MISSOULA — Ahmaad Rorie can’t remember a shooting slump quite like the one that peaked with his struggle against Stanford.
Montana’s All-Big Sky point guard has not shot the basketball well during the first month of his junior season. The weight of preseason all-conference expectations combine with the bull’s eye on his back as he enters his second year as the floor general in Travis DeCuire’s system weighed heavily.
After a 1-of-12 shooting night that included misses on all seven of his 3-point attempts in Montana’s 70-54 loss at Maples Pavilion on November 29, Rorie decided to simply relax.
Before the Grizzlies’ home game against Cal State-Northridge on Sunday night, Rorie calmly listened to music. He spent the weekend leading up to the first home game against a Division I opponent by getting up extra shots in an effort to shake a start that saw him shoot just 37.6 percent in UM’s first seven games. Rorie connected on just 13 of his 48 (27 percent) 3-point tries before Sunday.
Rorie ignored text messages from his friends Sunday evening leading up to the game, instead choosing to focus on his concentration and finding his stroke once again.
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“It paid off,”Rorie said with a smile on his face following Montana’s 86-68 win over the Matadors.
Rorie drilled four of his first five shots, including his first two 3-point attempts in the first 13 minutes of the game. He had 13 points by halftime. He finished 9-of-16 from the floor including 3-of-4 from deep while scoring 27 points, two short of his career best.
“From the first shot, I saw it go through the net and I knew it would be a good night,” Rorie said. “Other games, I’ve struggled so when I saw the first shot go in, I felt like I got the lid off the basket and I was able to get going.
“My coaches talked to me about bouncing back. I think that was my career low at Montana when we played against Stanford. Just confidence, they wanted me to go out there and relax and just play, not think about the other things that go on off the court. I just wanted to play and have fun, clear my mind and bounce back.”
The Griz entered the game shooting 42.2 percent from the floor, including just 26.5 percent from beyond the arc. Montana hit a low point against Stanford. The Griz made just 4-of-25 3-point tries. UM missed 17 of its final 19 shots as the Cardinal closed the game on a 26-4 run, erasing a 50-44 Montana lead with 9:56 to play for a 16-point Stanford win.
Rorie had scored at least 16 points in ever game this season before the four-point effort, his career-low as a Griz. He scored 21 in UM’s opener against Whitworth but hit just 6-of-16 shots. He scored 18 on a solid 7-of-15 in Montana’s win over Pitt. Rorie scored 16, 18 and 20 against Penn State, Oral Roberts and UC-Santa Barbara, respectively, but went 7-of-16, 7-of-16 and 7-of-19, respectively. UM lost two of three after the Pitt victory to finish its cross-country road trip. Rorie shot 46 percent in a 20-point effort in a home win over Carroll College before he hit rock bottom at Stanford.
He raised his overall shooting percentage to 40 percent and boosted his 3-point percentage over 30 percent with his smooth shooting Sunday.
“It’s a sign of someone who is very confident, knows they are a good player, knows they are a great shooter and knows their percentages catch up,” said DeCuire, who’s team moved to 4-3 with the Northridge win. “More impressed with his teammates who continue to believe in him. Sometimes, you might freeze a guy out shooting the way he’s been shooting. But they know he can make shots so for them to continue to have confidence in him and play through him and play with him the way they have is encouraging for a guy like him to keep letting that thing fly.”
A season ago, Rorie thrived individually, leading the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio while earning second-team All-Big Sky honors. He averaged 17.6 points per game, played more than 1,000 minutes and led the team with 97 assists.
Rorie averaged 19.4 points per game against Big Sky Conference opponents as UM posted a 11-7 league mark. But Montana struggle to gel throughout the year, either winning games in bunches or searching unsuccessfully for continuity as Rorie took the starting point guard duties over from 2015-2016 All-Big Sky point guard Walter Wright. UM finished 16-16 after losing in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament, a far cry from the back-to-back 20-win campaigns in DeCuire’s first two years guiding his alma mater.
Now it’s Rorie’s show. He is playing 36.9 minutes per game and has no real backup. He played all but one minute against Northridge on Sunday. True freshman Lars Espe gave him his 60-second breather. Rorie played the entire game against Santa Barbara and the duration plus overtime (44 minutes) against Pitt. He played all but two minutes against Penn State.
He is a ball-dominant point guard who still averages four assists per contest. He is maintaining his 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He is the maestro of DeCuire’s structured offense.
“When Ahmaad is making his shots, that makes opponents look for him, which gets the other players open,” UM sophomore Sayeed Pridgett said on Sunday.
Wednesday brings one of Montana’s biggest challenges in DeCuire’s four years at the helm. UM plays No. 23 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, one of college basketball’s most hallowed venues. DeCuire said the game is “probably one of the toughest games we will have played in the last year or two with the exception of maybe Oregon,” last season, an 81-67 loss in Eugene.
The Bruins are led by Aaron Holiday, the youngest brother of NBA players Jrue and Justin Holiday. The junior point guard took a back seat to star freshman Lonzo Ball last season. Ball is now the staring point guard as a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers this season. UCLA’s lineup is “filled with pros”, DeCuire said, including McDonald’s All-Americans Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands, both who are averaging double figures scoring as true freshmen.
“We just have to prepare,” Rorie said. “It’s definitely going to be hard to go to LA and get a win, go to Atlanta and get a win at Georgia State (December 9). We are definitely capable. We just have to lock in.”
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