Coach Travis DeCuire is treating Tuesday's game at No. 22 Oregon like any other on the Montana men's basketball team's schedule.
For Ahmaad Rorie, it might be a case of be careful what you wish for.
Rorie, a sophomore guard for the Griz, transferred to Montana from Oregon after playing as a freshman for the Ducks. Rorie started 15 games for the Ducks in the 2014-15 season before opting to transfer to Montana after the season.
"I was real happy," Rorie said of hearing that Oregon was on this season's schedule. "I had asked Trav if we could play them when I figured out I was coming here. That was one of the main things I wanted to do. When I found out they were on the schedule I was real happy and excited. It?s going to be a good game."
DeCuire downplays the matchup.
"It?s another game. It?s one of our 31 basketball games," said DeCuire. "Ahmaad has to approach this the same way he approached the Wyoming game. I?ve seen this happen a lot when kids are playing common opponents that they either grew up with or teams that they?ve transferred from or whatnot. Some have had success, some haven?t.
"Most of the time when they?re too hyped up for it they haven?t had success. We have not discussed that at all. It?s another major opportunity for us. It?s our last chance against a Pac-12 school and we want to come out and play the best basketball we can play and Ahmaad is a part of that."
To say the least. At 13.7 points a game, Rorie is Montana's leading scorer. That makes it even more likely that Rorie will be the target of the fans at the 12,000-seat Matthew Knight Arena, where the Ducks have won 31 straight games.
Tyler Dorsey, a 6-foot-4 guard, leads Oregon in scoring at 14.3 points a game. Chris Boucher, a 6-10 forward, adds 13.2 ppg and 6-7 forward Dillon Brooks chips in 13.1 ppg. Jordan Bell, a 6-9 forward, grabs 8.0 rebounds a game.
As a team, Oregon is limiting its opponents to 37 percent shooting from the field.
"They block shots. They have two guys together that have 26 and 30 blocked shots in 10 games," DeCuire said of Bell and Boucher, respectively. "So they take a lot of your high-percentage shots away from you by blocking them and they force you to shoot contested threes. We have to do a good job of getting inside, turning down the first shot, getting a second and third shot. Teams like Boise and Alabama showed that if you do that, if you?re patient on offense, you can get good shots. Then you have to make them."
The Griz (3-7) had their modest two-game win streak snapped when they dropped a heartbreaker Saturday at Wyoming, 85-83. But DeCuire said he still sees growth in his team and feels it is capable of pulling off the upset.
"Play the best basketball you can play on both sides of the ball," DeCuire said of the formula. "For us, we have to take care of the ball. We have to control tempo the way we want to play, and they?re a tempo team. They slow you up and get you into a late clock with their zone. We have to push our tempo. We have to be the aggressor. We have to play the best basketball we can play (Tuesday) and we have to play it together. If we do that, we?ll have a chance to go out and be entertaining."
For Ahmaad Rorie, it might be a case of be careful what you wish for.
Rorie, a sophomore guard for the Griz, transferred to Montana from Oregon after playing as a freshman for the Ducks. Rorie started 15 games for the Ducks in the 2014-15 season before opting to transfer to Montana after the season.
"I was real happy," Rorie said of hearing that Oregon was on this season's schedule. "I had asked Trav if we could play them when I figured out I was coming here. That was one of the main things I wanted to do. When I found out they were on the schedule I was real happy and excited. It?s going to be a good game."
DeCuire downplays the matchup.
"It?s another game. It?s one of our 31 basketball games," said DeCuire. "Ahmaad has to approach this the same way he approached the Wyoming game. I?ve seen this happen a lot when kids are playing common opponents that they either grew up with or teams that they?ve transferred from or whatnot. Some have had success, some haven?t.
"Most of the time when they?re too hyped up for it they haven?t had success. We have not discussed that at all. It?s another major opportunity for us. It?s our last chance against a Pac-12 school and we want to come out and play the best basketball we can play and Ahmaad is a part of that."
To say the least. At 13.7 points a game, Rorie is Montana's leading scorer. That makes it even more likely that Rorie will be the target of the fans at the 12,000-seat Matthew Knight Arena, where the Ducks have won 31 straight games.
Tyler Dorsey, a 6-foot-4 guard, leads Oregon in scoring at 14.3 points a game. Chris Boucher, a 6-10 forward, adds 13.2 ppg and 6-7 forward Dillon Brooks chips in 13.1 ppg. Jordan Bell, a 6-9 forward, grabs 8.0 rebounds a game.
As a team, Oregon is limiting its opponents to 37 percent shooting from the field.
"They block shots. They have two guys together that have 26 and 30 blocked shots in 10 games," DeCuire said of Bell and Boucher, respectively. "So they take a lot of your high-percentage shots away from you by blocking them and they force you to shoot contested threes. We have to do a good job of getting inside, turning down the first shot, getting a second and third shot. Teams like Boise and Alabama showed that if you do that, if you?re patient on offense, you can get good shots. Then you have to make them."
The Griz (3-7) had their modest two-game win streak snapped when they dropped a heartbreaker Saturday at Wyoming, 85-83. But DeCuire said he still sees growth in his team and feels it is capable of pulling off the upset.
"Play the best basketball you can play on both sides of the ball," DeCuire said of the formula. "For us, we have to take care of the ball. We have to control tempo the way we want to play, and they?re a tempo team. They slow you up and get you into a late clock with their zone. We have to push our tempo. We have to be the aggressor. We have to play the best basketball we can play (Tuesday) and we have to play it together. If we do that, we?ll have a chance to go out and be entertaining."
