Griz return home to face Vandals

MONTANA VS. IDAHO
Thursday, Feb. 1 / 7:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

Montana returns home from a testy road trip that capped off a stretch of four games in eight days with a matchup against Idaho this Thursday. The Vandals enter the game having lost seven straight contests and sit in last place in the Big Sky at 1-6.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, enter with the league's best overall record at 14-7 but are in third place in the standings with a 5-3 mark in conference play. Montana split last week's road trip, falling at Portland State before staging a come-from-behind win at Sacramento State.

There have been some spectacular results for Montana this year, and also some head-scratching losses. Thursday night falls into the latter category, as the Vikings brought an energy that Montana couldn't match and ran away to a 26-point victory.

But Montana got back on the right foot last Saturday in Sacramento, scoring the final 10 points of the game to get a comeback victory in just the second close game they have played all season.

Brandon Whitney's has continued to emerge as the top playmaking option for the Grizzlies and the senior guard became one of just eight Grizzlies in program history with 1,000 points, 250 rebounds, and 250 assists over the weekend.

He has been precise with the ball control, which is a big reason that Montana rank among the nation's leaders in assists, turnovers, and the ratio between the two stats.

The red-hot offense that opened January has cooled off slightly over the last week, but Montana will still end the month ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in field goal, three point, and free throw percentages. They currently average 77.0 points per game, which is just outside the top 100 in the country.

Idaho comes in averaging under 70 points per contest while giving up 71.9. The Grizzlies will hope to continue a hot stretch of shooting against an Idaho team that ranks in the bottom hundred in field goal percentage defense. Montana has shot better than 50 percent from the floor in seven of the last nine games, but have lost on the two off nights.

Last year, a bad loss on the Portland-Sacramento road trip sparked Montana to a 7-1 close to the season. They will hope for a similar takeaway from Thursday night's loss. They picked up an important win on Saturday, and now look to turn that into a winning streak against the Vandals.

UP NEXT
Montana will host the N7 Game against undefeated Eastern Washington on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. There will be a full preview for the game on Friday. The Eagles have started Big Sky play 7-0 for the second consecutive year.

EXPERIENCED SQUAD
Montana is among the most experienced teams in the entire country this year. They start five seniors who have combined for 366 collegiate appearances, and also bring over 90 career games off the bench in the form of Giordan Williams.

Montana rank 28^th in the NCAA in D-1 Experience with 2.70 years, according to KenPom.com. The number "measures the average number of full D-1 seasons played by the current roster, weighted by minutes played."

Dischon Thomas has 143 appearances, Aanen Moody has 142, and Josh Vazquez is at 140. The trio should all eclipse 150 games played by the end of the season. Montana rounds out the starting lineup with Brandon Whitney (107 games played, 101 starts) and Laolu Oke (124 appearances between D-I and D-II).

They are playing a team on the opposite end of the spectrum on Thursday. Idaho's rotation features just one returning starter and three returning letterwinners. They have 12 newcomers, many of whom transferred up to the D-1 level. They are 362^nd out of 362 teams in D-1 Experience.

STELLAR SHOOTING IN JANUARY
Montana's offense is peaking in January, and the Grizzlies are putting up big numbers behind some stellar shooting. The Grizzlies rank in the top 10 in the NCAA in the month of January in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage.

The Grizzlies are connecting on 51.3 percent of their FGs, 42.9 percent of their threes, and 83.2 percent of their free throws.

In the season-long rankings, Montana are 30th in the country in field goal percentage (.482) and 10th in free throw percentage (.782).

COME FROM BEHIND WIN
Montana's win at Sacramento State came after the Grizzlies trailed by as many as eight points. It matched the largest deficit overcome this season, and was also the first time Montana won a game that they trailed for longer than they led.

In Montana's previous 13 wins, they led for at least 29 of the 40 minutes. On Saturday, they led for just 9:14 and needed a 10-0 run to overcome a 67-60 deficit in the final minutes. It's also the first game this year decided by one possession. The six-point loss to Northern Colorado was previously the closest final score margin.

KEYS TO MONTANA VICTORIES
There are a few statistical measurements that can be used to determine whether Montana is likely to win or not this season. The Grizzlies are 14-1 when scoring at least 70 points, they are 14-0 when shooting the same or better than their opponent, and 12-1 when shooting better from the arc.

The Grizzlies are also undefeated when finishing with fewer turnovers (8-0), more free throws (7-0), and on Saturday (7-0).

STORY FROM THE STRIPE
Montana has been historically good at the free throw line over the previous four seasons. They have set a new school record for single season free throw percentage in three straight seasons and have the possibility to do it for a fourth time this season.

They are converting on 78.2 percent of their free throws this year. They shot the same percentage in 2020-21, improved to 78.5 percent in 2021-22, and set the current record last season at 78.8 percent.

The Grizzlies are second in the NCAA over the four-year stretch with a combined 78.4 percent success rate at the free throw line. They trail only national powerhouse Villanova. The Wildcats have made 80.9 percent of their free throw attempts since 2020.

SCOUTING IDAHO (7-13, 1-6 Big Sky)

The Vandals are currently on a seven-game losing streak dating back to the Big Sky-Summit Challenge that opened up the new year. It's been over a month since the last win, a 61-58 victory over Sacramento State to open Big Sky play on Dec. 28.
Idaho is under first-year head coach Alex Pribble. He has a 90-54 career record that includes four seasons at D-II Saint Martin's. He came to Idaho from Seattle U, where he was the associate head coach.
It's a new-look Vandal team. They return just 3% of scoring, 5% of rebounding, and 3% of assists from last year's team.
They are just 1-6 on the road this season and have played five of the first seven Big Sky games at home in Moscow.
In Big Sky play, Idaho is averaging 63.3 points per game while giving up over 75 points per game. They have allowed Big Sky opponents to shoot 48.1 percent from the floor and have been outrebounded by nearly six per game.
Idaho's offense has scored over 70 points in just seven games this season. They are 2-11 when being held under 70 points. They have given up 70 points in 12 games and have a 2-10 record in such games.
Quinn Denker leads Idaho in scoring (12.1 ppg) and assists (66) this year. He's made a team-high 32 threes on 33.3 percent shooting.
Julius Mims, a North Idaho College transfer that is originally from Billings, is the leading rebounder for Idaho with 6.9 per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE VANDALS
This is Montana's second-most played series, trailing on the Brawl of the Wild. The Vandals lead the all-time series 112-92, although Montana has dominated the series recently. The Grizzlies enter with two straight wins, eight of the last 10, and 16 of the last 22.

Montana have been good in Missoula with a 64-31 record over the Vandals at home. DeCuire is 11-6 against Idaho in his nine seasons with a 5-2 record in Missoula.

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Players Mentioned

Aanen Moody

Laolu Oke

Dischon Thomas

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

Giordan Williams

University of Montana Athletics