The Montana Grizzlies don't have fond memories of their last trip to Greeley, Colo.
The Northern Colorado Bears probably weren't too crazy about their last visit to Missoula.
So neither team will be lacking motivation when they square off Thursday night in a Big Sky Conference men's basketball game at Butler-Hancock Pavilion.
Northern Colorado beat Montana 65-60 in the league championship game the last time the Griz traveled to Greeley roughly 11 months ago.
"We did mention that (Monday) night in locker room after the game, that we're going back to the place where we lost our opportunity to go to the NCAA tournament and they were the team that knocked us out," said Montana coach Wayne Tinkle, whose club dismantled Idaho State, 76-40, on Monday for its 12th win in its last 13 games. "But certainly our veterans are going to remember that bad taste in our mouth and want to do something about it."
Just as the Bears are going to remember their 76-58 loss to the Griz in Missoula last month, a game UNC led for much of the first half.
"They're going to be ready, their coach will have them prepared for us," Montana junior Will Cherry said. "They're coming to be coming out with their hair on fire and try to knock us off."
A year after winning the league championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, the Bears are struggling just to earn a berth in the six-team postseason tournament. UNC is in seventh place at 4-7 in league, 7-15 overall.
The Griz (10-1, 17-6) are tied with Weber State for first place as they embark on their final road trip of the regular season. They play at Sacramento State on Saturday night. They're already off to the best league start by a Griz team since the 1991-92 club began 12-1. If they are able to sweep this trip, they'd become just the second Griz team to go through the Big Sky slate with only one road loss. Jud Heathcote's 1974-75 team dropped just one road game en route to a 13-1 mark in league.
But the Bears will present a stiff test. UNC shot 52 percent in the first half and trailed by just one, 37-36, at halftime in its loss in Missoula. A 22-2 run to start the second half carried the Griz to the win.
"That was one of the last games - maybe other than Weber State - where we didn't get off to a good start," Tinkle said, referencing the Grizzlies' lone league loss at Weber. "They were the aggressor and we just came out a little flat. It was maybe a two-week period since we had been at home, so there was a little rust. Our guys really picked it up the last 5-6 minutes of the first half to get the lead and in the second half we made sure we came out the aggressor and got control of the game.
"That's the big thing, we have to make sure we're more aggressive than they are even though we're on the road."
Despite their recent struggles, the Bears are still the best 3-point shooting team in the league, hitting 43.9 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. Leading scorer Tate Unruh, with 44 treys, and reserve Paul Garnica, with 35, are the chief threats from downtown, although freshman Tevin Svihovec has come on strong since being inserted into the starting lineup. Svihovec, the Bears' point guard, is averaging 9.8 ppg for the season, but has upped that to 17.7 ppg over his last four games.
"The big thing with him is he's going to have the ball in his hands a lot and they run a lot of ball screens for him," Tinkle said. "He's a confident, crafty, tough kid. Just like (Monday) night, when we hedge those screens we'll hedge long and hard until we have the ball squared, then everyone else will have to zone up on the roller and just make it difficult for him.
"Another big key is to make him defend us on the other end."
The Bears had a tough time with that in Missoula. Cherry was 10 for 19 from the field and scored 27 points in that game. Mathias Ward, Kareem Jamar and Derek Selvig added 11 points apiece.
As well as the Griz have been playing, Tinkle said there's still room for improvement.
"At times we get a little sluggish offensively, we go away from what's working and lose a little focus on defense," he said. "That's what we're going to preach here these next few weeks is to stay consistent for 40 minutes and not have those lulls, individually and as a team. We've had some games where three guys will play well and a couple don't play well, so we talk about getting everybody clicking on both ends each night out."
NOTES: Redshirt freshman Mike Weisner has missed the last four games with an injured ankle. Tinkle said Weisner will make the trip. ...
