With two consecutive wins to boast about, the Montana Grizzlies are hoping a mid-season swoon has been put behind them. Since a four-game losing streak dropped the Griz from first in the Big Sky to sixth, Montana has added consecutive wins over Montana State and Southern Utah as they enter J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on Saturday, the same venue it needed two overtimes to subdue the Lumberjacks on New Years Eve 2015.
A lot has changed for both teams — Montana no longer has the services of two-time first-team All-Big Sky forward Martin Breunig and the Lumberjacks have said goodbye to Kris Yanku and welcomed back Jordyn Martin, who was the 2015 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year before missing all but three games last season because of a broken bone in his foot.
But some things haven’t changed: With their two straight wins, Montana is seemingly back among the conference elite and with a win Saturday and some help, could move into a third-place tie with five games remaining in the regular season. Northern Arizona, on the other hand, is toiling near the bottom of the conference for a second straight year despite an impressive win over Montana State on Thursday. Northern Arizona’s win stopped a two-game losing streak, but continued a rollercoaster season that includes a win over North Dakota and home losses to Southern Utah and Sacramento State and an overtime defeat at Idaho State. NAU has won four straight at home after a 69-63 decision over Montana State on Thursday.
Montana head coach Travis DeCuire
In his return from injury, Martin has been his usual productive self. In his final season in Flagstaff he is averaging nearly 15 points and a conference-leading 10 rebounds since Big Sky play began. Martin’s production has been aided by sophomore guards Mike Green and Marcus DeBerry, both of whom are averaging double figures for an offense that has struggled throughout Big Sky play. The ’Jacks rank last in points per game at just a shade over 70 and 11th in the 12-team conference in field goal percentage.
Montana could be without the services of leading scorer Ahmaad Rorie. Rorie, who played 12 minutes in the Grizzlies’ win over Southern Utah, was flattened on a back screen and didn’t hit a shot for the first time this season, finishing his latest outing 0-for-4. Senior Walter Wright filled in, playing 28 minutes and scoring 14 points as Rorie sat out the second half.
“They’re gonna jam it down our throat as much as possible and we’re going to do the same thing to them so it might be the battle of the power play,” Montana coach Travis DeCuire said of NAU in a postgame interview Thursday night with KGVO radio. “I think we did a good job this week of preparing for that game defensively with some of the stuff we’ll do. Unless they pulled out some new stuff tonight I think we’re ready to go.”
RELATED: Lumberjacks hope to surprise with key players returning
Other key information:
Montana is ranked No. 191 in the kenpom.com rankings and is No. 214, fifth in the Big Sky, in ESPN RPI rankings.
Northern Arizona led by fifth-year coach Jack Murphy, is ranked No. 324 in the kenpom.com rankings and is No. 336, 11th in the Big Sky, in the ESPN RPI rankings.
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. MDT
Where: J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome (7,000, Flagstaff)
Radio: KGVO 101.5 FM
Watch: watchbigsky.com
Series: Montana leads 65-33.
Last: 2016, Montana beat Northern Arizona 85-67 as Martin Breunig scored 29 points to join the school’s 1,000-point club.
kenpom Prediction: Montana 68 percent (Montana, 74-68)
Probable starters
Montana
G – Walter Wright, 6-0, Sr., 10.9 ppg
G – Michael Oguine, 6-2, So., 11.5 ppg
G – Sayeed Pridgett, 6-5, Fr., 8.5 ppg
F – Jack Lopez, 6-6, Sr., 7.1 ppg
F – Fabijan Krslovic, 6-8, Jr., 7.6 ppg
Northern Arizona
G – Kye De Iaveaga, 6-1, Jr., 3.5 ppg
G — Chris Bowling, 6-7, Fr., 2.3 ppg
G – Marcus Deberry, 6-5, So., 10.1 ppg
F – Jordyn Martin, 6-7, Sr., 12.4 ppg
F – Ako Kaluna, 6-7, Sr., 10.4 ppg
