EWU looks to extend streak vs Montana

Eastern Washington (15-6, 8-2) vs. Montana (12-10, 8-3)

Dahlberg Arena, Missoula, Montana; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Washington looks for its seventh straight conference win against Montana. Eastern Washington’s last Big Sky loss came against the Montana Grizzlies 90-63 on Jan. 9. Montana is coming off a 78-64 home win over Montana State on Saturday.

FABULOUS FRESHMEN: Montana’s Sayeed Pridgett, Derrick Carter-Hollinger and Josh Vazquez have combined to score 45 percent of the team’s points this season and have accounted for 41 percent of all Grizzlies scoring over the last five games.

RAMPING IT UP A NOTCH: The Grizzlies have scored 74.5 points per game against conference opponents so far, an improvement from the 64.1 per game they put up in non-conference play.

OFFENSIVE THREAT: Pridgett has either made or assisted on 46 percent of all Montana field goals over the last three games. Pridgett has accounted for 28 field goals and 15 assists in those games.

TWO STREAKS: Eastern Washington has won its last four road games, scoring 71.3 points and allowing 63.3 points during those contests. Montana has won its last eight home games, scoring an average of 72.6 points while giving up 64.1.

ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Eagles have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Grizzlies. Montana has an assist on 43 of 94 field goals (45.7 percent) over its past three matchups while Eastern Washington has assists on 53 of 80 field goals (66.3 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Eastern Washington offense has scored 82 points per game, the fifth-highest figure in Division I. Montana has only averaged 69.7 points per game, which ranks 205th nationally.

___

For more AP college basketball coverage: and

___

This was generated by Automated Insights, , using data from STATS LLC,