Big Sky Conference

Griz seek revenge against inexperienced Bears

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A New Year’s Eve day loss to Weber State put the Montana Grizzlies behind the eight ball in their quest for their second regular season conference title under Travis DeCuire. But a road sweep of Idaho and Eastern Washington eased the Grizzlies’ uphill battle. Now with five of their next seven at home, Montana is looking to position itself for a second-half run at the title.

Montana, the first team to sweep the Cheney-Moscow road trip since the Vandals moved back to the Big Sky in 2014, begins that quest when Northern Colorado comes to Dahlberg at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Bears visit just 10 months after topping Montana on the final day of the 2015-16 conference season, preventing the Grizzlies a share of the regular season title.

UNC head coach Jeff Linder/by UNC Athletics

UNC head coach Jeff Linder/by UNC Athletics

Amid NCAA violations that will keep them from the postseason and a coaching change, UNC entered the 2016-17 as one of the youngest teams in the nation. In its nine-man rotation, there is just one senior and two juniors. Depth took a hit when some of Northern Colorado’s leaders from last season chose to redshirt and return next season when the Bears are postseason eligible again.

Boise State assistant Jeff Linder took over for BJ Hill after the school fired Hill amid the turmoil created by the violations. Not all has been bad, however, as the Bears, led by sophomore Jordan Davis are 3-1 in the Big Sky. Davis has one of the nation’s highest usage rates and is averaging 20 points and nearly five assists and rebounds per game.

A day before the two 3-1 squads tip off, Montana head coach Travis DeCuire took questions from local media about the first of his two opponents this sweekend.

RELATED: Young Bears begin first season under Linder

Northern Colorado is very young. Have they snuck up on people and are they playing above their potential?

“Both. I think sometimes you go into games you look past people that don’t have the expectations or you don’t have the expectations for. The other thing is they’re a good offensive team. They execute offense very well. They know who they want to get shots and their better shooters are getting a bulk of the shots. When you do that you’re going to put points on the board. I don’t think they beat themselves. I think (Jordan) Davis is a kid who got a lot of experience as a freshman, a lot like Mike Oguine (UM sophomore guard), he is not your typical sophomore on the floor. They’re a team that has talent and they have the potential to beat anyone in our conference. Everybody needs to give them their due respect and bring your best game.”

Jordan Davis has the fourth-highest usage rate in the country, how does Northern Colorado use him?

“He’s the point guard, he brings the ball down the floor 80 percent of the time. He’s in a lot of ball screens and most of the time when he has the ball in his hands he ends the possession whether it’s a shot or a pass. When you play a guy like that he’s going to have a high percentage of the touches, the shots and the assists. But if you look at it, 60 percent of their shots are taken by three guys so there is not that many opportunities for anyone but Davis.”

(Jeff) Linder came over from Boise State. Does UNC play the way Boise did?

“Almost the same. They maybe tweaked some things. I think their point guard is more aggressive to score than what you would find at Boise where the point guard is setting up offense and creating more for others. I think that’s the one difference. Other than that their actions, style and pace is very similar.”

After what happened with UNC last year, do you feel like you owe them?

“No question. We owe everyone in this conference something and for each one of them we write a little something on the board for us. They kept us from hanging a banner. We’ve got to not let things like that slip away from us.”

Other key information:

  • Montana is ranked No. 154 in the kenpom.com rankings and is No. 192, second in the Big Sky, in ESPN RPI rankings.
  • Northern Colorado led by first-year coach Jeff Linder, is ranked No. 236 in the kenpom.com rankings and is No. 247, fifth in the Big Sky, in the ESPN RPI rankings.

Northern Colorado logWhen: Thursday, 7 p.m. MDT

Where: Dahlberg Arena (7,500)

Radio: KGVO 101.5 FM

Watch: watchbigsky.com

Series: Montana leads 19-9 and is 11-4 in Missoula.

Last: 2016, Northern Colorado beat Montana, 78-72, preventing Montana a share of the regular season conference championship

kenpom Prediction: Montana 77 percent (Montana, 76-68)

Probable starters

Northern Colorado

UNC guard Jordan Davis (4)/by Brooks Nuanez

UNC guard Jordan Davis (4)/by Brooks Nuanez

G – Jordan Davis, So., 20.3 ppg

G — Jonah Radebaugh, Fr., 6.4 ppg

G – Chaz Glotta, So., 11 ppg

F – Jon’Te Dotson, Sr., 3.8 ppg

F – Ibrahim Sylla, So., 7.5 ppg

Montana

G – Ahmaad Rorie, 6-1, So., 16.4 ppg

G – Michael Oguine, 6-2, So., 9.5 ppg

G – Sayeed Pridgett, 6-5, Fr., 8.2 ppg

F – Jack Lopez, 6-6, Sr., 6.8 ppg

F – Fabijan Krslovic, 6-8, Jr., 6.0 ppg

Photo attribution noted. All Rights Reserved. 

About Kyle Sample

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