# 2016–17 Montana Grizzlies basketball team

The 2016–17 Montana Grizzlies basketball team represented the University of Montana during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Grizzlies, led by third-year head coach Travis DeCuire, played their home games at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Montana as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 16–16, 11–7 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they lost to Idaho in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Grizzlies finished the 2015–16 season 21–12, 14–4 in Big Sky play to finish in second place. They defeated Sacramento State and Idaho to advance to the Championship game of the Big Sky tournament where they lost to Weber State. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to Nevada.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Riley Bradshaw | 2 | G | 6'2" | 180 | RS Junior | Corvallis, Montana | Transferred |
| Martin Breunig | 12 | F | 6'8" | 210 | RS Senior | Leverkusen, Germany | Graduated |
| Zachary Camel | 22 | G | 6'0" | 166 | Freshman | Polson, Montana | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Bryden Boehning | 35 | C | 6'10" | 230 | RS Freshman | Glendive, Montana | Transferred to Rocky Mountain College |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jamar Akoh | 12 | F | 6'7" | 240 | Junior | Rancho Cucamonga, California | Transferred from Cal State Fullerton. Under NCAA transfer rules, Akoh will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Donaven Dorsey | 42 | G | 6'5" | 210 | Junior | Lacey, Washington | Transferred from Washington. Under NCAA transfer rules, Dorsey will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Sayeed Pridgett #74 PG | El Cerrito, California | El Cerrito High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 7, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Alphonso Anderson #77 PF | Seattle, Washington | Garfield High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Oct 11, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 68 ||||||
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 14, 2016. ||||||

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Timmy Falls #63 SG | Dublin, California | Dublin High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Feb 20, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 |||||||
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 14, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/02/2016* 7:00 pm | | Whitworth | W 90–80 | | Dahlberg Arena (2,424) Missoula, Montana |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 9:00 pm, P12N | | at USC | L 61–75 | 0–1 | Galen Center (3,513) Los Angeles, California |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 pm | | Wyoming | L 72–73 | 0–2 | Dahlberg Arena (3,318) Missoula, Montana |
| 11/18/2016* 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. NC State Paradise Jam quarterfinals | L 72–85 | 0–3 | Sports and Fitness Center (2,223) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/19/2016* 4:00 pm | | vs. Washington State Paradise Jam consolation round | L 63–87 | 0–4 | Sports and Fitness Center (1,831) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/21/2016* 10:30 am | | vs. Oral Roberts Paradise Jam 7th place game | W 68–47 | 1–4 | Sports and Fitness Center (224) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/24/2016* 2:00 pm, SEC+ | | at Ole Miss | L 81–86 | 1–5 | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (7,358) Oxford, Mississippi |
| 11/27/2016* 12:00 pm | | at South Dakota | L 67–72 | 1–6 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,399) Vermillion, South Dakota |
| 12/03/2016* 7:00 pm | | Milwaukee | W 75–69 | 2–6 | Dahlberg Arena (3,369) Missoula, Montana |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm | | San Jose State | W 81–62 | 3–6 | Dahlberg Arena (3,024) Missoula, Montana |
| 12/10/2016* 4:00 pm, MW Net | | at Wyoming | L 83–85 | 3–7 | Arena-Auditorium (4,749) Laramie, Wyoming |
| 12/13/2016* 8:00 pm, P12N | | at No. 22 Oregon | L 67–81 | 3–8 | Matthew Knight Arena (6,689) Eugene, Oregon |
| 12/17/2016* 6:00 pm | | at UC Riverside | W 71–63 | 4–8 | The SRC (299) Riverside, California |
| 12/22/2016* 7:00 pm | | Pepperdine | W 71–70 | 5–8 | Dahlberg Arena (3,476) Missoula, Montana |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| 12/29/2016 7:00 pm | | Idaho State | W 74–62 | 6–8 (1–0) | Dahlberg Arena (3,848) Missoula, Montana |
| 12/31/2016 2:00 pm | | Weber State | L 81–84 $^{OT}$ | 6–9 (1–1) | Dahlberg Arena (3,710) Missoula, Montana |
| 01/05/2017 8:00 pm | | at Idaho | W 70–57 | 7–9 (2–1) | Cowan Spectrum (813) Moscow, Idaho |
| 01/07/2017 2:00 pm | | at Eastern Washington | W 65–59 | 8–9 (3–1) | Reese Court (2,107) Cheney, Washington |
| 01/12/2017 7:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | W 89–68 | 9–9 (4–1) | Dahlberg Arena (3,438) Missoula, Montana |
| 01/14/2017 7:00 pm | | North Dakota | W 76–70 | 10–9 (5–1) | Dahlberg Arena (3,719) Missoula, Montana |
| 01/19/2017 8:00 pm | | at Portland State | L 79–88 | 10–10 (5–2) | Peter Stott Center (728) Portland, Oregon |
| 01/21/2017 8:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | L 83–92 | 10–11 (5–3) | Hornets Nest (1,112) Sacramento, California |
| 01/26/2017 7:00 pm | | Eastern Washington | L 60–72 | 10–12 (5–4) | Dahlberg Arena (3,637) Missoula, Montana |
| 01/28/2017 7:00 pm, SWX Montana | | Idaho | L 77–85 $^{OT}$ | 10–13 (5–5) | Dahlberg Arena (3,935) Missoula, Montana |
| 02/04/2017 7:00 pm, Cowles | | Montana State | W 90–84 | 11–13 (6–5) | Dahlberg Arena (5,546) Missoula, Montana |
| 02/09/2017 6:30 pm | | at Southern Utah | W 70–55 | 12–13 (7–5) | Centrum Arena (1,923) Cedar City, Utah |
| 02/11/2017 7:30 pm | | at Northern Arizona | W 76–59 | 13–13 (8–5) | Walkup Skydome (1,453) Flagstaff, Arizona |
| 02/16/2017 7:00 pm | | Sacramento State | L 65–67 | 13–14 (8–6) | Dahlberg Arena (4,023) Missoula, Montana |
| 02/18/2017 7:00 pm | | Portland State | W 85–82 | 14–14 (9–6) | Dahlberg Arena (4,465) Missoula, Montana |
| 02/25/2017 7:00 pm, Cowles | | at Montana State | L 69–78 | 14–15 (9–7) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (6,772) Bozeman, Montana |
| 03/02/2017 7:00 pm | | at Weber State | W 78–74 | 15–15 (10–7) | Dee Events Center (6,431) Ogden, Utah |
| 03/04/2017 7:00 pm | | at Idaho State | W 95–76 | 16–15 (11–7) | Holt Arena (1,795) Pocatello, Idaho |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| 03/092017 2:35 pm | (5) | vs. (4) Idaho Quarterfinals | L 77–81 | 16–16 | Reno Events Center (1,762) Reno, Nevada |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time.. ||||||