If ever a team was in need of a clean slate, it's the Montana men's basketball team.
The Griz (3-9) have lost eight straight games, the longest streak since the 1968-69 team lost 11 in a row. With 14 Big Sky games plus a makeup of a non-league encounter with Cal State Northridge remaining, the Griz are in real danger of posting back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since the program suffered through five straight between 1967-71.
But all that will be forgotten if the Griz can turn it around when Big Sky Conference play begins Thursday at Eastern Washington, another struggling outfit.
What will it take for the Griz to right the ship?
"A win," senior Brent Cummings deadpanned. "I think our effort's been great. We've got to play smart and play to our ability."
The Griz have struggled on several fronts. They are by far the league leaders in turnovers at 18.8 a game. They're shooting just 43.7 percent from the floor, 33 percent from 3-point range. And their assist-to-turnover ratio is a league-worst 0.68, meaning they have 153 assists and 225 turnovers.
But those numbers need a little perspective. They've come while the Griz were playing the 22nd most difficult non-conference schedule in the country according to statistics released this week.
"I really don't remember the last time we had a home game," said sophomore Kevin Criswell. "It seems like we're constantly on the road playing pretty tough teams. We knew from last spring that we were going to have a tough schedule. We just had to get through it. There were a couple of games we should've won, but that's all behind us now.
"We have to put it behind us. We can't dwell on a 3-9 start. We've got to go into the (league) season 0-0."
Criswell, last season's freshman of the year, has suffered through a sophomore slump. He's still second on the team in scoring at 11.4 ppg, but he's shooting just 28 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range during the current eight-game slide.
"His shot had a little more arc a year ago," Kennedy said. "He's playing against much tougher defense than he did a year ago and sometimes you start rushing. When you start rushing your shot tends to get more flat. When you're a little more relaxed and coming off open screens, your shot can be a little more lifted. I really think that's the major part of it right now for Kevin. He works on it every day. It's a question now of learning how to do it with people pressuring you."
Despite going more than a month without a win, spirits have remained high. The Griz had a players-only meeting after they returned to Missoula following Sunday's lopsided loss to No. 16 Gonzaga.
"We had the meeting because ... we wanted to make sure that everyone knew what conference play means because this is what's important to our team," Cummings said. "We've got to put that other stuff behind us. That was just preparation for what we're going into right now. We just had to get everybody on the same page and we are."
The Griz are talking a good game. It remains to be seen if they can truly put a dismal non-conference slate behind them.
"I think we'll find out what the effects will be, hopefully they'll be more positive than negative," Kennedy said. "The two most obvious are, number one: Does the lack of winning hurt your confidence? And question number two: Does playing that level of competition raise your level? Those are the two big questions. We're not going to find out for a while."
Kennedy said he gave the team a roadmap to getting back on track.
"We've got to get back to playing good, solid, sound man-to-man defense, that's number one," Kennedy said. "Number two, our defense must create some offense so we create some easy baskets. Number three, we have to dominate the glass. And number four, not turn the ball over. Everything else will come off of those four things."
The Griz can take heart in the fact that most every other team in the league has struggled at some point this season. Montana State leads the league at 8-5, but even the Bobcats went through a stretch where they lost four straight, including two at home. No other team is more than one game above the break-even mark.
"I don't know what's going to win the league - 10-4, 9-5; I go down as far as 8-6 might win this league, unless somebody really pops out," Kennedy said. "I think the league is going to be extraordinarily balanced."
Because of that balance, the Griz think they have as good a chance as anyone at winning it.
"We still think we have a chance to win it," Criswell said. "We've been on the road for a lot of this non-conference schedule and it's teaching us a lot of lessons. We've got to go into conference season and know that we're one of the best teams in the league and play that way."
Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or by e-mail at sportsdesk@missoulian.com.
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