Griz go for season sweep of Cats on Saturday

MONTANA VS. MONTANA STATE
Saturday, Feb. 17 / 7:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

GENERAL ADMISSION SEATING
The general admission bleachers on the north end of Dahlberg Arena will be pulled out on Saturday. There will be a section of the bleachers reserved for students, but the rest will all be open general admission seating. The tickets are $10, plus a $1.50 fee.

The beer garden will be moved to the East Auxiliary Gym on the south side of the arena for Saturday's game.

WINTER PEP RALLY
Montana will host the second annual Grizzly Winter Pep Rally on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. on the Oval. The free event will include a bonfire, fireworks display, hot chocolate and snacks, as well as appearances from both basketball teams, spirit squads, and Monte.

Get Griz-Cat weekend started on Friday night with the 2nd annual Grizzly Winter Pep Rally! #GoGriz

🔥 Bonfire

☕️🍪 Snacks & hot chocolate

🏀 Appearances from from @MontanaGrizWBB, @MontanaGrizBB, Monte & UM Spirit Squads

🎇 Fireworks

Entirely 🆓‼️ pic.twitter.com/uVqyH3kThK
— Montana Grizzlies (@UMGRIZZLIES) February 13, 2024

PREVIEW
The biggest game of the year has arrived at Dahlberg Arena as Montana gets set to face off with Montana State for the 307^th time in the long history of the rivalry game. The Grizzlies, who won by 10 in Bozeman in January, will look to sweep their rivals for the sixth time in 10 seasons under head coach Travis DeCuire.

DeCuire is 7-1 at home against the Bobcats, but the lone loss came last year as the eventual Big Sky champions won in Missoula for the first time since 2010.

It's a new-look Bobcat team that comes to Missoula this time around as Matt Logie has replaced Danny Sprinkle as head coach. He's had to reload a team that returns just 22 percent of its scoring from last season and features 10 newcomers.

Montana State started well in Big Sky play and have handed Eastern Washington its lone conference loss this season, but they come into Saturday's contest having lost three straight games. They were swept on the Northern Colorado-Northern Arizona road trip and also lost at home to a then 1-7 Idaho team.

The Grizzlies are coming off a weekend of parity. They went up to the elevation at Flagstaff and ran the host Lumberjacks out of the gym, scoring 94 points – including a season-high 52 in the paint - and dishing out 24 assists. It was the most in a game against a D-I opponent since 2008.

While it seemed the Griz could do no wrong in the 28-point win, they followed it up with a game in which little went right. Second-place Northern Colorado jumped on the Griz early with a 10-0 run that rocked Montana. They trailed by as many as 29 points in an eventual 87-71 loss.

It's just the second time this year that Montana has lost a game in which it scored at least 70 points, and both results have come against Northern Colorado's league leading offense.

They will look to get the defense back on track against a Montana State team that enters averaging 71.5 points per game over the last four.

Montana's efficient offense was the difference maker in Bozeman. The Grizzlies shot a season high 61.5 percent from the field in the win. They made 19-of-29 in the second half as they pulled away for the sixth double-digit victory in DeCuire's 17 games.

Jaxon Nap and Te'Jon Sawyer were huge off the bench in the win, outscoring Montana State's reserves 33-2. Nap scored a career-high 17 points on 4-of-5 shooting, and hit a dagger three pointer down the stretch that helped put the game away.

Sawyer played about as efficiently as possible, scoring 16 points in just 15 minutes and while shooting 87.5 percent from the floor. The Grizzlies had five different players in double figures in the win.

Montana are tied for third in the league standings with Weber State. The Grizzlies will look to avoid their first Big Sky losing streak on Saturday, as they have bounced back from the previous four losses with wins in the next game.

They will need a strong finish if they want to make a move up the conference leaderboard. The schedule does set up well for it, as the Grizzlies will play four of the final six games at home. The lone road trip remaining is at first-place Eastern Washington and ninth-place Idaho.

Last season, Montana won seven of its final eight regular season games to build some momentum heading into the Big Sky tournament. The perfect way to start up a rally into the home stretch would be to complete the season sweep over the rivals from over the Divide.

RIVALRY SWEEPS
Montana is looking for the season sweep over Montana State on Saturday after winning the opening matchup 87-77 in Bozeman. It would be the sixth time that Montana swept the season against the 'Cats under DeCuire and the ninth time overall since 2010. They last did it during the 2019-20 season.

The Bobcats swept the series last year for the first time in nearly two decades. Since 2010, the teams have split the series just twice. The games were canceled in 2020-21.

DeCUIRE'S DOMINANCE
Head coach Travis DeCuire has been very successful in the rivalry game as both a player and a coach. In his playing days, DeCuire and the Grizzlies went 5-1 against Montana State in his three seasons. Since taking over as head coach, Montana is 13-4 (.765) against the Bobcats.

He's tied with Wayne Tinkle, who also went 13-4 in the rivalry game, for the best winning percentage by a Montana coach. DeCuire's mentor and head coach Blaine Taylor went 14-4 (.778) in the Brawl of the Wild.

George "Jiggs" Dahlberg has the most wins against the Bobcats in program history, going 38-26 (.594) in his 16 seasons in charge. The game was played four times a year in the '40s and '50s when Dahlberg coached.

EFFICIENT OFFENSE
The Grizzlies rank 37th in the NCAA in field goal percentage and scored at least 90 points for the sixth time this season in last Thursday's win over Northern Arizona. Montana is currently averaging 76.8 points per game, which would be the seventh-best scoring mark in school history and the second-best under DeCuire.

They have taken care of the ball incredibly well, ranking 23rd in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio. The Grizzlies average 15.2 assists (72nd NCAA) and just 9.8 turnovers (23rd) per game. They had 24 assists against Northern Arizona, the most against a D-I team since 2008, and turned it over just six times.

THE .500 STREAK
Montana clinched its 16th straight season at .500 or better with the win over Northern Arizona on Feb. 8. They are one of just 15 schools nationally to boast such a streak.

The other 14 schools are all above .500 at the moment as well as they look to extend streaks of their own. Belmont is 14-11 and Xavier is 13-11, but the rest of the schools have or should clinch a winning record in the next few weeks.

The Grizzlies have recorded at least 20 wins in eight of the 15 years. If the Griz were to reach 20 wins this year, DeCuire would have have his fifth 20-win season and set a new school record.

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 16-2 when scoring at least 70 points, although they lost for the second time last Saturday. They are 15-0 when shooting the same or better than their opponent, and 13-1 when shooting better from the arc.

Montana State rank 10^th in the Big Sky and 338^th out of 351 teams in field goal percentage defense this year, so knocking down open shots will be critical for Montana. On Saturday, they will also need to take care of the ball. Montana is 9-2 when finishing with fewer turnovers than their opponent, but Montana State average nearly nine steals per game and will put that to the test.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE (11-14, 6-6 Big Sky)

The Bobcats have lost three straight games and four of their previous five entering Saturday's rivalry matchup. The lone win in the stretch came over league leading Eastern Washington. The Bobcats handed them their lone Big Sky loss in a 70-60 win in Bozeman.
It's a new-look team in Bozeman this year under first-year head coach Matt Logie. Former head coach Danny Sprinkle is now at Utah State after leading the Bobcats to back-to-back Big Sky titles, and Logie has 10 newcomers and returns just 22.4% of scoring, 34.7% of rebounding, and 29.2% of assists.
Logie has a career record of 287-72 with stops at Whitworth and Point Loma. He entered the season with the third-highest winning percentage in NCAA men's basketball history.
The Bobcats score 74.3 points per game while allowing 74.2. They generate much of their offense from beyond the arc, as they are inside the top 100 in the country in three-point percentage (35.9) and threes made per game (8.7). Montana held them to just 5-of-14 from the arc in the first meeting.
Montana State is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country, averaging just 30.6 per game. They are 343^rd out of 351 teams nationally in rebounding.
It's strength-on-strength in the turnover game. Montana State are 47^th in the NCAA and lead the Big Sky with 8.7 steals per game. The Grizzlies are 23^rd in the country and lead the Big Sky with under 10 turnovers per game.
Robert Ford III ranks 4^th in the NCAA and leads the Big Sky Conference with 2.96 steals per game. His 74 total steals are the second-most in the country.
Ford also ranks 26^th in the NCAA in defensive rebounding. He pulls down 6.9 defensive boards per game, despite being listed at just 6-0.
Ford has increased his scoring output in league games. He ranks fourth in the Big Sky with 18.2 points per game in conference games.
Brian Goracke followed Logie from D-II Point Loma and has been one of the top offensive options in his first year at the D-I level. Goracke averages 14.6 points per game, sixth-most in the Big Sky.
Tyler Patterson is the only returning starter for Montana State. He leads the team with 35.3 minutes per game and averages 8.1 points and 2.2 rebounds.
MSU assistant coach Zach Payne spent the previous four seasons at Montana under DeCuire. Payne played at Whitworth and was a graduate assistant coach for three seasons under Logie.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BOBCATS
The Grizzlies lead 155-151 in the fifth-most played series in college basketball. The Grizzlies won the 306^th meeting in Bozeman earlier this season 87-77, and have won 13 of the 17 games since DeCuire took over in 2014.

Montana are closing in on their 100^th win over the Cats in Missoula. The Griz are 97-50 at home in the series, and have won 11 of the last 12 inside Dahlberg Arena. In the last 50 games played in Missoula, Montana are 41-9. They have lost by more than six points just three times in the stretch, and have won 20 of the games by double digits.

𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑#BANDTOGETHER x #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/EdzzAOBSnJ
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 22, 2024

GRIZ NOTES

The Grizzlies are now 8-1 in games when they shoot more free throws than their opponent. They lost for the first time on Saturday at Northern Colorado.
Montana scored a season-high 50 points in the first half of the Northern Arizona game on Thursday. They followed it up by allowing a season-high 47 points to Northern Colorado in the loss on Saturday.
The Grizzlies will play four of the final six games this season at home. They are 9-3 on Robin Selvig Court so far this season.
Montana doesn't have a player in the top 10 in the league in scoring in conference play. Dis-chon Thomas is 11th with 14.0 points per game, and Brandon Whitney and Aanen Moody are tied for 12th.
Montana has 16 wins this year and could match last season's win total with a victory on Saturday.
The Grizzlies scored 90 points for the sixth time this season last Thursday. They are tied for 23rd in the NCAA in the category.
This is the first time since the 1994-95 season that Montana has had six 90-point games in the same season. The Grizzlies have never had seven games of at least 90 points in a single season.
The Grizzlies have shot better than 50 percent 12 times this year, and they have won every game in which they have done so. It's been boom-or-bust for Montana, however, as they have been held under 40 percent seven times and are winless in those contests. The Griz are 4-2 when shooting in the 40 percent range.
Montana's 24 assists vs. NAU (2/8) were the most since the Grizzlies recorded 27 in a win over Sacramento State on Feb. 14, 2008. They were spreading the love that day, and Ceylon Elgin-Taylor dished out 10 assists to lead the way.
The Grizzlies are 12-1 when leading at the half with the only loss coming at home in overtime to Northern Colorado.
They have been trailing at the half in five of the last six games, and are 3-3 in that stretch.
The Grizzlies are 14-3 when recording more assists than their opponent. They are also 13-2 when outrebounding their opponent.
Uni-watch: Montana will wear its maroon uniforms on Saturday. The Grizzlies are just 3-7 in maroon this year. They are also 0-2 at home when wearing an alternate uniform to their traditional white. The Griz are 9-1 in the home whites.
The loss to Eastern Washington (2/3) was the first when Montana had fewer turnovers than their opponent. The Griz had just four turnovers against the Eagles in the loss. They are now 8-1 this season with fewer turnovers than the opponent.
The Grizzlies are 15-0 when shooting better than their opponent, and 1-8 when shooting worse.
Montana is 7-2 in games played on Saturdays this year. They have lost two straight Saturday contests after starting the year 7-0.
The Grizzlies are 16-2 when scoring at least 70 points in a game this year.
The defense was disruptive against Idaho (2/1) with five blocks and seven steals. It matched a season high in blocks and was the second-most steals against a D-I opponent. They did it all while committing a season-low eight fouls.
Montana has shot better than 50 percent in eight of the last 13 games overall.
Montana has used six different starting lineups this year. The current rotation is the most-used lineup and has a 6-5 record.
The top eight players in Montana's rotation have all had at least one game with 17 points this season.
Montana overcame a 12-point deficit vs. Idaho (2/1), the largest comeback win of the season for the Griz.
The three-point line has been crucial to wins this year. Montana is 13-1 when finishing with a higher three-point field goal percentage and 12-3 when making more threes than their opponent.
Montana has had a different leading scorer seven times this year. Moody has led Montana nine times, including the last two games, and Whitney has done so seven times.
The team that reaches 70 points first is 24-1 in Montana's 25 games this year. The team that enters the break with the advantage is 19-4 overall as there has not been a lot of drama down the stretch in games this year.
The Grizzlies have led for more than 10 minutes in a game just once over the previous six contests.
The bench has scored 30-plus in five games this season, including the last meeting with Montana State when they had 33.

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Players Mentioned

Aanen Moody

Jaxon Nap

Te'Jon Sawyer

Brandon Whitney

University of Montana Athletics