The Montana men's basketball team is smarting from a tough loss at Weber State on Thursday.
The Idaho State men's basketball team, no doubt, still feels the sting from its loss to Montana State on Thursday.
Not much has changed for the Bengals since the Griz took an 80-76 win from them in the first game of the league season in Missoula. ISU has won just twice since then, a last-second victory at Portland State and a nonconference win over South Dakota State last week in Pocatello.
Coach Doug Oliver, who has announced this will be his last season at ISU, has started the same five players in all eight league games.
“They're a different animal at home,” said Montana assistant coach Andy Hill, who handled the game preparation for the Bengals.
The Bengals posted a perfect 6-0 mark in cozy Reed Gym during nonconference play, but have dropped all three of their league games there, the most recent a 98-87 setback to Montana State. ISU led that game 52-43 at halftime.
Slim Millien, who swatted away no fewer than four Griz shots and scored 25 points the last time the teams played, leads the Bengals in scoring at 15.8 ppg. For every shot Millien blocked, he changed several more. Hill said it's tough to prepare for the havoc Millien can create inside.
“It's something that you don't want your guys to get tentative,” Hill said. “But there are some things scheme-wise we can change up to where maybe he's not in position to block shots. He did a nice job in Missoula. We still want to take it to the rim.”
Senior guards Tim Henry (14.3 ppg) and David Schroeder (13.9 ppg) back up Millien. Each had a pair of 3-pointers in Missoula, as did reserve guard Akbar Abdul-Ahad.
“They're really a much different team at home, as far as shooting the ball,” Hill said. “They shoot the three extremely well. We can't let them get going. In Missoula, we lost them a little in transition and they got hot from the start.”
The Griz struggled getting the ball into the hands of sophomore center Andrew Strait against Weber State. Strait took advantage when he did catch the ball, making 6 of 7 shots and finishing with 12 points, five below his average. He'll likely be going up against either 6-foot-7 Kasey Winters, or the 6-7 Millien.
“Obviously (Millien's) going to look to block shots,” Strait said of the matchup. “We've got to take something from the Weber State game.”
The Griz are also struggling to find production from both forward positions. Junior Matt Dlouhy has scored a total of seven points in the last four games, shooting 3-for-16 in that span. He took just one shot in 17 minutes against Weber State. Kyle Sharp started at power forward in place of Jordan Hasquet against Weber and had six points and four rebounds.
“In rebounding, Kyle's our leading post guy per minute,” Griz coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “I thought coming into this road trip rebounding was going to be a big part of our success. I felt like maybe it was time to shake it up a little bit.
“It's not anything that Jordan's been deficient with. We just thought he might get a better look by sitting and watching, then coming in.”
Montana Griz
at Idaho State
Saturday, 4:35 p.m., Reed Gym (3,040)
Radio: KGVO 1290 AM.
TV: Altitude Sports (Available on Dish Network Channel 410, DirecTV Channel 644, and the following Bresnan cable outlets: Channel 59 in Missoula, Channel 32 in Deer Lodge, Channel 65 in Kalispell, Channel 28 in Polson and Ronan, Channel 22 in Stevensville, Channel 32 in Superior, Channel 25 in Thompson Falls.)
Web: montanagrizzlies.com
Records: Montana is 6-2 in the Big Sky, 16-4 overall. ISU is 1-7, 9-11.
Last outing: Montana fell 72-67 Thursday at Weber State. ISU fell 98-87 to visiting Montana State the same night.
Series: Montana leads 83-36.
Last meeting: Montana won 80-76 on Jan. 5 in Missoula.
Up next: Montana hosts Montana State next Saturday.
Probable starters
Montana
40-Kyle Sharp, 6-7, fr. 3.4 ppg
11-Matt Dlouhy, 6-6, jr. 7.7 ppg
34-Andrew Strait, 6-8, so. 17.3 ppg
12-Kevin Criswell, 6-2, sr. 16.0 ppg
44-Virgil Matthews, 6-3, sr. 10.3 ppg
Idaho State
4-Logan Kinghorn, 6-5, so. 8.0 ppg
50-Slim Millien, 6-7, sr. 15.8 ppg
44-Kasey Winters, 6-7, jr. 8.8 ppg
30-David Schroeder, 6-2, jr. 13.9 ppg
22-Tim Henry, 6-5, sr. 14.3 ppg
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