The trio have a combined record of 42-7.

DECUIRE CONTINUES TO RISE IN THE RANKS
Head coach Travis DeCuire entered the top five in career wins in Big Sky history on Saturday, passing Northern Arizona's Mike Adras with his 188^th victory. DeCuire is now 17 wins away from Weber State's Neil McCarthy for fourth place on the list.

He's also third all-time in Big Sky wins with a 115-54 record (.680). He trails Montana State's Mick Durham (123-117, .513) by eight wins for second place. Randy Rahe is the all-time leader with 198 wins league wins at Weber State.

WHITNEY 1K
Brandon Whitney has moved into 27^th place in Montana's all-time scoring list with 1,081 career points. He passed Craig and Scott Zanon last week, and now trails Marc Glass by 10 points.

Whitney is one of just 11 Grizzlies in program history with 1,000 points and 250 assists. He needs 14 more rebounds for 250 in his career, which would make him one of eight Grizzlies with 1,000/250/250.

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Players Mentioned

Aanen Moody

Dischon Thomas

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics