Bring on the Orange.
No. 13 Montana is headed to San Jose, Calif. to play No. 4 seeded Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Mar. 21, after learning of their seed during the CBS ?Selection Sunday? show. The Grizzlies will play in their 10th NCAA Tournament, where they hold a 2-9 record in tournament games.
Senior guard and 2013 Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year Will Cherry said the Grizzlies will be ready for Syracuse, who was ranked No. 19 in the country in the last Associated Press Men?s Top 25 Poll.
?We won?t be intimidated,? said Cherry, who scored 18 points for the Grizzlies in the conference championship game, his third game back from re-injuring his right foot. ?We wear our heart on our sleeves, that?s what the Grizzlies do.?
It?s not the first time the Grizzlies have played a tournament game in San Jose, Calif. In 2010, Montana played New Mexico, but lost to the Lobos 62-57.
The state of California is also home to two Griz players - sophomore guard/forward Kareem Jamar and Cherry - and assistant coach Jonathan Metzger-Jones. Jones and Cherry hail from Oakland, Calif., while Jamar is a Venice, Calif. native.
?That?s a home game basically for me,? Cherry said. ?I can tell you California is going to be big.?
Many experts predicted Montana would be a low seed, but the Grizzlies ended up one spot higher than their No. 14 seed in last year?s tournament, which saw No. 3 Wisconsin easily beat Montana 73-49 in the second round.
Head coach Wayne Tinkle said Montana?s close games with some of the top Mid-Major programs in the nation like South Dakota State and Davidson, as well as their first game against Colorado State, helped the Grizzlies snag a higher seed.
?I think that went into the seed that we got,? said Tinkle, whose teams are 0-2 in the tournament. ?Some of the early predictions were 15 seed, that probably would have got my hair off a little bit, but I think that?s a good seed and it?s going to be a challenge.?
Cherry, who will make his third trip to the NCAA Tournament in four years, said that Montana needs to treat this game like other games, relax and keep doing what the Grizzlies have done all season.
?My whole thought process last year was me and Kareem pressed a lot,? said Cherry, who played in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, when Montana lost 62-57 in San Jose, Calif. ?This year, we are just going to let the game come to us, but up our level of intensity knowing this is the NCAA Tournament - we need to win these games in order to keep moving on.?
Cherry, who scored 18 points in Montana?s 67-64 win over Weber State in the Big Sky Conference Championship game said his foot is still not at 100 percent heading into the tournament, but credited athletic trainer Dennis Murphy for preparing him to get back on the court.
Montana will play without fifth-year senior forward and leading scorer Mathias Ward, who injured his left foot in a regular season game against Idaho State, forcing him to opt for season-ending surgery.
The injury to the only other senior on the team, only inspired and added to the fire Cherry and Montana has going into the tournament.
?I walked over to him last night and told him that was for you,? said Cherry after Montana claimed the conference championship for the second straight season. ?A lot of it is for him. We want to keep our season rolling.?
The Grizzlies head to San Jose, Calif., riding a five game win streak.
Meanwhile, the Orange, ranked No. 19 in the nation, cruised to the Big East Conference Finals and held a 16-point advantage heading into the second half over No. 4 Louisville, but couldn?t hold on as the Cardinals erased the deficit to win 78-61.
Metzger-Jones said the matchup should be a chance for Montana to prove they?re one of the best in the nation from behind the arc.
?I think it?s a great draw,? said Metzger-Jones. ?It?ll be an interesting matchup because one thing we do really well is shoot the three, and one thing a zone defense that Syracuse is going to use the whole game forces you to shoot 3-pointers.?
Montana ranks 19th in the nation for 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point range.
Jamar, the 2013 BSC Most Valuable Player said Montana will be ready for Big East juggernaut Syracuse.
?We?re going to fight for 40. Even if we get down 15, 20, we?re still going to make a run. I hope they?re ready.?
No. 13 Montana is headed to San Jose, Calif. to play No. 4 seeded Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Mar. 21, after learning of their seed during the CBS ?Selection Sunday? show. The Grizzlies will play in their 10th NCAA Tournament, where they hold a 2-9 record in tournament games.
Senior guard and 2013 Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year Will Cherry said the Grizzlies will be ready for Syracuse, who was ranked No. 19 in the country in the last Associated Press Men?s Top 25 Poll.
?We won?t be intimidated,? said Cherry, who scored 18 points for the Grizzlies in the conference championship game, his third game back from re-injuring his right foot. ?We wear our heart on our sleeves, that?s what the Grizzlies do.?
It?s not the first time the Grizzlies have played a tournament game in San Jose, Calif. In 2010, Montana played New Mexico, but lost to the Lobos 62-57.
The state of California is also home to two Griz players - sophomore guard/forward Kareem Jamar and Cherry - and assistant coach Jonathan Metzger-Jones. Jones and Cherry hail from Oakland, Calif., while Jamar is a Venice, Calif. native.
?That?s a home game basically for me,? Cherry said. ?I can tell you California is going to be big.?
Many experts predicted Montana would be a low seed, but the Grizzlies ended up one spot higher than their No. 14 seed in last year?s tournament, which saw No. 3 Wisconsin easily beat Montana 73-49 in the second round.
Head coach Wayne Tinkle said Montana?s close games with some of the top Mid-Major programs in the nation like South Dakota State and Davidson, as well as their first game against Colorado State, helped the Grizzlies snag a higher seed.
?I think that went into the seed that we got,? said Tinkle, whose teams are 0-2 in the tournament. ?Some of the early predictions were 15 seed, that probably would have got my hair off a little bit, but I think that?s a good seed and it?s going to be a challenge.?
Cherry, who will make his third trip to the NCAA Tournament in four years, said that Montana needs to treat this game like other games, relax and keep doing what the Grizzlies have done all season.
?My whole thought process last year was me and Kareem pressed a lot,? said Cherry, who played in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, when Montana lost 62-57 in San Jose, Calif. ?This year, we are just going to let the game come to us, but up our level of intensity knowing this is the NCAA Tournament - we need to win these games in order to keep moving on.?
Cherry, who scored 18 points in Montana?s 67-64 win over Weber State in the Big Sky Conference Championship game said his foot is still not at 100 percent heading into the tournament, but credited athletic trainer Dennis Murphy for preparing him to get back on the court.
Montana will play without fifth-year senior forward and leading scorer Mathias Ward, who injured his left foot in a regular season game against Idaho State, forcing him to opt for season-ending surgery.
The injury to the only other senior on the team, only inspired and added to the fire Cherry and Montana has going into the tournament.
?I walked over to him last night and told him that was for you,? said Cherry after Montana claimed the conference championship for the second straight season. ?A lot of it is for him. We want to keep our season rolling.?
The Grizzlies head to San Jose, Calif., riding a five game win streak.
Meanwhile, the Orange, ranked No. 19 in the nation, cruised to the Big East Conference Finals and held a 16-point advantage heading into the second half over No. 4 Louisville, but couldn?t hold on as the Cardinals erased the deficit to win 78-61.
Metzger-Jones said the matchup should be a chance for Montana to prove they?re one of the best in the nation from behind the arc.
?I think it?s a great draw,? said Metzger-Jones. ?It?ll be an interesting matchup because one thing we do really well is shoot the three, and one thing a zone defense that Syracuse is going to use the whole game forces you to shoot 3-pointers.?
Montana ranks 19th in the nation for 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point range.
Jamar, the 2013 BSC Most Valuable Player said Montana will be ready for Big East juggernaut Syracuse.
?We?re going to fight for 40. Even if we get down 15, 20, we?re still going to make a run. I hope they?re ready.?
