Montana watched the NCAA pairings show in true 16th-seed style Sunday night. The Grizzlies, who got defending NCAA champion Kentucky, learned their fate while sitting in the Burger King at the Salt Lake City airport.
Montana, headed north from its Big Sky Conference tournament victory Saturday night in Flagstaff, Ariz., was chilling in a six-hour layover in Salt Lake City because, well, you can't always get flights to Missoula, Mont. But the Grizzlies are used to being inconvenienced, especially by NCAA honchos, who will send them back to Salt Lake to play UK on Thursday.
''There were seven or eight teams behind us in the RPI ratings who got higher seeds than us,'' Montana coach Blaine Taylor told The Missoulian, the team's hometown paper. ''But we were all anticipating somebody very strong. We were throwing names around like Duke and North Carolina, but we get the added exposure and excitement of playing the defending champion.''
The Grizzlies have reached four NCAA Tournaments, and each time faced a powerhouse early.
This season, things looked bleak after an 0-3 league start, which coincided with leading scorer Brent Smith (12.8 ppg) suffering a season-ending ankle injury.
The Grizzlies (21-10) have six players averaging between 8.5 and 11.8 points per game. They finished second in the Big Sky in the regular season and won the postseason tournament by beating
Cal-State Northridge Saturday night 82-79.
The top scorers are the guards, 6-2 sophomore point J.R. Camel (11.8 points) and 6-foot senior Kirk Walker (10.2 ppg).
WILDCATS SIGHT BIGGER GOALS March 10, 1997
UK 95, GEORGIA 68 March 10, 1997
MEN'S BRACKET
Tournament stories
UK 88, MISSISSIPPI 70 March 9, 1997
UK 92, AUBURN 50 March 8, 1997
PITINO SEEKS BETTER SHOOTING, FEWER FOULS March 7, 1997
CATS START TOURNEY AS PAPER TIGERS March 6, 1997
CATS HAVE NINE LINEUPS March 5, 1997
SEC FINAL: UK-CAROLINA? March 3, 1997
