Griz look to stop streak at North Dakota – University of Montana Athletics

MONTANA (4-5) at NORTH DAKOTA (3-7)
Saturday, Dec. 6 / 6:00 p.m. (MT) / Watch / Live Stats
 
PREVIEW
The Montana men’s basketball team will look to stop a four-game slide on Saturday when they head to Grand Forks, N.D. to take on the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. It’s the final game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
 
The Grizzlies fell in the opener of the annual conference challenge series at home on Wednesday night to North Dakota State. It’s the first time since 2020 that Montana has lost four consecutive games under head coach Travis DeCuire.
 

The new-look team brought back just two players that averaged more than 10.0 minutes per game last season and they are still finding the right winning formula. They have shown plenty of reason to get excited about the season with a win at UNLV and a near-win in SEC country against a 7-2 Texas A&M team.
 
But the recent stretch has proven that Montana still has a ways to go if they want to reach the same heights that the 2024-25 achieved.
 
As the Grizzlies enter the home stretch of the non-conference season, they will look to start a new streak this Saturday. They follow up the North Dakota game with two straight contests against non-D-I opponents, giving them the opportunity for momentum heading into Big Sky play.
 
They face a North Dakota team that has lost two straight games by a combined 69 points. The Fighting Hawks are 3-7 on the season with a 1-2 record on their home floor.
 
Saturday’s game will tip off at 6:00 p.m. MT and will be streamed on Midco Sports Plus.
 
SHAKING THE STREAK
Montana is looking to snap a four-game losing streak on Saturday. This is just the second time under Coach DeCuire that Montana has lost four straight games. DeCuire has never lost five consecutive games.
 
The Grizzlies haven’t lost five straight games since the 2007-08 season.
 
BIG SKY-SUMMIT CHALLENGE
The Grizzlies are 3-2 all-time in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. Montana is 1-1 in road games in the challenge with a win two years ago at North Dakota State.
 
After the first day of competition, the Big Sky leads the challenge 12-10. The Big Sky won six games on the men’s side and four games on the women’s side. The Lady Griz were the only Big Sky women’s team to win on Wednesday, while three men’s teams won road contest.
 
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA (3-7)

• The Fighting Hawks are on a two-game losing streak, falling on Wednesday in the first game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge at Idaho. They lost 90-58 to the Vandals and fell 92-55 in the prior game at Hawaii.
• Last season, North Dakota finished 12-21 overall and 5-11 in Summit League play. They upset South Dakota State in the Summit League Tournament to advance to the semifinals, where they fell against St. Thomas.
• North Dakota is 1-2 at home this season. This is the first home game since Nov. 11, a 128-58 win over Mayville State. They have home losses to UC Riverside and CSUN.
• As a team, UND averages 0.94 years of D-I experience, which ranks 297^th in the NCAA, according to KenPom.com.
• Head coach Paul Sather is in his 7^th season at North Dakota. He holds a 76-122 record with the Fighting Hawks. In his 21 year head coaching career, he has an overall record of 358-273 (.567).
• UND averages 73.0 points per game while allowing 79.1. The -6.1 scoring margin ranks 307^th in the NCAA.
• They excel in forcing turnovers, ranking 25^th in the country by forcing 16.4 turnovers per game. UND also only commit 11.5 turnovers per game. They have a 4.9 turnover margin, which ranks 23^rd in the NCAA.
• Greyson Uelmen leads the Fighting Hawks with 13.6 points per game. He is the only player on the UND roster to average double figures and ranks 11^th in the Summit League in scoring.
• Eli King has been fantastic defensively this year, ranking 7^th in the entire NCAA with 26 total steals. King averages 2.6 per game. Garrett Anderson is 2^nd in the Summit league with 18 total steals.
• Zach Kraft has made 23 three-pointers this year, which ranks 3^rd in the Summit and 88^th nationally.

 
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE FIGHTING HAWKS
Montana leads the all-time series against North Dakota 19-7. The Grizzlies are 5-6 in Grand Forks. They lost the last meeting at North Dakota in 2021 but had won the previous three inside the Betty.
 
Coach DeCuire is 9-1 against North Dakota in his career and went 8-0 against them while they were a member of the Big Sky Conference.
 
 
GRIZ NOTES

• The team leading at halftime has won all nine games that Montana has played in this season. The Griz are 4-0 when leading at the break and 0-5 when trailing.
• The previous six games that Montana has played in have all been decided by single digits.
• Montana has been .500 or better through 10 games every season since 2020-21. The Grizzlies started the COVID season at 4-6 through 10 games.
• The Grizzlies have allowed 80+ points in six of the nine games this season.
• Montana has a better field goal percentage than its opponent in seven of nine games this season.
• The Griz are 3-0 when outrebounding their opponent this season.
• UM has been outscored in six straight halves of basketball. The last half that they won was the second at Texas A&M (50-41).
• Montana has lost three straight home games for the first time ever under DeCuire and the first time overall since 2004.
• Money Williams is averaging 10.0 assists per game over the last two contests and has seven games with at least 5 assists this season.
• Williams has scored at least 15 points in eight straight games. He reached the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season in Wednesday’s loss to NDSU.
• Tyler Isaak set a new career high with 4 steals against North Dakota State.
• Brooklyn Hicks scored in double figures for the 5^th time this season on Wednesday.
• Tyler Thompson is 7-of-12 (.583) from three-point range over the last two games. He’s averaging 7.6 points per game and is shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range.
• Courtney Anderson Jr. scored in double figures for the second time this season on Wednesday. He entered the game with just two field goal attempts from inside the arc but had three two-point tries against NDSU.