Griz take on Northern Iowa seeking first road win of season

Montana (7-4) at Northern Iowa (5-4)
Dec. 16. / 6:00 PM (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

The Montana men's basketball game will close its non-conference schedule on the road with a pair of December matchups beginning Monday at Northern Iowa. The Griz and Panthers meet at 6:00 PM (MT) in Cedar Falls.

The difficult road schedule to start the season continues on for the Grizzlies. Northern Iowa, which plays on Friday night against Omaha, is currently 5-4 and ranked No. 85 in the latest NCAA Net Rankings.

It will be the fourth time that Montana has played a top 100 team on the road in five away games this season. All six of Montana's road games this non-conference season will be Q1 or Q2 games for the NET Rankings.

The Grizzlies are beginning to figure out a rotation and have seen some impressive results at home. Montana defeated Montana Tech by 29 on Tuesday to close out the home portion of the non-conference schedule at a perfect 7-0.

It guarantees that Montana will enter Big Sky Conference play above above .500, marking the fifth straight year that the Griz have been .500 or better entering conference play. It's the seventh time his team has been .500 or better in the non-conference in 11 seasons for DeCuire.

Scoring balance was on display in Monday's win as five different players reached double figures. It's just the second time this season that has happened. It's the seventh time that Montana has scored at least 80 points in a game as, outside of a few games against the current No. 1 and No. 12 team in the country, the Grizzly offense has been clicking.

Against non-ranked opponents, Montana is averaging 82.8 points per game led by a quartet of scorers. Malik Moore, Joe Pridgen, Money Williams, and Kai Johnson, who were all in double figures on Tuesday, average at least 12.0 points per game. Montana has a scoring margin of +12.9 against non-ranked opponents.

They have defeated a top 100 NET team already this year in CSUN, knocking off the Matadors (No. 79) in the de facto championship game of the Stew Morrill Classic. The Griz picked up another big win over South Dakota St., a team that is knocking on the door of being in the top 100.

But the biggest thing missing from Montana's impressive non-conference resume is a win on the road. They will have their hands full on Monday against a very good Northern Iowa team.

The Panthers are one of the most well-organized teams in the country, slowing the game down and dominating with their efficiency. They rank 2^nd in the NCAA in field goal percentage, knocking down 51.9 percent of their attempts this year, and have a top 50 defense.

Montana will need to play complete possessions and remain locked in for all 30 seconds of the shot clock if they want to go into Cedar Falls and get an upset win on the road.

VS. THE VALLEY
Montana does not have a lot of history with the current Missouri Valley Conference, playing just 17 total games against the 12 opponents in program history. UNI is the team that Montana has the most experience against, playing four times total and most recently in 2002.

The Grizzlies are 7-10 against current MVC members, although many of the games were played when the teams were in different leagues. Their most recent game against an MVC opponent was a 78-72 overtime win at Drake on Dec. 10, 2005.

PRIDGEN'S POSTERS
Montana basketball games have been unofficial dunk contests this season, and Joe Pridgen has been at the center of it all. Pridgen has electrified crowds all season with his physical, athletic displays at the rim.

He earned the No. 2 play on SportsCenter's Top 10 on Dec. 10 with his fastbreak poster against Montana Tech.

Pridgen has 14 dunks through 11 games this season. As a team, Montana has 30 total dunks with Pridgen's included. Amari Jedkins has five, Kai Johnson has four, and four other Grizzlies have at least one. Montana's opponents have just nine dunks this year.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚!?"

Joe Pridgen has 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 doing this. His latest poster earns the No. 2 spot on the @SportsCenter Top 10 📈#GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/SGKFM2nykq
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 11, 2024

SUPER SCHEDULE
The Grizzlies have played the 13^th most difficult schedule in the NCAA this season, according to the NET Rankings. Montana has played two teams currently ranked in the top 12 of the AP Poll (#1 Tennessee and #12 Oregon). Utah State is receiving votes to be ranked. The trio of teams are a combined 27-1.

Northern Iowa is ranked 85^th in the last NCAA Net Rankings. They will be the fifth top 100 team that Montana has played already this season with one more on the schedule in San Francisco.

In the non-conference portion of the schedule, Montana will have played 10 D-1 opponents. As of now, nine of the 10 teams are .500 or better.

SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA (5-4, 1-0 MVC)

Northern Iowa has won two straight games entering their Friday night contest against Omaha. The Panthers blew out both Illinois Chicago by 27 points and Northern Illinois by 44 points.
All four of Northern Iowa's losses have come against teams ranked 78^th or better in the NCAA NET Rankings. They are undefeated against teams ranked 100 or higher. Montana is currently ranked 156^th.
The Panthers have an adjusted tempo that ranks outside of the top 300 in the country, and opponents' average possession length is over 19 seconds against them, which ranks 358^th longest out of 364 teams.
They rank 2^nd in the country in field goal percentage (51.9), 15^th in three point percentage (40.1), and 6^th in effective field goal percentage (.592).
Northern Iowa only allows 65.1 points per game, the 46^th best scoring defense in the country. They have only allowed 80 points one time through nine games, and have held four opponents under 60 points.
They have good continuity from last season with a 49.6% minutes continuity, according to KenPom.com. This ranks 66^th in the country.
Tytan Anderson leads the team in both scoring and rebounding at 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Anderson has made 56.2 percent of his field goal attempts this year, and is also second on the team with 22 assists.
Anderson also has seven blocks, which is a team high. They have 33 team blocks this year, but opponents have only blocked 16 shots.
Trey Campbell leads the team with 27 assists (3.0 per game) this year.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE PANTHERS
The teams have split the four games that they have played against each other. Montana is 2-1 in Missoula and lost in its only trip to Cedar Falls on Nov. 20, 2001. The first meeting between the two schools occurred in 1968.

MONTANA NOTES

Brandon Whitney has now played more minutes in a Montana uniform than any other player in program history. He has played 4,061 minutes in his 133 career games, averaging 30.5 minutes per contest.
Montana is still undefeated when holding opponents under 45.0 percent shooting from the floor. They are 7-0 when the opponents shot under 45.0 percent, and 0-4 when allowing them to shoot 45.0 percent or better.
The Griz did not make 10 three pointers in any of their first seven games. Since then, Montana has made at least 10 in three of the last four games.
They are 7-0 when holding opponents to seven or fewer made three pointers. If an opponent makes at least eight threes against Montana this season, they are undefeated. Montana is 5-1 when making more threes than its opponent.
The Griz are undefeated (5-0) when making more free throws than their opponent.
At home, Montana is outscoring opponents 83.0-63.7 (+19.3). On the road, the Griz are getting outscored 67.3-88.5 (-21.2)
Montana has limited opponents to just 28.0 percent from three-point range this season, which ranks 29^th in the NCAA.
Brandon Whitney will tie Bobby Moorehead for second in program history by making his 134^th career appearance against Northern Iowa. He needs to play in 20 more games this year to tie Josh Vazquez for the most appearances in Montana and Big Sky Conference history.
Joe Pridgen leads the Big Sky and ranks 9^th in the country by shooting 66.3 percent from the field. He's also 24^th in the NCAA with 91 total rebounds.
DeCuire is 9-48 (.158) all-time in road non-conference games.

WHITNEY WATCH

Graduate guard Brandon Whitney is currently 6th in program history in career assists and 13th in scoring. Whitney has 383 career assists. He trails Will Cherry by 14 for 5th place all-time.

Whitney has 1,386 points in his career. He needs 10 more to tie Jordan Hasquet for 12th in program history.

Griz take on Northern Iowa seeking first road win of season

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Players Mentioned

Amari Jedkins

Kai Johnson

Malik Moore

Joe Pridgen

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics

Griz take on Northern Iowa seeking first road win of season

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Players Mentioned

Amari Jedkins

Kai Johnson

Malik Moore

Joe Pridgen

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

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