# 2018–19 Montana Grizzlies basketball team

The 2018–19 Montana Grizzlies basketball team represented the University of Montana during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Grizzlies, led by fifth-year head coach Travis DeCuire, played their home games at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Montana as members of the Big Sky Conference. Finishing the season 26–9 overall, 16–4 in Big Sky play, the Grizzlies won the Big Sky regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Sacramento State, Weber State, and Eastern Washington to win the tournament, and earned the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Given a No. 15 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament, Montana was defeated by Michigan in the first round for the second consecutive year.

## Previous season

The Grizzlies finished the 2017–18 season 26–8, 16–2 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. They defeated North Dakota, Northern Colorado, and Eastern Washington to be champions of the Big Sky tournament. They earned the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Michigan.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Niko Bevens | 3 | G | 6'6" | 214 | Sophomore | Beaverton, OR | Transferred to Alaska Anchorage |
| Joirdon Nicholas | 5 | F | 6'7" | 185 | Freshman | Pearland, TX | Transferred to Stephen F. Austin |
| Lars Espe | 10 | G | 6'1" | 165 | Freshman | Bergen, Norway | Transferred to Barry |
| Trevor Spoja | 13 | G | 6'3" | 164 | Sophomore | Billings, MT | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Fabijan Krslovic | 20 | F | 6'8" | 239 | Senior | Sydney, Australia | Graduated |
| Admir Besovic | 40 | C | 7'0" | 240 | Freshman | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina | Transferred to Santa Fe College |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Kendal Manuel | 12 | G | 6'4" | 190 | RS Junior | Billings, MT | Transferred from Oregon State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Orizu will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Tony Miller | 34 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Junior | Woodinville, WA | Transferred from Seattle Pacific. Under NCAA transfer rules, Miller will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

## 2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ben Carter C | Adelaide, Australia | Sacred Heart College | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 270 lb (120 kg) | May 18, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Mack Anderson SF | Bozeman, MT | Bozeman High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Aug 3, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2019) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Josh Vazquez #70 PG | Torrance, CA | Bishop Montgomery High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Apr 12, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 59 |||||||
| Derrick Carter-Hollinger, Jr. SF | El Cajon, CA | Foothills Christian High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 2, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018. |||||||

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2020) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Rollie Worster PG | Missoula, MT | Hellgate High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Oct 23, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 2, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Whitworth | W 90–58 | | Dahlberg Arena (3,073) Missoula, MT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, SWX MT/Pluto TV | | Georgia State | W 81–74 | 1–0 | Dahlberg Arena (4,321) Missoula, MT |
| Nov 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Montana Tech | W 79–55 | 2–0 | Dahlberg Arena (3,024) Missoula, MT |
| Nov 16, 2018* 9:00 am | | vs. Incarnate Word The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase Quarterfinals | W 93–66 | 3–0 | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium (325) Nassau, Bahamas |
| Nov 17, 2018* 5:00 pm | | vs. Miami (OH) The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase semifinals | W 73–71 | 4–0 | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium (543) Nassau, Bahamas |
| Nov 18, 2018* 8:00 pm | | vs. Georgia Southern The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase championship | L 77–80 | 4–1 | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium (634) Nassau, Bahamas |
| Nov 28, 2018* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at Creighton | L 72–98 | 4–2 | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,457) Omaha, NE |
| Dec 3, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | College of Idaho | W 80–52 | 5–2 | Dahlberg Arena (3,040) Missoula, MT |
| Dec 8, 2018* 8:00 pm | | at UC Irvine | L 51–60 | 5–3 | Bren Events Center (1,237) Irvine, CA |
| Dec 17, 2018* 7:00 pm, SWX MT/Pluto TV | | North Dakota State | W 60–53 | 6–3 | Dahlberg Arena (3,553) Missoula, MT |
| Dec 19, 2018* 6:30 pm, P12N | | at Arizona | L 42–61 | 6–4 | McKale Center (12,925) Tucson, AZ |
| Dec 22, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at South Dakota State | W 85–74 | 7–4 | Frost Arena (2,540) Vermillion, SD |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| Dec 29, 2018 2:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Northern Arizona | W 86–73 | 8–4 (1–0) | Walkup Skydome (856) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Dec 31, 2018 6:30 pm, Pluto TV | | at Southern Utah | W 89–76 | 9–4 (2–0) | America First Events Center (1,451) Cedar City, UT |
| Jan 3, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Sacramento State | W 87–56 | 10–4 (3–0) | Dahlberg Arena (3,920) Missoula, MT |
| Jan 5, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Portland State | L 74–77 | 10–5 (3–1) | Dahlberg Arena (4,408) Missoula, MT |
| Jan 10, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Eastern Washington | L 71–78 | 10–6 (3–2) | Reese Court (1,578) Cheney, WA |
| Jan 12, 2019 2:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Northern Colorado | W 88–64 | 11–6 (4–2) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,124) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 19, 2019 8:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Idaho | W 69–51 | 12–6 (5–2) | Cowan Spectrum (1,419) Moscow, ID |
| Jan 24, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Idaho State | W 80–69 | 13–6 (6–2) | Dahlberg Arena (4,076) Missoula, MT |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Weber State | W 75–68 | 14–6 (7–2) | Dahlberg Arena (5,547) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 2, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Montana State | W 83–78 | 15–6 (8–2) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (6,013) Bozeman, MT |
| Feb 7, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Idaho | W 100–59 | 16–6 (9–2) | Dahlberg Arena (3,381) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 9, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Eastern Washington | W 75–74 | 17–6 (10–2) | Dahlberg Arena (5,005) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Weber State | W 83–80 | 18–6 (11–2) | Dee Events Center (6,729) Ogden, UT |
| Feb 16, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Idaho State | W 80–68 | 19–6 (12–2) | Reed Gym (1,503) Pocatello, ID |
| Feb 23, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Montana State | W 89–83 | 20–6 (13–2) | Dahlberg Arena (7,135) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 25, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Northern Colorado | L 72–74 | 20–7 (13–3) | Dahlberg Arena (3,773) Missoula, MT |
| Mar 2, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Southern Utah | W 70–54 | 21–7 (14–3) | Dahlberg Arena (4,383) Missoula, MT |
| Mar 4, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Northern Arizona | W 66–64 | 22–7 (15–3) | Dahlberg Arena (3,706) Missoula, MT |
| Mar 7, 2019 8:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Portland State | L 69–81 | 22–8 (15–4) | Viking Pavilion (2,042) Portland, OR |
| Mar 9, 2019 8:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Sacramento State | W 86–68 | 23–8 (16–4) | Hornets Nest (977) Sacramento, CA |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 12:00 pm, Eleven | (1) | vs. (9) Sacramento State Quarterfinals | W 79–73 | 24–8 | CenturyLink Arena Boise, ID |
| Mar 15, 2019 5:30 pm, Eleven | (1) | vs. (4) Weber St. Semifinals | W 78–49 | 25–8 | CenturyLink Arena (2,900) Boise, ID |
| Mar 16, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (3) Eastern Washington Championship | W 68–62 | 26–8 | CenturyLink Arena (3,737) Boise, ID |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 21, 2019* 7:20 pm, TNT | (15 W) | vs. (2 W) No. 8 Michigan First Round | L 55–74 | 26–9 | Wells Fargo Arena (16,360) Des Moines, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||