Griz get second chance against league leaders Northern Colorado

MONTANA (15-8, 8-2 Big Sky) at NORTHERN COLORADO (17-6, 9-1 Big Sky)
Thursday, Feb. 6 / 6:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA at NORTHERN ARIZONA (13-10, 4-6 Big Sky)
Saturday, Feb. 8 / 6:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats

Montana will take a four-game winning streak into the biggest game of the season on Thursday as they head to Greeley, Colo. to take on Northern Colorado in a battle for first place in the Big Sky Conference.

The Grizzlies will be looking for some revenge after a tough loss to the Bears earlier this season in Missoula. Since then, they have picked up a lot of momentum through a perfect four-game homestand.

The longest winning streak in the conference belongs to the Grizzlies after winning all four at home to improve to 12-1 inside Dahlberg Arena this year. They take that momentum to Greeley, a place where wins have been hard to come by in recent years.

The two sides have clearly separated in the race for the regular season Big Sky Championship. Montana is 2.5 games ahead of Portland State for second place in the league, and could tie the Bears atop the league standings with a win on Thursday.

There are just four weeks remaining in the regular season, making every game critical. Montana is off to its best 10-game start in league play since 2018-19, which is also the last time that the Grizzlies won a regular season championship.

A win on Thursday, and Montana and Northern Colorado are tied atop the league standings with just seven games to play. A loss, and Montana loses the tiebreaker to the Bears and will have two games to make up in short period of time.

The game will feature two of the most efficient offenses in the entire country. Northern Colorado shoots the second-best percentage in the country, and Montana is 25^th in the NCAA by making 48.6 percent of its shots this year.

The Griz made a statement in the win over Portland State last Thursday. Second place in the league standings was on the line, and Montana came out and dominated from the opening tip, leading for nearly 39 of the 40 minutes in the biggest conference win of the season.

They followed it up with another dominant performance, scoring on their first possession against Sacramento State and lading the entire way in a 28-point blowout.

The depth was on display for the Grizzlies in both games as six players scored in double figures against Portland State and 12 different Grizzlies scored at least once against Sacramento State.

The offense drew the storylines, but Montana's defense also had one of its best performances of the season in the win over Sacramento State. The Grizzlies held a D1 opponent under 60 points for just the second time this season, holding the Hornets to a season low 37.0 percent shooting.

They will need to be clicking in all facets to get a road win against Northern Colorado. It kicks off a stretch of five road games out of the next seven for Montana. The Grizzlies have been really good at home this year with a 12-1 record, but are just 3-7 on the road.

All three road wins have come during conference play, where Montana has a 3-1 away record.

There is plenty on the line Thursday as the Bears and the Grizzlies meet in a game that could well decide the regular season conference champion.

UP NEXT
Montana plays at Northern Arizona on Saturday before returning home for a two-game stand against Idaho State (2/13) and Weber State (2/15). Montana will celebrate Senior Night prior to the Weber State game.

BALANCED OFFENSE
Montana averaged 89.5 points per game over the two wins last week, and they did so with a couple of impressive feats that showed off the balance and depth of this Grizzly team.

In the 92-78 win against Portland State, Montana had six players reach double figure scoring. It was the first time in the last seven years, and just second time ever under DeCuire, that Montana had six players reach 10+ points.

The last time it happened was the 2018 Brawl of the Wild in Missoula. Montana won 90-63. Timmy Falls, Bobby Moorehead, Karl Nicholas, Michael Oguine, Sayeed Pridgett, and Ahmaad Rorie all scored at least 10 points.

In Saturday's 87-59 blowout win over Sacramento State, 12 different Grizzlies entered the scoring column. It's the first time since 2006 and just the second time this century that Montana has had a dozen players score in the same game.

WHITNEY WATCH
Graduate guard Brandon Whitney is currently 3rd in program history in career assists and 11th in scoring. Whitney has 414 career assists. He passed Scott Zanon for 3^rd in the win over Sacramento State (2/1).

He needs 21 more to tie Coach DeCuire for the program's all-time record.

Whitney has 1,487 points in his career. He passed Will Cherry for 11^th against Sacramento State (2/1). He now trails Wayne Tinkle by 13 points for 10^th. He would be just the 11^th player in program history to score 1,500 career points.

Whitney has also played more minutes than any other player in program history, and needs to play in 10 more games to tie Josh Vazquez for the most appearances in program, and Big Sky Conference, history.

Whitney is also currently tied as the NCAA leader for most career starts at the same school with 139 starts in a Grizzly uniform.

DeCUIRE CLOSES IN ON DAHLBERG
Head coach Travis DeCuire is closing in on the Montana all-time record for wins. He won his 216th game on Saturday and now needs just five more in the final eight games to tie George "Jiggs" Dahlberg for the record.

DeCuire has also passed Boise State's Bobby Dye for third-most wins by a Big Sky coach. He now trails only Mick Durham (246) and Randy Rahe (316).

FANTASTIC IN FEBRUARY
Montana has typically improved as the season progresses under Coach DeCuire, as is evident by the head coach's record in games played in the month of February. Now in his 11^th season, DeCuire is 52-23 (.693). The 52 wins are tied with Baylor and BYU for 26^th most in the NCAA during the span.

MONTANA NOTES

Montana is one of just six teams in the NCAA to have at least 10 wins and be undefeated against quad 4 teams. Montana is 10-0 in Q4 games, and 12-2 overall in Q3 and Q4 games. They are 0-6 in Q1 and Q2 games.
The Grizzlies had a slow start to the season from the arc, but have heated up from three-point range over the last month. Montana shot 39.6 percent from three-point range in January, the 27^th best mark in the NCAA.
The Grizzlies lead the Big Sky in three point percentage during league play, shooting 40.5 percent from the arc in the 10 conference games.
The two wins last week were team wins. Montana had 7 different players average between 9.5 and 12.5 points per game over the home weekend, leading to 89.5 points per game as a team.
They have been very good with the ball in league play, leading the Big Sky in turnover margin (1.90) and assist/turnover ratio (1.58).
The Grizzlies scored 90 points for the fourth time this season in the win over Portland State (1/30). It's tied for the 5^th most 90-point games in a single season in program history.
This is the best start to the league season for Montana since the 2018-19 championship team also was 8-2 at the 10-game mark. It's the fourth time in 11 seasons under DeCuire that Montana has had at least 8 wins at the 10-game mark.
Montana's 12 home wins this season are tied for the 11^th most in the NCAA.
In the four-game homestand, Montana trailed for just 2 minutes, 44 seconds out of 160 total minutes. They led for at least 35 minutes in every game, and a total of 151 minutes, 58 seconds.
The bench scored 40 points against Sacramento State, the most in a game for Montana this season.
Travis DeCuire is known for having a short rotation, but this season has been different. The Grizzlies don't have a single player ranked in the top 15 of the Big Sky in minutes during league play.
The Griz had 15 second-chance points in the win over the Hornets, the most since scoring 17 against Utah State back in November.
Montana is 12-1 when leading at the half this year.
The Grizzlies are 13-3 when scoring at least 70 points. Montana is also 8-0 when holding opponents under 70 points.
The Griz rank in the top 100 nationally in turnovers per game, and have been even better in Big Sky play. They average 9.3 turnovers against league opponents, holding a +1.9 margin in conference.
Despite two losses of 24+ points, Montana still ranks 3^rd in the conference in scoring margin at +2.7 points.
The Grizzlies have the third best offense in the Big Sky during league play, averaging 75.5 points per game.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO (17-6, 9-1 BIG SKY)

The Bears have won three straight games, and 11 of their last 12 games. They are coming off a road win at Idaho State on Monday.
Northern Colorado is 10-1 at home this season, and undefeated in the Bank of Colorado Arena during league play. The only home loss this year came against St. Thomas as part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
Head coach Steve Smiley is in his 5^th season in charge of the Bears. Smiley is 81-67 (.547) as a head coach.
The Bears have the best advanced rankings in the league by a wide margin. They are currently ranked 124^th in the NCAA NET, and are 136^th in the KenPom Ratings.
One of the best offenses in the country resides in Greeley. The Bears score 81.8 points per game this season, the 27^th most in the NCAA, and rank 2^nd in field goal percentage at 51.2 percent. They are also second in effective field goal percentage (.583).
Northern Colorado leads the Big Sky and ranks in the top 90 nationally in three point percentage, making 35.8 percent of their shots from the arc this season.
They take care of the ball well, averaging just 11.0 turnovers per game to rank 3^rd in the league and 82^nd in the country.
Langston Reynolds averages 17.5 points per game to rank 5^th in the Big Sky and top 100 nationally. He's also shooting 62.3 percent from the floor this year to lead the Big Sky Conference.
Reynolds is also 6^th in the Big Sky with 6.1 rebounds per game.
Isaiah Hawthorne leads the Bears in scoring and ranks 3^rd in the league with 17.6 points per game. Hawthorne is 82^nd in the NCAA in scoring.
Hawthorne is shooting 49.1 percent from the floor to rank 9^th in the Big Sky. He's also 3^rd in the league with over 2 made three pointers per game.
Jarron Rillie leads the Big Sky and ranks 26^th nationally with a 2.83 assist/turnover ratio. Rillie is also 3^rd in the league and 54^th nationally with 5.0 assists per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BEARS
Montana leads the all-time series 28-17. The Grizzlies are 11-8 in Greeley. Northern Colorado has had the upper hand in recent years, winning three straight in the series and five of the last seven games.

Head coach Travis DeCuire is 11-10 overall against Northern Colorado.

In the first game between the two teams this year, the Bears jumped out to an early lead and defeated Montana 81-57. Brock Wisne had a team-high 19 points while Langston Reynolds had a 17-point, 15-rebound double-double. Money Williams was the only Grizzly in double figures, scoring 15 points on 30.8 percent shooting.

Griz get second chance against league leaders Northern Colorado

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Players Mentioned

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics

Griz get second chance against league leaders Northern Colorado

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Vazquez

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

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