While the Montana Lady Griz have already locked up a tournament berth – and home-field advantage to boot – the Griz are also rolling. Thursday night’s victory over Northern Colorado secured a spot in the tournament, and a victory over Portland State on Saturday could even land them a home game in the first round.

Both teams deserve a lot of credit for their play of late. But what’s it going to take for them to make the push into the NCAA’s. The path for the Lady Griz is pretty clear, but there some big speedbumps out there with Idaho State and Montana State.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, will have a tougher road, but if their outside shots are falling, they can handle anyone.

What an outstanding effort by Montana today. Great to see the Griz finally come back and pull one out after a lot of close calls and heartbreaking losses.

Not only that, but coupled with Eastern Washington’s loss to Northern Colorado on Saturday, the Griz have punched their ticket for Portland and the Big Sky tournament.

Clearly this team is capable of beating anyone in the league, although they definitely match up better against some teams than others. Also, this team can lay an egg at any point, particularly when the 3-pointers aren’t going down. And that brings up a couple of interesting topics – if anyone out there wants to chat about it:

1) Am I the only one, or does it appear like this team does an awful lot of standing around on offense? Ceylon Eldgin-Taylor seems to have a great effect, as far as keeping the offense moving when he’s in there, but a lot of times it seems like guys are just waiting for someone to drive to the basket and then hoping for an open trey.

That’s obviously not the way it’s drawn up, but too many times it appears like Montana finds itself scrambling for an open look late in the shot clock.

It seems like UM has the most success when it can enter it in to the big guys, who can then choose to shoot, dish it to a cutter or move it back out. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like the Griz don’t do that enough.

What do you guys think?

2) That’s the negative, now a positive. Aside from the stinker at Weber (one of those bad matchups), and close one at home to NAU, the Griz have definitely been playing pretty good ball. The big difference, I think, has been the level of intensity throughout the game, especially on defense. Instead of going into long lulls where teams would make big runs, Montana has been able to sustain solid play longer. Credit there has to go, in part, to Tinkle, who seems to be getting these guys focused a little better.

Another great night by the Lady Griz, especially the second half. With Montana’s 76-54 win over second-place Idaho State, UM moved very close to wrapping up the regular season title.

Lady Griz fans were at their finest with a huge and loud crowd. Despite a dip recently in the overall popularity of basketball in Missoula, the scene for women’s basketball in Missoula just doesn’t get any better.

The 74-61 victory by the Lady Griz on Thursday night was another impressive example of the pedal-to-the-medal push by UM toward the finish line of this regular season.After destroying Northern Arizona last Sunday, Montana has continued to blitz opponents with its seventh win in the last eight games.

Saturday night’s matchup with Idaho State at Adams Center is HUGE. A win and the Lady Griz not only avenge their toughest Big Sky loss of the season, but they can move that much closer to another league title and a host role for the tournament.

What do you see as the keys for a successful run to finish the season and another trip to the NCAA tournament?

After Thursday night’s 76-67 loss to Weber State, Montana is now just scratching and clawing to get into the Big Sky men’s tournament, which this season will be in the Rose Garden in Portland.The Grizzlies now sit at 6-7 with three games left on their schedule. Eastern Washington, Montana’s chief rival for the sixth and final playoff spot sits at 6-8 with two games left. It certainly appears that the Griz still have the inside track, but let’s not count our urban chickens before they’ve hatched.Montana will play a Sunday TV game at Idaho State (Altitude), followed by Northern Colorado and Portland State to close the season. Realistically, unless they find their shooting touch sometime soon, UM is likely looking at a 1-2 finish and 7-9 league record. Meanwhile, EWU plays at Northern Colorado and at league-leading Portland State. The bet here is that the Eagles will also finish 7-9.

The good news for the Griz and their fans under that scenario, however, is that a season sweep of the Eagles would put Montana in the tournament.

So, what do you think Montana’s chances are? And if they get to the Rose Garden, what do the Griz need to do to possibly find themselves dancing in the NCAAs? The one quick answer is they better start shooting the ball better. Two straight dismal efforts from the 3-point line doomed them against NAU and Weber, and without solid outside shooting, teams can pack it in against UM’s biggest weapons – Andrew Strait and Jordan Hasquet.

So what’s the answer? Let us know.

I just got back from the Adams Center covering the Montana-Montana State men’s basketball game for the Associated Press.

What a great game! I’m a big UM football fan, but you folks that aren’t watching Grizzly basketball anymore are really missing something. This team still plays in spurts, but they are definitely a LOT of fun to watch.

Kyle Sharp, the junior forward utility man, played his best game as a Grizzly. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. With freshman center Brian Qvale sidelined with an ankle injury, Sharp was indeed Sharp, hitting all seven of his field goals, including all three 3-pointers he attempted. It was a thing of beauty.

Combined with Andrew Strait’s 20 points, and four other Grizzlies in double figures, Montana proved they really do have quite the offensive arsenal when they click. Clearly, despite the slow start, this team can handle anyone in the league on a given night.

If they can somehow find a way to keep their heads in it for a full 40 minutes, they can be really dangerous. They seem to drop off the face of the court offensively for minutes at a time, and watch leads slowly fall by the wayside, especially when they can’t hit their free throws, which has been a continual problem all season.

But they hit their free throws tonight. Ceylon Elgin-Taylor was a perfect 6 of 6 in the final two minutes to keep the Bobcats at bay.

The crowd was into it from the start. It was almost like old times. Now, if they would just let the students back on the sideline instead of those rich fuddy-duddies, it might really be fun. Hopefully UM will be in a financial position down the road to bring the Zoo back – my old stomping ground. I think it would go a long way toward putting Griz basketball back on the map.

Anyway, here’s the story I sent to the AP if you care to read it. Let’s keep talking Griz hoops. Who knows, we might get another chance to see them as part of March Madness again this season. I wouldn’t put it past them.

Montana 88, Montana State 76
MISSOULA – Kyle Sharp picked a great time to have his greatest game as a Montana Grizzly.
The junior forward scored a career-high 18 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to lead Montana past cross-state rival Montana State 88-76 on Saturday night.
Senior forward Andrew Strait scored 20 points to pace six Montana players in double figures, but it was Sharp who stole the show. Starting in place of injured center Brian Qvale, Sharp drained all seven of his field goals, including three 3-pointers. It was his first time in double figures this season
“I didn’t try to think about (getting the start) much,” Sharp said. “Before the game, I just tried to stay composed, stay relaxed. The game’s fun. When you play like that, it’s a lot of fun.”
Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said he saw the writing on the wall early.
“When (Sharp’s) first 3-pointer went down, I knew he was going to have a great night,” Tinkle said. “It was just an overall great effort from Kyle.”
Montana improved to 5-5 in the Big Sky Conference, 11-12 overall. MSU fell to 5-5 in league play, 13-10 overall. With the victory, Montana avenged a 74-58 loss to the Bobcats in Bozeman on Jan. 4.
Mecklen Davis came off the bench to score 19 points to lead Montana State. Guards Carlos Taylor and Casey Durham added 17 and 14 points, respectively.
The Grizzlies shot a sizzling 58 percent for the game, including an eye-popping 72 percent in the second half, to pull away from the Bobcats. UM was 12 of 20 from the 3-point arc.
Senior guard Matt Martin scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers for Montana. Ryan Staudacher, with three 3-pointers, and Jordan Hasquet, with two 3-pointers, tallied 12 points apiece. Ceylon Elgin-Taylor chipped in 10.
Montana led just 35-33 at halftime, but the Grizzlies opened the second half with a mini-burst, highlighted by a 3-pointer and slam dunk-follow by Sharp to build a 42-35 lead.
Montana State was unable to get closer than five points the rest of the way, as the Grizzlies repeatedly answered every challenge.
“I do think this is our most satisfying (win) this season,” Tinkle said. “We kind of validated what we’ve been doing. … We’re playing together, and we found a way to make some plays.”
Too many plays for the Bobcats to claw back into the game.
“You’ve got to tip your hat to them,” Montana State coach Brad Huse said. “They made some great shots, give ’em credit. They did a great job of getting the ball to the right people. We got it down to five (points) late, but they were just too crisp.”
Taylor, a senior guard, kept the Bobcats in the game down the stretch with 12 second-half points. Davis and Adrian Zamora tied for team rebounding honors with seven apiece.
UM salted the game away with strong free-throw shooting, including 6 of 6 by Elgin-Taylor in the final two minutes.