Coach Larry Krystkowiak called Montana's game against Stanford last week a measuring stick for how far the program's come.
With an 88-69 thrashing of the Cardinal, consider that test passed with flying colors.
Tuesday's home matchup with Loyola Marymount will test the Griz in other ways. The Griz are riding a four-game winning streak and are coming off one of the biggest home wins in recent memory in front of a full house at Dahlberg Arena. On the heels of that emotional win, they're preparing to play a team they've already beaten, 81-75 on Nov. 21 in Los Angeles. The timing seems ripe for a letdown.?The reality of it is that it was one of 30 games,? Krystkowiak said of the win over the Cardinal. ?And the reality is you should come to the game, get 'em laced up and be ready to play with same energy all the time. Some nights the shots will fall and some they won't. The level of energy you bring to all the other stuff needs to be consistent. You're a mature team if you do that. If we're a good team we'll do that, if we're an average team we won't.?
Signs point to the Griz being a good team. They're shooting a Big Sky Conference best 54 percent from the field. Montana State is the next closest at 49 percent. The Griz lead the league in 3-point shooting (42.1 percent), are second in free throw shooting (74 percent), first in assists (17.2 a game), and second in assist-to-turnover ratio. They're second in the league in scoring at 79.8 ppg, but are notably absent among the leaders in defensive categories.
?There's no doubt we can get better defensively,? Krystkowiak said. ?We're not going to shoot 70 percent in the first half many times. It's a fun night when it happens, but defensively there were some breakdowns.?
Montana's win over LMU in Los Angeles started the Lions on a four-game losing streak. They snapped that with a 77-60 home win over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. In between came losses to Washington (112-65), South Alabama (81-80 in OT), and Long Beach State (93-85).
The Lions will undoubtedly be itching to avenge the loss on their home floor.
?There are different situations all through the year you have to deal with,? Krystkowiak said. ?The more times you can make those smaller issues, the better chance you have to be successful. Good teams have some answers. We'll find out if we have answers.?
Kevin Criswell led the Griz with 24 points in the first meeting with LMU, making 11-of-11 free throws. Andrew Strait added 19 points on 8-for-8 shooting from the field and Matt Martin had 12 points and seven assists. Brandon Worthy, a junior guard, led the Lions with 26 points, while 6-foot-8 forward Matthew Knight added 18 points.
Worthy has moved more to the off-guard position from the point since the teams last met with Wes Wardrop playing the point, Krystkowiak said.
?Worthy hurt us on second shots, getting into the middle of our paint and breaking us down,? Krystkowiak said. ?We have to try to limit those. Knight, in the post, poses a lot of problems. He has a nice game in there. The thing for us is playing defense and rebounding.?
Against Stanford, the Griz got a big boost from redshirt freshman Jordan Hasquet, who scored a career-high 20 points on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range.
At 6-9, he gives the Griz a bigger front line. Junior Matt Dlouhy, a starter last season, gives the Griz a spark coming off the bench.
?Matt Dlouhy is the most versatile guy we could have coming off the bench,? Krystkowiak said. ?We can put him in for any one of five guys. I don't know if Matt understands how important that is, not only for the energy he brings coming off the bench. The fact he's not starting doesn't lessen his importance for the team.?
Having players recognize the importance of their roles is crucial, Krystkowiak said.
?That's what separates teams at every level,? he said.
?If you're an elite team you have a group of campers in the rotation who battle every day in practice and know that's what's best for the team. Those are the guys playing in the Final Four, and the same goes for us. It's one of the most challenging parts of coaching.?
NOTES: With his 14 points against Stanford, Criswell moved past Daren Engellant (1989-92) and into ninth place on the career scoring list with 1,229 points. He needs just seven points to pass Lou Rocheleau (1945-49) for eighth place. Derrick Pope (1979-83) is seventh at 1,289. ... The Griz travel to Iowa to take part in the Drake tournament on Friday and Saturday. They'll face Mississippi Valley State (0-3) in the first round.
With an 88-69 thrashing of the Cardinal, consider that test passed with flying colors.
Tuesday's home matchup with Loyola Marymount will test the Griz in other ways. The Griz are riding a four-game winning streak and are coming off one of the biggest home wins in recent memory in front of a full house at Dahlberg Arena. On the heels of that emotional win, they're preparing to play a team they've already beaten, 81-75 on Nov. 21 in Los Angeles. The timing seems ripe for a letdown.?The reality of it is that it was one of 30 games,? Krystkowiak said of the win over the Cardinal. ?And the reality is you should come to the game, get 'em laced up and be ready to play with same energy all the time. Some nights the shots will fall and some they won't. The level of energy you bring to all the other stuff needs to be consistent. You're a mature team if you do that. If we're a good team we'll do that, if we're an average team we won't.?
Signs point to the Griz being a good team. They're shooting a Big Sky Conference best 54 percent from the field. Montana State is the next closest at 49 percent. The Griz lead the league in 3-point shooting (42.1 percent), are second in free throw shooting (74 percent), first in assists (17.2 a game), and second in assist-to-turnover ratio. They're second in the league in scoring at 79.8 ppg, but are notably absent among the leaders in defensive categories.
?There's no doubt we can get better defensively,? Krystkowiak said. ?We're not going to shoot 70 percent in the first half many times. It's a fun night when it happens, but defensively there were some breakdowns.?
Montana's win over LMU in Los Angeles started the Lions on a four-game losing streak. They snapped that with a 77-60 home win over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. In between came losses to Washington (112-65), South Alabama (81-80 in OT), and Long Beach State (93-85).
The Lions will undoubtedly be itching to avenge the loss on their home floor.
?There are different situations all through the year you have to deal with,? Krystkowiak said. ?The more times you can make those smaller issues, the better chance you have to be successful. Good teams have some answers. We'll find out if we have answers.?
Kevin Criswell led the Griz with 24 points in the first meeting with LMU, making 11-of-11 free throws. Andrew Strait added 19 points on 8-for-8 shooting from the field and Matt Martin had 12 points and seven assists. Brandon Worthy, a junior guard, led the Lions with 26 points, while 6-foot-8 forward Matthew Knight added 18 points.
Worthy has moved more to the off-guard position from the point since the teams last met with Wes Wardrop playing the point, Krystkowiak said.
?Worthy hurt us on second shots, getting into the middle of our paint and breaking us down,? Krystkowiak said. ?We have to try to limit those. Knight, in the post, poses a lot of problems. He has a nice game in there. The thing for us is playing defense and rebounding.?
Against Stanford, the Griz got a big boost from redshirt freshman Jordan Hasquet, who scored a career-high 20 points on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range.
At 6-9, he gives the Griz a bigger front line. Junior Matt Dlouhy, a starter last season, gives the Griz a spark coming off the bench.
?Matt Dlouhy is the most versatile guy we could have coming off the bench,? Krystkowiak said. ?We can put him in for any one of five guys. I don't know if Matt understands how important that is, not only for the energy he brings coming off the bench. The fact he's not starting doesn't lessen his importance for the team.?
Having players recognize the importance of their roles is crucial, Krystkowiak said.
?That's what separates teams at every level,? he said.
?If you're an elite team you have a group of campers in the rotation who battle every day in practice and know that's what's best for the team. Those are the guys playing in the Final Four, and the same goes for us. It's one of the most challenging parts of coaching.?
NOTES: With his 14 points against Stanford, Criswell moved past Daren Engellant (1989-92) and into ninth place on the career scoring list with 1,229 points. He needs just seven points to pass Lou Rocheleau (1945-49) for eighth place. Derrick Pope (1979-83) is seventh at 1,289. ... The Griz travel to Iowa to take part in the Drake tournament on Friday and Saturday. They'll face Mississippi Valley State (0-3) in the first round.
