Montana opens Big Sky play at Eastern Washington

MONTANA (7-6, 0-0 BSC) AT EASTERN WASHINGTON (3-9, 0-0 BSC)
Thursday, Jan. 2 / 7:00 PM (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA AT IDAHO (5-8, 0-0 BSC)
Saturday, Jan. 4 / 7:00 PM (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

The Montana men's basketball team opens Big Sky Conference play on the road this week with a short trip to face off against Eastern Washington and Idaho. The Griz enter league play 7-6 overall and are seeking their first road win of the year.

It will be the first game since Dec. 21 for Montana, giving them 11 full days between games. And while the Griz fell in their final two contests of 2024, they started to pick up some momentum in the 71-67 loss at San Francisco.

The Dons are 11-3 overall and 9-0 at home this season, but Montana gave them their closest contest of the season inside War Memorial Gym. Montana appeared to have cut it to a one-possession game in the final 90 seconds, but an overturned goaltending call instead allowed USF to push the cushion to seven points on the other end.

The Griz battled to make it interesting, and had a look at the rim with eight seconds remaining that would have cut the lead to just two points, but it wouldn't fall and the potential upset bid came up just short.

The first six road games all came against teams ranked in the top third in the country in the NET, and they have a combined 42-3 home record this season.

The 0-6 record is not indicative of the level that Montana has been at this season, and they have their best chance of the season to get a road win on Thursday. The Grizzlies have lost the last two in Cheney, but get an Eastern Washington team in a rebuilding year after head coach David Riley left for Washington State in the summer.

It's a matchup between the two winningest teams in the Big Sky Conference since DeCuire took over in Missoula. In the 11 years since, Montana leads the Big Sky with 208 wins and Eastern Washington is right behind with 207. The next closest is Weber State at 191.

The Grizzlies then head to Moscow for a match-up with Idaho. The Grizzlies have won the last two on the road against the Vandals, and four straight overall.

The 2024 calendar year was a good one for Montana with 23 total wins, the most in a single year for Montana since 2018.

They will look to start 2025 off in a similar way, and it all begins against Eastern Washington on Thursday.

PRESEASON FAVORITES
Montana enters Big Sky play as the preseason conference favorites, according to the league's head coaches. The Grizzlies received seven out of nine possible first place votes to top the preseason poll.

It's just the second time that Montana has been picked as the preseason favorite in DeCuire's 11 years. The only other time, in 2018-19, the Grizzlies went on to win the regular season and tournament titles.

The Grizzlies were also picked second by the league's media, receiving 11 of 33 first-place votes. Eastern Washington, the two-time defending regular season champs, were picked 6^th by the media and 9^th by the coaches. Idaho were picked 7^th by the coaches and 9^th by the media.

Montana have not been picked outside of the top four in the league, by either the coaches or media, since DeCuire's first season back in 2014-15. They won the regular season title that year.

BIG SKY OPENERS
This is the 7^th time in his 11 seasons as head coach that Travis DeCuire's Montana team will begin conference play on the road. DeCuire is 7-3 all-time in Big Sky openers, and 4-2 when opening conference play on the road.

In the previous 10 seasons overall, DeCuire is 6-4 in his first road game of the Big Sky season, and has lost two straight road openers dating back to a win in 2022 at Sacramento State.

SUPER SCHEDULE
Montana's non-conference schedule was one of the most difficult in the country in 2024-25. The Grizzlies finished with a 7-6 record, and enter Big Sky play at .500 or better for the fifth straight season and 7^th time overall under DeCuire.

The Grizzlies ranked 7^th in strength of schedule according to the NCAA NET Rankings heading into conference play, and had the hardest schedule in the Big Sky Conference. KenPom ranked Montana's schedule the 19^th most difficult in the NCAA at the end of non-conference play.

All seven of Montana's wins came at home. It's the sixth time under DeCuire that Montana finished undefeated at home in the non-conference.

The Grizzlies went 0-6 on the road in the non-conference, finishing winless in such games for the fourth time under DeCuire. The six opponents that Montana faced on the road have a combined 42-3 (.933) home record.

Montana faced eight teams ranked 111^th or better in the NET Rankings during the non-conference, going 2-6 against them. The highest ranked Big Sky team is Northern Colorado at 132.

The Griz played four Quad-1 games in the non-conference, the most of any Big Sky team. They were also the only conference team to finish undefeated in Q3 and Q4 games, going 4-0 in such contests.

PUTTING A BOW ON 2024
Montana finished up the 2024 calendar year with a 23-13 overall record. The 23 wins were tied for the 42^nd most in the NCAA during 2024, and led the Big Sky Conference.

The Grizzlies had one of the best offenses in the country during that time. Montana ranked 31^st in the NCAAA with 2,784 total points, and were 8^th in the country with a .491 field goal percentage.

The 23 wins were the most in a calendar year for Montana since 2019, and tied for the second most in any calendar year under DeCuire.

BEST IN THE BIG SKY
Since head coach Travis DeCuire took over as head coach before the 2014-15, Montana leads the Big Sky Conference in wins (208) and winning percentage (.615). There are only five teams with winning records in the league during those 11 years.

Eastern Washington is second in wins (207), followed by Weber State (191), Northern Colorado (177), and Montana State (168).

MONTANA NOTES

Montana's first six road opponents are a combined 43-3 (.935) at home this season.
The Grizzlies lost by four at San Francisco in their last game. They were previously 2-0 in games decided by four or fewer points.
Malik Moore and Money Williams combine to average 34.7 points per game on the road. The rest of the Grizzlies, combined, average 34.0 per game in road contests.
The San Francisco loss was the first for Montana this season when holding an opponent under 45.0 percent from the field. The Dons shot just 43.8 percent in the win. Montana was previously 7-0 when holding opponents under 45.0 percent.
Montana is 7-0 when holding opponents to seven or fewer made three pointers. San Francisco made 10 against the Grizzlies, which dropped UM to 0-6 in games when their opponent makes at least eight threes.
The Griz are undefeated (6-0) when shooting the same or more free throws than their opponent. They are 1-6 when opponents attempt more free throws.
The halftime leader is undefeated in all 13 of Montana's games this year. The Griz are 7-0 when holding a lead at the break, and 0-6 when going into halftime trailing.
Joe Pridgen ranks 11^th in the country and leads the Big Sky by shooting 66.1 percent from the field.
The Grizzlies have started the same lineup in seven straight games. The unit of Williams/Whitney/Moore/Pridgen/Sawyer has gone 4-3.
Brandon Whitney is now second in program history with 135 games played. He will start his 130^th career game on Thursday, the most starts in program history.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON (4-9, 0-0 Big Sky)

The Eagles enter Thursday night on a two-game winning streak. The wins both came at home against non-D-1 opponents Lincoln University and Eastern Oregon.
EWU is 4-1 at home this year and 0-7 on the road.
Head coach Dan Monson is in his first year at Eastern Washington after leading Long Beach State to the NCAA Tournament last year. The veteran coach has 449 wins in 28 seasons spent at Gonzaga, Minnesota, Long Beach State, and now Eastern Washington.
Eastern Washington is the two-time defending regular season Big Sky champ, but lost head coach David Riley and four starters to Washington State in the summer.
The Eagles average 76.1 points per game, but have allowed 78.9 to opponents, a mark that ranks 323^rd in the country. The -2.8 scoring margin ranks 291^st in the NCAA.
Defensively, EWU are inside the top 50 in the country in steals with nearly nine per game. They are also positive in the turnover margin at 2.5, which ranks 73^rd in the country.
The Eagles are also in the top 100 in assists (15.8/game) and one of the nation's leaders in free throw percentage at 77.0.
Andrew Cook, a transfer from Carroll College, is the Eagles' leading scorer this season at 16.9 points per game. The 6-4 guard has made 81 total field goals with just seven of them coming from beyond the arc.
Nic McClain averages 14.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE EAGLES

Montana leads the all-time series 71-53. The Eagles have the slight advantage (30-28) in Cheney. Eastern Washington has won four straight in the series.
The Eagles are the only program in the Big Sky that DeCuire does not have a winning record against. He is 10-12 overall against them, and 4-5 in Cheney.

SCOUTING IDAHO (5-8, 0-0 Big Sky)

The Vandals enter Big Sky play at 5-8 overall, winning their final non-conference game 95-72 over Pacific. The open league play on Thursday night against Montana State.
Last year, Idaho finished 11-21 overall and 5-13 in Big Sky play. They were eliminated in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament by Sacramento State.
Idaho is 3-2 at home this season. They have two non-D-1 victories to go with an impressive 80-68 win over UC Riverside.
Head coach Alex Pribble is in his second season in Moscow. He's 16-29 overall while leading the Vandals.
The Vandals lead the Big Sky and rank 43^rd in the NCAA with 9.7 made threes per game. They are shooting 37.1 percent from deep, which also leads the conference.
Idaho ranks 85^th in the country and 3^rd in the Big Sky with a .543 effective field goal percentage.
Julius Mims was one of six members of the Preseason All-Big Sky team. He is averaging 9.3 points and leads the Vandals with 5.8 rebounds per game this season.
Kolton Mitchell has paced the Vandal offense, averaging a team-high 11.4 points per game while also leading Idaho with 38 assists. He's also third in the conference with 22 steals.
Tyler Mrus averages 11.3 points per game, and leads the Big Sky Conference by shooting 42.5 percent from the arc. He's made 2.82 threes per game, the second-most in the conference. Both marks rank inside the top 100 nationally.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE VANDALS

Idaho leads the all-time series 112-94. The Vandals are also 75-24 against the Griz in Moscow.
The Griz have won four straight in the series, and 10 of the last 11 overall. DeCuire is 13-6 overall against the Vandals, and has a 5-3 record in Moscow.

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Players Mentioned

Malik Moore

Joe Pridgen

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics