Griz resume Big Sky play at home

MONTANA VS. NORTHERN COLORADO
Thursday, Jan. 11 / 7:00 p.m. / Tickets / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA VS. NORTHERN ARIZONA
Saturday, Jan. 13 / 7:00 p.m. / Tickets / Watch / Live Stats

Montana men's basketball resumes Big Sky play this week at home and will look to stay red-hot as they welcome Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona to town. The Grizzlies enter the week winners of eight of their previous nine games after sweeping the Big Sky-Summit Challenge last week.

It will be the first time that Montana has played consecutive home games in over a month, but there is no better time to see the Grizzlies play then right now. Montana averaged 89 points per game last week and won both games by double-digits to continue an impressive streak.

There will be some history to be had on Thursday as well, as Josh Vazquez is poised to break the all-time appearances record at the University of Montana. The fifth-year senior will be playing in his 135^th career game, which passes Bobby Moorehead and Mack Anderson for most in Griz history.

Montana welcome a fast-paced Northern Colorado team to town to start the week. The Bears are led by Saint Thomas, a Loyola-Chicago transfer who is second in the Big Sky in both scoring (18.2) and rebounding (9.4) to average a near double-double.

He has Northern Colorado 63^rd in the NCAA in scoring offense at over 80 points per game. They shoot the ball well, also ranking highly in field goal percentage (47.3) while shooting plenty of three-pointers. The Bears struggle on the defensive side of the ball, giving up 78.1 points per contest to rank in the bottom 50 in the country.

They have played just a single Big Sky game, beating Northern Arizona 92-77 at home on Dec. 30. The Bears also come into the game on a nice winning streak having come out on top of their previous four contests, which includes a road game at Air Force.

The Lumberjacks, meanwhile, enter the week off a win but have had their share of struggles this season. They are the lowest scoring team in the league while allowing the second-most points. It will also be a revenge game for Montana. The Griz season came to an end with an upset in the Big Sky semifinals to NAU last year.

There are some milestones on the line for the Grizzlies outside of Vazquez' record. Travis DeCuire could move into solo fifth place in Big Sky history with his 188^th career win, and the Grizzlies are also closing in on 750 career wins inside Dahlberg Arena. They are currently 747-259 (.750) when playing on what is now Robin Selvig Court.

Montana is also looking to keep momentum on their side. The Grizzlies haven't had nine wins in a 10-game stretch in nearly five years, and would love to get a pair of victories before heading to Bozeman for the rivalry game next week.

Dischon Thomas has emerged in recent weeks for Montana as a consistent double-double threat. He's recorded 11 rebounds in three straight games, all of them double-double performances. He had 19/11 in just 26 minutes in the win over South Dakota.

Aanen Moody has continued his stellar play and put together a career game last Wednesday against North Dakota State. Moody scored 36 points, the most by any player in the Big Sky this year, in a homecoming game for the North Dakota product. He's currently fourth in the Big Sky in scoring.

Brandon Whitney has stepped up since re-entering the starting lineup for an injured Money Williams. He did a bit of everything in the win over the Coyotes, scoring 16 points to go with 8 assists and 5 rebounds. He's moved up to 6^th in the Big Sky in assists per game (3.7) after averaging 7.7 over the last three contests.

GRIZ NOTES

Head coach Travis DeCuire is looking for his 188^th career win at Montana on Thursday. He would move into fifth place in the conference's history with a win, passing Northern Arizona's Mike Adras.
Montana is looking for its ninth win in the previous 10 games on Thursday. It would be the best 10-game stretch for the Griz since winning 10 straight Big Sky games during the 2018-19 season.
Montana have scored 80+ points in six games this season. The offense only reached the 80-point mark six times in the entire 2022-23 season with a high of 84 points. They have eclipsed last year's season high five times already this year.
The Griz are 10-0 when scoring at least 70 points. They have scored in the 70s four times, 80s three times, and 90+ three times.
The offense has gone three straight games without a scoring drought lasting longer than three minutes.
The bench was top 100 in the country for much of the season but has fallen to 147^th after a slow stretch. The Grizzlies have just 25 combined bench points in the last three games. The reserves scored 25-plus in nine of the first 11 games this season.
Montana are now 8-0 when leading at the half.
They have had a double-digit lead in three straight games and eight of the last nine games.
At home, the Griz have been dominant in the opening half. In seven games, they have an average halftime lead of 13.9 points.
In the 10 wins Montana has an average halftime lead of 11.9 points per game.
Montana are 10-0 when shooting the same or better than their opponent from the floor. They are 7-0 when shooting better than 50 percent, which includes the previous three games.
They have struggled from the three-point line overall, ranking 256th in the NCAA by shooting 31.8 percent, but have also not allowed their opponents to shoot well from deep. They are 8-0 when shooting a better three-point percentage.
They set a new season high with 13 made threes against South Dakota (1/6).
The free throw line is a strength for Montana and they are 6-0 when getting to the line more than their opponent this year. The Griz rank 29^th in the NCAA with a 76.2 free throw percentage.
They have a 10-2 record when finishing with the same or more assists than their opponents.
Montana will be looking for it's first win on a Thursday this season. They are 0-2 in Thursday games.
Uni-watch: Montana are 6-0 in their home white uniforms. They are 6-1 at home, but the only loss came in the road maroons during the Basketball Travelers Mike Montgomery Classic.

VAZQUEZ TO SET A RECORD
Josh Vazquez has been a key contributor to Montana basketball for five seasons, and on Thursday night will become the Grizzlies all-time leader in games played with his 135^th career appearance. He passes Bobby Moorehead and Mack Anderson, who eached played 134 games in decorated careers.

Vazquez has made 42 career starts, including nine this year. He averages 20.8 minutes per game in his career. He's scored 758 points, has 254 rebounds and 158 assists in his career. He's also the program's all-time leader in free throw percentage at 91.0 percent, and has made 14-of-16 this year.

NO STRESS
Montana have yet to play in a close game this season. The closest final margin is an eight-point win over Idaho State, and the Griz have played in just two contests decided by single digit points. There have been second-half lead changes in just two games this year.

Overall, they have played in seven wire-to-wire games and another three games where the lead changed hands just one time.

DAHLBERG ARENA SUCCESS
The Griz are closing in on 750 all-time wins at Dahlberg Arena, which opened in 1953. They have played 996 total games, compiling a 747-259 (.750) record in the arena. The Griz are 6-1 at home this year and are 108-28 (.794) at home under DeCuire.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO (8-6, 1-0 Big Sky)

The Bears enter the week on a four-game winning streak. They defeated North Dakota and Denver in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. They have played just a single Big Sky game against Northern Arizona, winning 92-77 on Dec. 30.
Head coach Steve Smiley is 53-53 in four seasons with Northern Colorado. The Bears went 12-20 (6-12 Big Sky) last year to finish 8^th in the Big Sky. They were picked t8/9 in the Coaches and Media polls this season.
Northern Colorado has scored in the 80s four times and the 90s three times through their 14 games this year.
UNC is 2-4 in road games this season.
They average 80.1 points per game to lead the Big Sky conference in scoring, but are last in scoring defense allowing 78.1 points per game.
Saint Thomas has been arguably the second-best player in the Big Sky this season behind Weber State's Dillon Jones. Thomas averages 18.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. He is second to Jones in the first two categories and eighth overall in assists.
Thomas has seven double-doubles on the year to rank 2^nd in the Big Sky. He averaged a near double-double during the Big Sky-Summit Challenge with 23.0 points and 9.5 rebounds last week.
In the only Big Sky game this season, Thomas played just six minutes and scored three points.
Dejour Reaves leads Northern Colorado in minutes and is 6^th in the Big Sky in scoring at 14.7 points per game. Reaves is 2^nd in the Big Sky in free throw percentage (85.4) and 7^th in steals (1.42).

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BEARS
Montana leads the all-time series 28-14 against Northern Colorado. The Grizzlies are 15-7 in games played in Missoula, but are actually 2-3 in the last five at home. They did sweep the series last year, including a 69-67 win over UNC inside Dahlberg Arena.

It was part of a breakout weekend for Aanen Moody, who scored 26 points in the victory.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA (7-8, 0-1 Big Sky)

The Lumberjacks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 74-73 win over North Dakota on the final day of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. They have played just a single Big Sky game, losing to Northern Colorado 92-77 on the road.
NAU will play Montana State on Thursday night in Bozeman.
The elevation of Flagstaff has been helpful to NAU as they are undefeated at home, but they are just 3-7 on the road this year.
Statistically, Northern Arizona are last in the league in scoring (66.6) and 9^th out of 10 teams in scoring defense (76.7). The -10.1 scoring margin is 10^th in the Big Sky and 331^st out of 351 teams in the NCAA.
They average just 30.1 rebounds per game, which is 347^th out of 351 teams in the NCAA. They are last in the league in nearly every rebounding category, including margin at -7.1. Montana are 8-2 when outrebounding opponents this year.
They are 7^th in the league in the KenPom rankings (292) and 9^th in the league in the NCAA NET Rankings (298).
Trenton McLaughlin is the Lumberjacks leading scorer at 15.3 points per game.
Liam Lloyd is tied for 3^rd in the Big Sky with 3.8 assists per game. Oakland Fort is also in the top 10 with 2.9 per game.
Carson Basham is 11^th in the league in rebounding with 5.7 per game. He's also tied for 5^th with 1.1 blocks.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE LUMBERJACKS
Montana holds a 77-36 advantage in the overall series, but lost the last meeting at the 2023 Big Sky Tournament in the semifinals. The Grizzlies are 43-11 at home against NAU, and are 8-2 in Missoula under DeCuire.

Jalen Cone had 28 points in the tournament game last year and Carson Towt and Xavier Fuller each had big games. Cone is now a starter at Cal, Towt is out injured, and Fuller is playing professionally in Norway.

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Players Mentioned

Mack Anderson

Aanen Moody

Dischon Thomas

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics