No. 11 Tennessee next up for Montana

MONTANA (2-1) AT #11 TENNESSEE (2-0)
Wednesday, Nov. 13 / 5:00 PM (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

The Montana Grizzlies will head to the Volunteer State for a midweek matchup against No. 11 Tennessee in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. It's the third straight year that Montana will play a ranked opponent, and the 10th time overall under head coach Travis DeCuire.

The schedule has been anything but balanced so far this season as the Griz have won two blowouts over lower level competition while losing to Oregon by 31 on the road. They will have another difficult test against the Volunteers, who are coming of a 22-point road win over Louisville.

It's been a learning period for Montana as they incorporate plenty of newcomers into the rotation. DeCuire has established a pretty consistent nine-man rotation, and six of those players made their Grizzly debut this season.

There have been learning moments, not only just in the loss at Oregon but also in the home wins over Hawaii Hilo and Northwest Indian. But there has also been a lot of potential on display as several of the new guys have made significant impacts.

Joe Pridgen has been the most consistent of any of Montana's players this season, averaging 12.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting a remarkable 82.4 percent from the floor. He's made 14 of his 17 shot attempts, and did so even against the big Oregon front line, going 6-of-7 in that game.

His 26 total rebounds lead the Big Sky and rank 12^th nationally through the first week of the season. His field goal percentage is tied for 7^th-best nationally among players with at least 15 shot attempts.

Kai Johnson has gone as the Grizzlies have through three games, lighting it up against Hawaii Hilo (27 points) and Northwest Indian (22 points), but finishing scoreless against their Big 10 foe.

The rest of the starting lineup this year for the Griz has been familiar faces, and all three of them are adjusting to different roles. Te'Jon Sawyer scored a career-high 19 points in Sunday's win, and Brandon Whitney and Money Williams have been solid guards that are still looking to get the offense going.

The Griz will need to be firing on all cylinders if they hope to have a chance of pulling off their first ranked upset since 2006. The Volunteers enter as one of the top teams in the country and have won at least 25 games in each of the previous three seasons.

They reached the Elite 8 in 2024, led by former Northern Colorado guard and current Los Angeles Laker Dalton Knecht.

Tennessee went from 12 to 11 in this week's AP Poll and are ranked 9^th in the Pomeroy Ratings. They have won of the best defenses in the country with a rating of 90.9 (3^rd in NCAA) and a scoring defense of 59.5 points per game.

The Volunteers will try to keep things rolling while Montana will look to play the role of David, and it all starts Wednesday night at 5:00 p.m. (MT).

SCOUTING TENNESSEE (2-0)

The Volunteers opened the year with a 16-point win over Gardner Webb and then went to Louisville and got a 22-point victory over the Cardinals.
Head coach Rick Barnes is a seasoned veteran that has won over 800 career games and has a 204-101 record while at Tennessee.
Tennesse has been ranked in 61 straight AP Top 25 Polls, which is the third-longest active streak in the country.
Barnes' teams are always known for their defense, and this year is no exception. Tennessee has finished with a top five defensive efficiency nationally every year since 2021. They are third in the country this year in the advanced statistic, according to KenPom.com.
They have also shot the ball incredibly well this season, making 42.9 percent of their three-point attempts and 53.7 percent of their shots overall.
Zakai Zeigler, a senior that has played all four years at Tennessee, is averaging 8.0 assists per game to rank 20^th in the country through the first week of play. Zeigler is also averaging 16.0 points per game this year and has over 1,000 points in his career.
Zeigler also won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award in 2023-24 and a three-time All-SEC Defensive team selection.
Jahmai Mashack has seven steals through two games, which ranks 20^th in the NCAA. The Volunteers average 8.5 steals per game as a team.
Their scoring defense ranks 47^th in the NCAA at 59.5 points per game.
Chaz Lanier has made seven threes this year on 58.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

MONTANA VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
This will be the 52^nd game against a ranked opponent in Montana program history. The Griz are 5-46 all-time against ranked opponents. The last win came on March 16, 2006 at the NCAA Tournament. Montana defeated #20 Nevada 87-79.

The last win for the Griz in a true road game against a ranked opponent was on Dec. 16, 2002 against Stanford. The win came against former Griz head coach Mike Montgomery. It is one of just two all-time road ranked wins for the Grizzlies. The other came in 1958 at Utah. They are 2-24 in such games, and have only been within single digits three other times.

The Griz are 1-26 against teams ranked 11^th or better in the AP Poll. The only win came on Jan. 23, 1982 against Idaho.

DeCuire is 0-9 against ranked opponents as head coach at Montana.

ON EAST COAST TIME
Montana doesn't often travel to the eastern time zone. Under Coach DeCuire, the Griz have a 1-5 record in the time zone. The most recent trip was in 2022 when they lost to Xavier and Duquesne to open the season.

The only win on the east coast came in DeCuire's first try. Montana beat Pitt in the Legends Classic in 2017.

The Griz also played in the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase in 2018, which is also in the eastern time zone. The Griz were 2-1 at that tournament.

SQUARING OFF WITH THE SEC
Montana is 0-10 all-time against current SEC members. The Grizzlies have played five of those games under head coach Travis DeCuire. The most recent game was at Mississippi State on Nov. 13, 2021. DeCuire has also played at Georgia, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M.

The game against the Aggies came in the NIT, but was played in College Station.

MONTANA NOTES

Brandon Whitney needs two points on Wednesday to pass Ken McKenzie for 13^th on Montana's all-time scoring list. Whitney enters the game with 1,320 career points.
He is also six assists away from passing Doug Selvig for 11^th in program history.
Montana's 50-point win was the first by the half-century mark since 12/13/21 against SAGU American Indian College.
Money Williams recorded his 50^th career assist in Sunday night's win. He has 52 in 15 career games, averaging 3.47 per game.
The 44 points allowed to Northwest Indian were the fewest since 2021. It was the 22^nd time that Montana has held an opponent under 50 points in the DeCuire-era, and they improved to 22-0 in such games.

MILESTONES TO WATCH

Kai Johnson needs 18 more points for 1,200 in his career. His next made three-pointer will also be the 75^th of his career.
Brandon Whitney will be starting his 120^th career game at Montana. He has 125 total appearances heading into Wednesday. Whitney also passed 300 career rebounds on Sunday to become just the fifth player in Griz history with 1,000 points, 300 rebounds, and 300 assists.
Austin Patterson needs two more assists for 150 in his career.
Te'Jon Sawyer needs two more rebounds to reach 200 in his career. He's grabbed 126 of them at Montana.

WHITNEY'S JOINS THE 1,000/300/300 CLUB
Brandon Whitney made some history on Sunday night by recording his 300^th career rebound. It brought his career totals up to

He joins Kareem Jamar, Will Cherry, Michael Ray Richardson, and Ahmaad Rorie as the only players in Montana history with 1,000 points, 300 rebounds, and 300 assists.

KAI-HIGH

Montana knew they were getting a scorer in Kai Johnson, but the transfer from Western Washington exceeded expectations in the fall to earn a place in Montana's starting five. The guard has scored 20-plus in two games already this year and leads Montana with 16.3 points per game.

Johnson is a three-level scorer that has made four threes this year on 36.4 percent shooting, but has also got to the rim effectively and leads Montana with seven made free throws.

His 27 points against Hawaii Hilo were the most in program history in a debut.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kai Johnson

Austin Patterson

Joe Pridgen

Te'Jon Sawyer

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics