By Samuel Curry on November 29, 2017

Coming off a disappointing Thanksgiving weekend at the PK80 Invitational, the Stanford Cardinal (3-5) will look to redeem themselves against the Big Sky Conference’s Montana Grizzlies (4-2) Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford has lost to two Big Sky foes already this season, dropping a game to Eastern Washington at Maples a couple weeks ago and falling to Portland State Sunday in the seventh-place game of the PK80 Motion Bracket.

The Grizzlies, on the other hand, have had an optimistic start to the season, going 4-2 and taking down the ACC’s Pittsburgh Panthers in the process.

Montana’s leading scorer has been junior guard Ahmaad Rorie, a sharpshooter who also led the Grizzlies in scoring and assists last season. Rorie is averaging 18.8 points per game on the season and leads the team with 4.3 assists per contest.

Another player to watch for will be junior guard Michael Oguine, who is averaging 16.2 points per game this season and leads the team in rebounds. Oguine scored 29 in Montana’s overtime win over Pitt.

As for the Cardinal, a team that has dropped four straight, they will look to keep turnovers to a minimum and improve on defense. Stanford has allowed opponents to score 92.5 points per game over its losing streak and committed 28 turnovers as a team against Portland State, the stat that undoubtedly allowed the Vikings to pull off the upset.

Look for the usual contributors for the Cardinal to produce Wednesday, such as senior forward Reid Travis, who leads the Cardinal in scoring, senior forward Michael Humphrey, the team’s leading rebounder and especially freshman point guard Daejon Davis, whose development has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal opening to the season for Stanford.

Stanford and Montana tip off at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion, and the game will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Sam Curry at currys ‘at’ stanford.edu.