DILLON, Mont. – The four-seed Montana Western men's basketball program (20-8, 15-7 FC) takes on five-seed Montana Tech (21-7, 15-7 FC) in the opening round of the Frontier Conference Tournament.
 
The tournament is being held in Butte at the Butte Civic Center and the top-eight men's and women's teams will compete.
 
SCHEDULE
Saturday, Feb. 28
vs Montana Tech – 5 p.m. MT | Watch Live | Live Stats
 
Full tournament schedule can be found here.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UMW capped the regular season with two road wins at Providence (85-62) and MSU-Northern (83-79).
 
Against the Argos, Western shot 49.3 percent (35-71) from the floor, 35.5 percent (11-31) from three, and 44.4 percent (4-9) from the line. The team registered 40 rebounds, 17 assists, eight steals, and two blocks. Emanuel Steward posted a game-high 19 points, followed by Kyle Gruhler with 16. Gruhler pulled down a team-best eight rebounds while her and Billy Carlson each handed out three assists. Jacksen Burckley and Mark Huber each earned two steals. River Hurley and Kolter Merritt both tallied one block.  
 
Against the Skylights, the Bulldogs shot 51.7 percent (31-60) from the field, 37.5 percent (9-24) from distance, and 60.0 percent (12-20) from the charity stripe. They earned 30 rebounds, 18 assists, and eight steals. Gruhler dropped a game-high 33 points, followed by Steward with 22. Gruhler also led the team with 10 rebound while Steward earned game-highs in assists (nine) and steals (four).
 
BEHIND THE BARK
UMW is putting up 81.3 points, 36.5 rebounds, and 14.0 assists per game. The Bulldogs are shooting 46.2 percent from the floor, 37.1 percent from three, and 70.6 percent from the foul line. They are also posting 6.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game.
 
Kyle Gruhler leads the team at 20.1 points per game with Emanuel Steward also in double figures (17.6). David Young and Billy Carlson share the team-lead in both rebounds (4.5 apiece) while Young leads in steals (1.2). Steward dishes out a team-high 3.9 assists per game while Whiteside swats 0.9 blocks per game.
 
KYLE GRUHLER NAMED FC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kyle Gruhler picked up his seventh offensive player of the week award of the season. He averaged 24.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Against the Argos he tallied 16 points and eight rebounds while shooting 66.7 percent from both the floor and from three. He followed that up with a career-high 33 points and 10 rebounds on 65.0 percent shooting from the field and 55.5 percent from three.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE RANKINGS
In the NAIA, UMW is 17th in fewest turnovers per game (10.3) and 24th in three-pointers per game (9.6). Individually, Kyle Gruhler sits fourth in made three pointers (97), 11th in three-point percentage (49.0), 19th in total points (562), and 25th in points per game (20.1).
 
CONFERENCE COMPARISON
The Bulldogs rank first in threes per game (9.4), second in total rebounds (36.1), defensive rebounds (25.3), and blocks (3.8), third in points per game (81.3) , and fourth in three-point percentage (36.8), offensive rebounds (10.8), and assists (13.7).
 
BLOCK PARTY
Western has posted five 80-point games in the six outings, including four with 85 or more.
 
911? THERE'S BEEN A ROBBERY
UMW has snagged six or more steals in each of the last six outings after doing so just twice over the previous six.
 
SHARP SHOOTERS
The Bulldogs have shot over 40.0 percent from the floor in each of the last six games. Moreover, they have shot over 40.0 percent from beyond the arc and over 70.0 percent from the line in three of the last six.
 
DINNER IS SERVED
Western has dished out at least 10 assists in eight of the last 10 games, including 20 or more on two occasions.
 
MR. CONSISTENCY
Emanuel Steward posted his 12th 20-point game of the season against MSU-Northern. Additionally, he has scored in double figures in all but two contests this year.
 
GIMME THAT!
David Young has earned four rebounds in eight of the last 10 games and 19 times on the season.
 
MEET THE OPPONENTS
Montana Tech (21-7, 15-7 FC)

• The Orediggers are putting up 76.5 points, 35.9 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 5.6 steals, and 3.8 blocks per game.
• They are shooting 50.5 percent from the floor, 35.3 percent from three, and 70.9 percent from the foul line.
• Brayden Kock leads the team with 14.8 points per game, followed by Hayden Diekhans (14.0) and Asher Williams (10.3).
• Diekhans paces Tech in both rebounds (7.2) and steals (1.4).
• Karson Peffer dishes out a team-best 2.4 assists per game.
• Ethan Venema swats a team-high 1.2 blocks per game.
• In the NAIA, the Orediggers sit 11th in field-goal percentage (50.5), 16th in defensive rebounds per game (27.9), and 23rd in fewest turnovers (10.5).
• Individually, Diekhans is 18th in defensive rebounds (173).
• In the FC, Montana Tech is tied for first in field-goal percentage, defensive boards (27.9), and blocks (3.8), and third in total rebounds (35.9).

 
SERIES HISTORY
Since 2002, UMW is 37-38 against Montana Tech. In the regular season, the two sides split the series, each winning on the road.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The winner of this matchup will play either Mayville State or Rocky Mountain in the semi-finals. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. Sunday (3/1).  
For complete coverage of UMW Men's Basketball, be sure to follow us on social media at @umwesternbball (Instagram), @UMWesternBball (X), and @Montana Western Men's Basketball (Facebook) or visit our official website at UMWBulldogs.com.

#GOBULLDOGS!