Big Sky Conference

GAME PREVIEW: Griz, ‘Cats square off for 295th time with plenty on the line

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Editor’s Note: All quotes from Montana head coach Travis DeCuire reported and compiled by Kyle Sample of Skyline Sports on Thursday, February 23.

With postseason repercussions on the line, Travis DeCuire’s Montana Grizzlies have a chance to extend the streak and stamp a set of bragging rights for UM’s four seniors. Standing in Montana’s way is a group of surging Bobcats that have played as well at home as of late as any team in the Big Sky Conference.

Saturday night at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, Montana State will host the rival Grizzlies for the 295th matchup in the heated series. Montana enters the game on a 13-game winning streak over the Bobcats. A win Saturday in Bozeman could help seniors Walter Wright, Brandon Gfeller, Mario Dunn and Jack Lopez cap their careers without a single blemish against their arch rivals.

Montana third-year head coach Travis DeCuire/by Jason Bacaj

Montana third-year head coach Travis DeCuire/by Jason Bacaj

“Our program should feel obligated to helping them finish it off,” DeCuire said. “That’s something for the Griz to be proud of to look back and be able to say. I can’t do that. I don’t know how many Griz there were or how many ’Cats there were in this basketball rivalry that could look back in four years and say I never lost.”

DeCuire himself was two-time All-Big Sky point guard for the Griz from 1991 until 1994. His senior year, he remembers losing an overtime game at home to the Bobcats.

“I’ve never been able to swallow that nasty taste,” DeCuire said. “The best way to overcome that is to win Saturday.”

A win by the Griz can give them their first-ever advantage in a series that dates back to 1905. The rivalry is currently tied 147-147 and UM has never led. History aside, the Bobcats and the Grizzlies are locked in a heated battle for a top-five finish in the conference standings and the bye in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament in Reno that goes with it.

Both teams are currently 9-6 in Big Sky play, 14-14 overall. With three games to play, UM, MSU and Idaho are locked in a three-way tie for fourth place. Eight teams, from 12-3 UND to 6-9 Portland State, remain alive for first-round byes while six teams — UND, Eastern Washington (11-4), Weber State (11-4), UI, UM, MSU — remain mathematically alive for the regular-season conference title.

“They have swept the last couple teams at home and we’re gonna have to bring our A games,” DeCuire said. “It’s the biggest game of the year on the schedule, there’s no question about it. You have to come with a championship mentality.”

Montana guards, from left, Michael Oguine, Ahmaad Rorie and Mario Dunn, pictured here in Missoula against Idaho/ by Jason Bacaj

Montana guards, from left, Michael Oguine, Ahmaad Rorie and Mario Dunn, pictured here in Missoula against Idaho/ by Jason Bacaj

Although the two rivals are locked in the standings, the arcs of their two respective seasons have been much different. Montana is a veteran squad with a roster sporting the four seniors, junior center Fabijan Krslovic and sophomores Ahmaad Rorie (an Oregon transfer who sat out last season), Michael Oguine and Bobby Moorehead, the latter two who played key minutes last season. The Griz, who played in the Big Sky championship game in each of DeCuire’s first two seasons, screamed to a 5-1 start in league play that included UM’s first road sweep of EWU and Idaho since DeCuire was a senior player. The lone loss during the stretch came in overtime to Weber State in Missoula.

But players playing out of position, inconsistent defensive rotations and rumors of infighting plagued Montana during a four-game losing streak that dropped the Griz from the top of the standings. Wright and Rorie endured suspensions during the stretch, including both sitting out for a home loss to EWU. UM got back on track with a 90-84 win over MSU in Missoula, the first of three straight wins. Montana has won four of five entering Saturday’s contest, the lone setback a 67-65 home loss to Sac State last Thursday.

The Bobcats sport a starting lineup featuring just one upper classmen: junior Zach Green, a 6-foot-4 slasher playing out of position in the frontcourt. Sophomore guards Tyler Hall and Devonte Klines along with undersized 6-5 sophomore center Sam Neumann are a part of an up-tempo attack orchestrated by true freshman point guard Harald Frey. Montana State’s rotation features just one senior: sixth man Quinton Everett. Juniors Benson Osayande and Joe Mvuezolo Jr. are the only other players who receive substantial minutes; the junior college transfers have played 22 combined Big Sky games in their careers.

MSU forward Quinton Everett (24) is Montana State's lone senior/ by Brooks Nuanez

MSU forward Quinton Everett (24) is Montana State’s lone senior/ by Brooks Nuanez

Despite their youth, the Bobcats have been on the upward swing after a disappointing start to Brian Fish’s third season. MSU started 5-2 only to lose 10 of 11 games, including heart-breaking losses at Utah, at Omaha and at home to Central Michigan. Conference play started with four losses in five games, including a 83-81 overtime loss at Idaho thanks to a last-second tip in by Brayon Blake and a 90-85 loss to North Dakota at home.

Following the UND loss, Fish addressed the media in dismay. He said he refused to believe his team was a 6-12 squad even if that’s what the record read. From that moment, Montana State has been among the hottest teams in the league. The Bobcats have won eight of 10 entering Saturday’s contest, including three straight. MSU’s two losses came in back-to-back games, the first at Montana, the second at Northern Arizona.

The upward momentum is tangible within the program, yet Fish has not lost sight of the fact that his team has not defeated the Griz since 2010.

“They are a winning program, they won the game there, they have very good guards, their big men play their roles perfectly, they can shoot it, they are a well put together team and well coached,” Fish said.

“I was worried the first time we went over there because no one had been in this game. Now that’s off the plate. They’ve been in it, they understand the importance of this game. We didn’t make it a 40-minute game over there and as we’ve improved, we’ve gotten better at that.”

In Montana’s win earlier this season, the two teams went back and forth for the first 30 minutes. Then Rorie, a smooth combo guard who glides to the rim as easily as he releases pull-up jump shots with deft touch, took over. The all-league candidate scored 26 of his 28 points after halftime, including 22 in the final 10 minutes. He and Oguine combined for 50 points and made 21 consecutive second-half free throws to help seal Montana’s 13th straight win over MSU.

UM guard Ahmaad Rorie (14)/by Jason Bacaj

UM guard Ahmaad Rorie (14)/by Jason Bacaj

“Because we got to the rim over and over we forced the issue and it forced them to foul,” DeCuire said. “We’ll see if they allow us to get to the paint again. I think they’ll try zone again like they did last time. Our execution against the zone was great. I just think our offensive execution was the best it’s been all year and we were prepared for everything they went to.”

DeCuire said he was surprised with how efficiently his team was able to run its half-court sets against MSU in the first matchup. Much of Montana’s ability to get to the rim stemmed from Montana State’s inability to play help defense. Osayande, a 6-9 long-armed center, managed just nine minutes and was visibly flustered throughout his first appearance in Dahlberg Arena. Neumann battled foul trouble. Montana State doesn’t have much beyond those two on the interior.

“Being more disciplined and taking defense more serious and more to heart,” said Hall, the reigning league freshman of the year and the Big Sky’s second-leading scorer at 22.8 points per game. “We can’t let them get easy drives. Help side has to be there but it starts with on-ball defense, really.”

“We have to be great help side and rotating,” added Neumann, one of the best players in the league at drawing charges. “Their guards are really good off the dribble. You play 40 minutes, you are bound to get beat sometimes playing on the ball so we just have to pick each other up.”

Montana is averaged 3,808 fans per game during its 13 home games this season, a distant second in the Big Sky to Weber State’s 6,754. The largest crowd UM has played in front of on the road in Big Sky competition is 2,107 in a 65-59 win at EWU in January. The Griz have not played in Ogden yet; that matchup looms on Thursday.

Stay with the ‘Cats & the Griz at Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada March 5-12

Stay with the ‘Cats & the Griz at Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada March 5-12

Montana State is gunning for its first sellout in the 6,772-seat Fieldhouse since 2003. The Bobcats are averaging 2,430 fans during 16 home games this season with a season-high of 2,951 against Eastern Washington the last game of January. MSU drew more than 5,400 last season with the Griz in town and that mark is surely in range given all that is on the line Saturday night in Bozeman.

“This is one that has more hype behind it,” DeCuire said. “Fish is intense. I’m intense. I think the game will be entertaining in a lot of ways. That’s why we play the game and that’s what’s exciting about this one.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. Kyle Sample contributed to the reporting of this story. All Rights Reserved

 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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