Grizzlies’ tournament road begins with familiar foe

2022 Big Sky Championship Quarterfinals
#5 Montana vs. #4 Weber State
Thursday, March 10 at 2:30 p.m.

Watch: ESPN+
Listen: KGVO (1290 AM/98.3 FM) / The Varsity Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

It's fitting, really, that Montana and Weber State are set to face each other this week in the Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament.

It's hard, after all, to talk about the history of the Big Sky Conference without extensively mentioning both programs, the top-two in league history in terms of wins, conference titles, NCAA tournament berths and every other statistical measure you can come up with.

Consider this: Montana (11) and Weber State (10) have combined to win 21 Big Sky tournament titles. Every other team has combined to win 24, including just 15 by current members of the league.

During a 10-year span from 2010-19, either Montana or Weber State – or both on four occasions – played in the tournament finals.

Or this: Of the three winningest coaches in Big Sky history, two of them will meet on Thursday in Boise. Weber State's Randy Rahe owns a league-most 198 Big Sky victories (.699 winning percentage) while Montana's Travis DeCuire moved into third place earlier this season, with 103 (.705).

Or there's this: Montana and Weber State – again, the top-two teams in Big Sky Conference history – will play each other for the ninth time in the past 12 tournaments.

Montana has had its way with Weber State, going 7-1 in those contests, the lone loss denying the Grizzlies of a trip to the Big Dance in 2016 (a 62-59 overtime defeat in Ogden).

Montana, though, punched its ticket to March Madness against Weber State in 2010, 2012 and 2013, also ending the Wildcats' season in 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2021.

"It's Montana and Weber State, which is always fun," DeCuire said. "I have a lot of respect for what Randy has done. We are both part of the same coaching tree and he and his team are about winning, which is why they've had success and why he's the all-time winningest coach in the Big Sky."

Weber State dominated the league early on, winning eight Big Sky titles in a nine-year stretch from 1965-73, qualifying for the NCAA tournament six times during that span. The Wildcats own 22 regular-season conference championships (first), 10 tournament titles (second) and 16 NCAA tournament appearances (first).

Montana owns 12 regular-season conference championships (second), 11 tournament titles (first) and 12 NCAA tournament appearances (second). Since the Grizzlies' first title in 1975, however, they rank first for combined conference championships and NCAA tournament berths during that 46-year stretch.

Overall, Montana has won 10 Big Sky titles (five regular-season, five tournament) since 2010.

Weber State holds a 73-64 edge in the series, which began in 1962-63 – the inaugural season of the Big Sky Conference – but Montana has won nine of the past 12 meetings dating back to March 2017, and has gone 11-7 against the Wildcats under DeCuire.

For as dominant as Rahe has been at Weber State – he is the winningest coach in Big Sky history –the Grizzlies have been the thorn in his side. Including the postseason, Rahe is 202-77 (.724) against all Big Sky opponents (past and present) except for Montana. He owns a 17-20 record against the Griz, however, the only league opponent with a winning record against Rahe.

With the rich history between the two programs, it's not a surprise that they will meet on the hardwood this week. Perhaps the surprise, though, is how soon they will meet.

Entering February, Montana and Weber State were on the fast track, both looking like title contenders.

Weber State owned a 10-1 record, with its only league loss coming in Missoula, on a last-second shot from Lonnell Martin Jr. that was featured on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays. Entering the rematch in Ogden, the Grizzlies were 8-2 in league play, riding a season-best four-game winning streak and just behind the Wildcats in the standings.

The game lived up to the hype, featuring 14 ties and 11 lead changes, and neither team leading by more than six points. After Montana held a lead for 20 of 21 minutes sandwiched between both halves, however, Weber State regained the lead, 56-55, with 10:26 to play, and held on a for an 80-75 win.

"In both of those games, we played well enough, in stretches, to win," DeCuire said of the series split vs. the Wildcats. "Weber is going to be a good matchup, a tough matchup, and now we get to break the tie."

Both teams hit a rough patch from that point forward. Starting with the Feb. 3 loss to Weber State, Montana is 3-7, suffering three home defeats and losses to the teams ranked eighth through 11^th in this week's tournament. Weber State is on a similar spiral, going just 2-6 since beating the Griz in early February.

But as DeCuire likes to say, Thursday represents a clean slate for both teams, the start of a 'third' season, after non-conference play and Big Sky action. All that it takes for any team this week is to win three games in a row, something the Grizzlies have done four different times already this season.

And as vulnerable as the Grizzlies have looked of late, there's no denying two things: First, there's no team that has the same level of history in the Big Sky tournament as Montana does, and second, the Grizzlies have already beaten nearly every possible opponent standing in their way.

"The regular season is over," DeCuire said. "Awards will have been voted on, there's nothing individual you can earn in Boise. It's all about a group effort and a group trophy, and we still have the ability to hold it."

Thursday's quarterfinal game vs. Weber State will tip off at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and the Grizzly Radio Network. If the Grizzlies advance, they would again play on Friday at 5:30 p.m., possibly against No. 1 seed Montana State. The tournament title game is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.

TOURNEY TIDBITS

Prior to its semifinal loss to Eastern Washington last March, Montana had won a league-record eight consecutive tournament games dating back to a 2018 quarterfinal win over North Dakota. The Grizzlies won back-to-back tournament titles in 2018 and 2019.
Montana is 45-30 all-time in the tournament, the second-most wins of any Big Sky team.
Dating back to 2010, Montana has won at least one game in nine of the 11 tournaments played.
The Grizzlies have won the tournament championship a league-best 11 times, including back-to-back tournament titles in 2018 and 2019. Montana has played in the finals 20 times (first), including in eight of the past 11 tournaments and four of six under Travis DeCuire.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY VS. WEBER STATE

Montana and Weber State will meet in the Big Sky tournament for the ninth time in the past 12 tournaments. The Grizzlies are 7-1 in those matchups.
Under Travis DeCuire, Montana is 3-1 vs. Weber State, beating the Wildcats in the 2015 quarterfinals, 2019 semifinals and 2021 quarterfinals; and losing in the 2016 title game, 62-59, in overtime.
Overall, the two teams have previously met 16 times in the tournament, with the Griz owning a 10-6 record. The Griz and Wildcats have played in the finals eight times (4-4) and semis six times (4-2). Thursday will be the third time that the two teams have met in the quarterfinals (also 2015, an overtime win for Montana, and 2021, a Grizzly upset over the No. 3 seed).
Five of the past nine tournament meetings have been decided by one possession, not including last year's five-point win, which was a one-point game with 17 seconds to play before a Mack Anderson block and four free throws padded the lead.
Additionally, in the 2019 semifinals, Montana blew out Weber State, 78-49. In that game, Montana never trailed while holding Weber State to a season low for points. The Grizzlies led by double-digits for the final 35 minutes, at least 20 points for the final 14 minutes and posted their largest margin of victory ever in a Big Sky tournament game.
Of course, no one can forget the Anthony Johnson game in 2010, when the senior scored a tournament-record 42 points – 34 in the second half – including the Grizzlies' final 21 points as Montana overcame a 20-point halftime deficit to win the 2010 title on the Wildcats' home court.