Duquesne drills Griz in opener in Pittsburgh

THE MATCHUP

Montana opened the 2022-23 season in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania against Duquesne of the Atlantic 10. The Dukes were picked to finish last in the A10 preseason poll after ending last season on a 17-game losing streak. DU brought in 10 newcomers and returned just two starters from that team.

THE RESULT

Montana did not make a field goal for more than 15 minutes of game time and the Dukes used a stifling full-court press to speed up the Grizzlies and force an array of turnovers. Duquesne ended the first half on a 31-7 run to hold a 45-19 lead before cruising to a 91-63 win. The Griz trailed 14-12 about seven minutes into the game. By the under-eight minute timeout, the Duke lead was 35-14. It would swell to as many as 40 (three different times), including 81-41 with 6:40 to play.

THE STANDOUTS

Duquesne’s Dae Dae Grant, a 1,000-point scorer during his three seasons at Miami (Ohio) made the most of his debut with the Dukes. He became the first Division I player in the last 25 years to score 25 points or more without missing a field goal or a free throw. He finished 8-of-8 from the floor, including 6-of-6 from beyond the arc. He also made all three of his free throws on the way to 25 points. Three other Dukes joined Grant in double figures scoring as the hosts shot 65 percent from the floor and made 10-of-27, (42 percent of their 3-point attempts.

Montana junior Josh Bannan, a preseason All-Big Sky Conference selection, scored a team-best 19 points despite making just five of his 13 field goal attempts. The southpaw from Australia was bolstered by eight free throw makes in nine attempts. Dischon Thomas, a former Colorado State transfer making his Griz debut, hit his first 3-point try as a Griz on the way to 16 points. He was 7-of-11 from the floor even though he missed his next three tries from distance.

QUOTABLE

You don’t know where you’re at until you compete and get after it. You don’t know how tough you are until you’ve been in a fight.

“For us, I thought we got off to a decent start offensively. I don’t know that we were ever defending very well. Game was close and then the pressure came. Pressure busts pipes. They forced a couple of turnovers for easy baskets, momentum, and we never really snapped out of it.”

Head coach Travis DeCuire

“I owned it. You can always go to the stat sheet and there are some things that can be done better. I think the biggest thing for us is whether we’re ready to compete mentally and physically. I don’t feel that we were ready for battle. I think we were ready to play a game, but we’ve got to find a way to get to that.”

Travis DeCuire

SOCIAL

WHAT’S NEXT

The Grizzlies play at Xavier of the Big East on Friday at 6:00 p.m. MT.