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Montana Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Grizzlies

By TJ Miller

WICHITA, KS - MARCH 15: Head coach Travis DeCuire of the Montana Grizzlies reacts against the Michigan Wolverines during the first half of the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at INTRUST Arena on March 15, 2018 in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
WICHITA, KS - MARCH 15: Head coach Travis DeCuire of the Montana Grizzlies reacts against the Michigan Wolverines during the first half of the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at INTRUST Arena on March 15, 2018 in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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WICHITA, KS – MARCH 15: Ahmaad Rorie #14 of the Montana Grizzlies attempts a lay up past Jon Teske #15 of the Michigan Wolverines during the first half of the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at INTRUST Arena on March 15, 2018 in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
WICHITA, KS – MARCH 15: Ahmaad Rorie #14 of the Montana Grizzlies attempts a lay up past Jon Teske #15 of the Michigan Wolverines during the first half of the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at INTRUST Arena on March 15, 2018 in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /

Montana basketball will hope to improve on an impressive 2017-18 season. The return of tremendous backcourt talent along with stingy defense could produce something special.

On paper, Montana didn’t cause too many ripples in a 61-47 loss to #3 seed Michigan in last year’s NCAA tournament. But those really watching saw the Grizzlies explode to a 10-0 lead to start the game and not relinquish that lead for almost the entire first half.

And while the Grizzlies couldn’t halt the Wolverines from snatching back the momentum, Montana showed its guys could hang with the big boys after winning the Big Sky regular/tournament titles with an impressive 26-7 (16-2) record.

Going into his 5th season as head coach at Montana, Coach Travis DeCuire will have the tall task of taking another step forward in 2018-19. He does return 4 starters, including 6 of 7 last year’s top scorers.

But, what really makes this group deadly is its ability to guard the perimeter. Montana’s top two returning scorers Ahmaad Rorie and Michael Oguine are also fantastic defenders. Coach DeCuire is looking for his first postseason victory as a head coach and has a uniquely talented group to pull it off.

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