Montana Beats Long Beach State 73-71

Photo from The Missoulian

I will get to more on the Thanksgiving holiday soon, but for now I just wanted to focus on the biggest game in the Big Sky over the break - Montana beating Long Beach State 73-71 in Missoula.

Long Beach State was a team that was a getting a lot of respect on national blogs like CBS, as well as being ranked #8 in the Mid-Major top 25. However, I knew Montana had the talent to beat them, and they showed it on Saturday night.

The Grizzlies admittedly had no answer for TJ Robinson, but the key was that they slowed down Casper Ware, who had an inefficient 15 points. Ware is the best player in the Big West, and the Griz should be commended for their work on him. It was a team effort too, as Will Cherry was plagued by some foul trouble and was only able to play 27 minutes (though Cherry did score 13 points, all in the second half).

The biggest key other than defense on Ware was that the big guys stepped up. Here are the lines for the four bigs:

Derek Selvig - 25 mins, 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Billy Reader - 21 mins, 8 points, 2 rebounds
Mathias Ward - 21 mins, 9 points, 8 rebounds
Eric Hutchison - 11 mins, 5 points, 2 rebounds

Anytime Montana can get 36 points and 18 rebounds from their PF/C spots, they are going to be extremely difficult to beat. It was a very encouraging effort from all those guys.

Of course, Montana is still not getting much respect for the win (probably in part because they lost at North Dakota on Wednesday -- but a lot of teams are going to lose to UND this year, they have a really solid team). From CBS:

Long Beach State has its opportunities against big boys, but it can't blow the games like it did against Montana, falling 73-71. Louisville is next.

No talk on how the Grizzlies forced Casper Ware into 4/12 shooting with their typical stifling defense, but talk of the 49ers "blowing the game." As if the Big Sky needed more locker room material, that certainly works.

Huge win for Montana and the Big Sky as a whole.

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Montana Not Getting A Lot of Respect

If you follow mid-major college basketball, you know that Long Beach State has been getting a lot of publicity following their victory over Pittsburgh last week. They are 8th in the Mid-Major Top 25, for instance.

Another place that they are getting publicity is on CBS Sports, the premier college basketball blog on the web, who talked Tuesday  about how the 49ers are going to be coming up on a tough stretch.

Long Beach got Pittsburgh in the Peterson Events Center last week. One more could put the 49ers in position for an at-large bid -- pending they roll through the Big West, but don't win the league tourney. Next up is Boise State at home, tonight, then a road contest at Montana -- before The Stretch.

It starts at Louisville on Nov. 28. Then comes BYU, followed by trips to Kansas (12-6) and North Carolina (12-10) before opening with Xavier on Dec. 22 in the Diamond Head Classic.

I can only assume that LBSU is not taking a trip to Montana as lightly as a lot of other people are, because Montana absolutely can beat them. Will Cherry will make it his goal to put the lockdown on Casper Ware, and the offense will be looking a bit better with Derek Selvig back and healthier.

The Grizzlies should be well aware of what a win like this would mean, because LBSU is a very talented team that seems like it will be in the mix for a Tourney berth. This game could be a nice boost for Montana's resume and national profile, in large part because LBSU has a lot of hype surrounding them early on this season.

If you just look at the schedule, Long Beach State at Montana at Saturday is not one of the biggest games of the day, and it doesn't necessarily jump out at you, but it is surely one of the best opportunities the Big Sky has for a marquee win, and should be a really exciting game. All Big Sky fans should be rooting for Montana on Saturday, because it will be a great chance to earn some respect nation-wide.

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An Early Look at Montana's Schedule

I have looked at a few of the other schools, and now it is time to take a look at the schedule for the Montana Grizzlies, who look to be one of the top two teams in the Big Sky Conference once again.

They will start off the season with a bang, traveling to Fort Collins to take on Colorado State, an upstart program under Coach Tim Miles who will be looking to build on the momentum created last season. It should be an interesting matchup right out of the gate, as it will be a nice resume booster for whoever wins. It looks like a pretty even matchup to me, and one I hope to attend.

There are a couple other interesting non-conference road games. They will take on San Diego, who had an eventful offseason for all the wrong reasons. The Toreros struggled last season, but they had a young team and they have a solid coach in Bill Grier. Then the Grizzlies will travel to take on North Dakota, in a preview of what could be a solid rivalry for years to come, as UND joins the Big Sky.

The other remaining road games are Portland(who was in the middle of the pack in a solid WCC), Oregon State (which will look to be improved behind the play of Roberto Nelson, who will be eligible all year long), and a bracket buster game. Montana needs to go at least .500 in these games, and going at least 4-2 seems like a reasonable goal.

At home, the big game is against Nevada, which will be one of the best non-conference games of the Big Sky season. The Wolfpack have been down a bit, but they are projected to be near the top of the WAC with budding stud Deonte Burton. This would be a very nice resume booster for the Griz, and a game they surely have marked on their calendars. They will also take on Idaho out of the WAC, a team that finished 4th last season, so they are certainly no gimme.

They will get couple other solid home games against San Francisco (who finished behind only Gonzaga and St. Mary's in the WCC as one of the youngest teams in the country), and Long Beach State, a team that sees itself as a potential at-large possibility.

The other non-conference home games included games against usual suspects - low level teams that shouldn't provide a huge challenge. Games against Great Falls, Montana Tech, and Utah Valley are schedule fillers, ones that every Big Sky team needs to have on their schedule.

Add it all up, and I think it is a pretty impressive schedule for the Grizzlies. Other than Oregon State they don't play any BCS Conference teams, but they have a lot of games against solid mid-major opponents. It will be a nice test for Montana, and if they can win some of these games, it will go a long way to helping their seeding if they are able to make it to the Big Dance.