Griz to host Tech looking to remain perfect at home

Montana vs. Montana Tech
Dec. 10 / 7:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

Montana returns home this week to host Montana Tech on Tuesday night looking to improve to 7-0 on the year inside Dahlberg Arena. It's the last home game in the month of December for the Grizzlies as they close out the non-conference on the road and open up Big Sky play away from home.

It's the second straight year that the Grizzlies and Orediggers have met on the hardwood, and the matchup comes nearly a year to the day. Last season, Montana won 88-67 on Dec. 9.

The Griz will be looking to rebound from a competitive loss at St. Thomas on Saturday. Montana led for a majority of the first half and were in it until the very end, but fell on the road to a St. Thomas team ranked just outside of the top 100 nationally.

Malik Moore stole the show in St. Paul, scoring a career high 30 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the floor. He also knocked down a career high six three-pointers, going 6-of-7 from the arc.

Since entering the starting lineup four games ago, Moore has been Montana's leading scorer on three occasions and is averaging 17.8 points per game. He's set a new career high in scoring twice during the stretch.

Money Williams had an impressive all-around game in the loss, scoring 14 points with four made threes and adding a team-high six rebounds and four assists. Williams is averaging 10.0 points per game more on the road compared to at home.

The Grizzlies also got a season-high eight assists from Brandon Whitney. The 5^th year guard passed Griz legend and former NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson for 6^th in program history with his 377^th career assist.

The Orediggers will come to town one of the hottest teams in the country. They have opened the season 10-0, and regardless of the result on Tuesday they will leave still officially undefeated as the game is an exhibition for them.

They were ranked No. 5 in the country in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll. This is the only game of the week for Tech. Next week, they head to Chandler, Ariz. To take on the No.1 team in the country Arizona Christian.

Montana will have its hands full with one of the top programs at their level and a team very used to winning. Under head coach Adam Hiatt, Tech has won at least 27 games in three straight seasons. They are well on their way to that number again with a terrific start to 2024-25.

The Grizzlies are 6-0 at home this year with two of the wins coming against non-D-1 opponents. They went 3-0 to win the Stew Morrill Classic, and followed that up with a win over top 100 NET school South Dakota St. in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.

They will look to extend their home winning streak to 11 games dating back to last year and remain perfect at home this season.

SCOUTING MONTANA TECH (10-0, 0-0 FRONTIER)

The Orediggers are off to a perfect start in 2024-25 with a ranked win on their resume over Lewis-Clark State. They are 6-0 in Butte, and have played just two true road games this year.
Head coach Adam Hiatt is in his 8^th season in Butte. He's won 151 career games as Tech head coach, including three straight seasons with at least 27 wins. Last year, the Orediggers won the Frontier Championship and then advanced to the Second Round of the NAIA National Tournament.
It was the third straight season that Tech had reached at least the Second Round of the National Tournament. They advanced to the National Quarterfinals in 2022-23.
The Orediggers are averaging 85.3 points per game this season and holding opponents to just 60.7 points, winning games by an average of 24.6 points per contest.
Tech is shooting 49.7 percent from the floor on the year and limiting opponents to just 35.9 percent shooting.
They have also outrebounded opponents by 6.0 per game, averaging 39.6 as a team. The assist numbers are also impressive. Tech averages 16.9 assists per game.
Six different Orediggers are averaging at least 9.8 points per game. Camdyn LaRance from Hellgate HS is the teams leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, but he has been out since November. Michael Ure is the leading active scorer at 13.3 points per game.
Hayden Diekhans averages 11.9 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game. Diekhans has started 73 games at Tech and was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Frontier Conference last season.
Former Grizzly Rhett Reynolds is on Tech's roster. He averages 3.9 points and 2.8 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE OREDIGGERS

Montana leads the all-time series 48-12 against Tech. The teams played a majority of their meetings prior to 1950. Since that time, Montana is 12-1 in the series. The loss came in 2019.
In Missoula, the Griz are 31-7 all-time. Head coach Travis DeCuire is 3-1 against Montana Tech.
Seven of Montana's all-time losses came during WWII when they were playing with either an all-freshman team or a Navy team.

MOORE ENTERS THE MIX

Transfer Malik Moore missed the start of the season with an injury, but has now played in five straight games for the Griz.
Moore is now the leading scorer this season for Montana with 15.0 points per game. Moore is shooting 51.0 percent from the floor and 41.9 percent from three-point range with a team-high 13 made three in that time.
Since entering the starting lineup against Utah Tech, Moore is averaging 17.8 points per game. He's also averaging 4.5 rebounds in that time.
He has led the Grizzlies in scoring in the last three games, and set a new career high for points twice in the last three games with 22 vs. CSUN and 30 at St. Thomas.
Moore has finished with a positive +/- in every game that he has appeared in.

HOME AND ROAD SPLITS
The opponents have been very different, but there has been a big change in fortune for Montana whether they are playing at home or on the road this season. The Griz are 6-0 in Dahlberg Arena and 0-4 on the road.

The Griz are averaging 82.0 points per game at home and holding opponents to just 64.3 points. On the road, the Griz average 67.3 points and allow 88.5 points per game. They have a +17.3 scoring margin at home, and a -21.2 scoring margin on the road.

SUPER SCHEDULE
Montana has played a very difficult non-conference schedule this year. They have four losses, all coming on the road. Tennessee, Oregon, and Utah State make up three of those losses, and started the year a combined 26-0.

As its stands currently, Montana will play six non-conference games against teams ranked inside the top 120 in the Pomeroy Ratings. The top Big Sky team at the moment is at No. 128. KenPom ranks Montana's schedule as the 42^nd toughest in D-1 this year.

The NCAA Net Rankings have Montana's road even tougher. The Griz have the 16^th ranked strength of schedule in the country and the most difficult in the Big Sky. The Griz have played three Quardrant 1 teams, tied for the most by a Big Sky team. Montana is 4-0 in Q3 and Q4 games.

MONTANA NOTES

The game against St. Thomas on Saturday featured nine lead changes and seven tied scores, both season highs for Montana games. It was also just the second game of the season in which the winning team didn't lead for more than 30 minutes.
The Griz scored 16 points off turnovers at St. Thomas, a season-high against D-1 opponents.
This is the fifth time overall and second straight year that Montana has started 6-4 through 10 games under Coach DeCuire. It matches the best start for Montana since 2005-06. The Griz have improved to 7-4 all four previous times they were at this record under DeCuire.
When opponents shoot 45 percent or better, Montana is 0-4. St. Thomas was the third opponent this season to shoot 50 percent or better. The Griz are 6-0 when holding opponents under 45 percent.
Montana made a season-high 12 three-pointers in the loss at St. Thomas. It was the first time this season that Montana shot a better percentage from the arc and lost.
Te'Jon Sawyer had a career-high four assists in Saturday's loss to St. Thomas.
Brandon Whitney recorded a season-high eight assists in the loss to St. Thomas.
At 6-0 inside Dahlberg Arena, Montana is off to its best start at home since 2021-22. That year the Grizzlies started the year 12-0 at home.
The defense has held opponents to just 28.3 percent shooting from three-point range. That mark ranks 40^th in the NCAA.
Joe Pridgen continues to lead the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage. Pridgen is shooting 63.8 percent from the floor this year and averaging 12.6 points per game. He ranks 22^nd in the NCAA in FG%.
Pridgen is also 88^th in the country and 3^rd in the Big Sky with 7.8 rebounds per game. He has led Montana in that category eight times.
The Griz have been a first-half team this year. They are outscoring opponents by 39 points in the first half, but have been outscored by 18 points in the second half. They have been ahead at the break six times, winning all six of those games. They've trailed four times. The Griz have lost six of 10 second halves this year.

Griz to host Tech looking to remain perfect at home

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Malik Moore

Joe Pridgen

Rhett Reynolds

Te'Jon Sawyer

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics

Griz to host Tech looking to remain perfect at home

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Malik Moore

Joe Pridgen

Rhett Reynolds

Te'Jon Sawyer

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

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