Montana plays Utah State for first time since '81

MONTANA (2-2) AT UTAH STATE (3-0)
Monday, Nov. 18 / 7:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats / Listen

Montana basketball's fast and furious November schedule continues on Monday as the Griz head to Logan, Utah to face off against Utah State. It's the 42^nd all-time meeting between the two schools, but the first since 1981.

The Griz are still searching for their first D-I win, and their first close game, in what has been a very unbalanced schedule to start the season. All four of Montana's contests have been decided by 30-plus points, and the scoring margin is nearly at zero as the Griz have won big twice and fallen on the road twice to Power-4 schools.

The final score didn't reflect the type of game that Montana played on the road against No. 11 Tennessee last Wednesday. The Griz hung tight with the Volunteers in the first half, trailing by single digits at the break, but a big second half from the Vols, and a late 13-0 run, made it appear more lopsided than it was.

The biggest reason that Montana was able to hang with Tennessee? Money Williams. The star sophomore guard had a performance for the ages, scoring a career-high 30 points on Tennessee to account for more than half of Montana's total scoring. (More on his performance in the notes).

The tough tests don't end with the ranked SEC opponent, however. The Griz now face off against an undefeated Utah State team that have scored at least 100 points in all three games. They have the third-best scoring offense in the country, and lead the NCAA in scoring margin, assists per game, and assist/turnover ratio.

While Montana's scoring margin is close, they haven't played in a single close game. The tightest margin in a game has been 31 points for Montana.

It's been a similar story for Utah State, although they've been on the winning side all three times. They have victories by 64, 55, and 29 points this year. The 64-point win was against a non-division opponent, but the others have come against D-I competition.

They have had the benefit of starting the season from the friendly confines of the Spectrum. The first four games of the season will all be at home for Utah State as they still await their first road trip.

The Griz will hope to give Utah State their first game of the season, while playing in a competitive game for the first time this season, when the two face off Monday night.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE

The Aggies have started the season 3-0 under first-year head coach Jerrod Calhoun. They have blown out all three opponents, winning each game by at least 29 to lead the country in scoring margin at 49.3.
Last season, the Aggies reached the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament, going 28-7 in the first year under Danny Sprinkle.
Utah State has done just about everything well through three games, albeit against lower-level competition. They have the 3^rd best scoring offense in the country at 107 points per game, and have made 57.4 percent of their shots, the 4^th-best mark in the country.
The Aggies also lead the nation in assists (26.7/game) and assist/turnover ratio (3.20).
Defensively, Utah State has also been impressive, forcing over 20 turnovers per game. It ranks 11^th in the country, and they are 3^rd in the NCAA in turnover margin at +12.
The Aggies are outrebounding opponents by 15.0 per game, which ranks 16^th in the country. They average 16.0 offensive rebounds per game.
Center Aubin Gateretse has made his first 15 field goal attempts of the season, leading the country with his perfect 100 percent shooting. He's also averaging over 7.0 rebounds per game.
Jordy Barnes ranks 12^th in the NCAA with 11 total steals. He's the leader in the Mountain West Conference in the category.
Ian Martinez leads the Aggies in scoring at 19.7 points per game. Martinez is 68^th in the country in scoring and has two 20-point games this year. Martinez is making 58.8 percent of his three-point attempts, which ranks 32^nd in the NCAA.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE AGGIES
This will be the 42^nd meeting between Montana and Utah State. The Aggies lead the series 26-15 with the first meeting all the way back in the 1913-14 season and the last meeting in 1981.

Montana is 4-15 in games played in Logan. Montana hasn't played on the road at Utah State since Nov. 28, 1975. The last road win for Montana in the series came on Feb. 27, 1958.

STEW MORRILL COURT
Montana will be playing on Stew Morrill Court at Utah State. The floor is named after the former Aggies coach. Morrill has a deep connection with both programs playing on Monday. He served as Montana's head coach from 1986-91, and prior to getting the head job he spent eight seasons as an assistant under Mike Montgomery.

Morrill then went to Colorado State for a brief stint before spending 17 seasons at Utah State, winning over 400 games with the Aggies.

MONEY'S 30-POINT GAME

Money Williams scored 30 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, in the loss at #11 Tennessee. Williams was aggressive, getting to the free throw line to go 10-of-13 from the stripe.
He's the first Big Sky player since Weber State's Harold Arceneaux (3/13/99) to score 30 points on an SEC opponent. Arceneaux did it against Florida during an overtime loss in the NCAA Tournament.
Williams is the first Grizzly in the 21^st century to score 30 points against a Power 4 opponent. The last known 30-point game against any school from the current P4 was Eric Hays' 32-point outing in the near upset of UCLA in the 1975 NCAA Tournament.
It's also only the second known 30-point game by a Grizzly against a ranked opponent, joining Hays.
Against Rick Barnes' Tennessee teams over the last decade, it's just the 10^th 30-point game in regulation, 8^th in the regular season, 5^th from outside of the SEC, and 3^rd in Knoxville.
Williams was the first player since Auburn's Samir Doughty (32) in 2020 to score 30+ against the Volunteers, and the first non-SEC player since Mercer's Ike Nwamu (30) on Dec. 22, 2014, according to Tennessee.
He's the first Big Sky player to score 30 against a ranked opponent since Daylen Kountz (Northern Colorado) scored 33 against #8 Arizona on Dec. 15, 2021.

WHITNEY WATCH
Brandon Whitney is tied with Ken McKenzie (1972-75) for 13^th in program history in career scoring with 1,321 points.

Whitney is 12^th in program history with 357 career assists. He needs four more to tie Doug Selvig (1981-85) for 11^th, and six more to enter the top 10 in Griz history.

FACING THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Montana is 134-149 all-time against Mountain West opponents. Utah State is one of six teams from the league that the Griz have played at least 25 times.

DeCuire is 5-9 in games played against MWC teams. The Grizzlies have beat San Jose State in three of those games, including a season sweep over the Spartans last year in a home-and-home series.

This is the fourth straight season the Griz will play a Mountain West opponent. They have played a team from the MWC in five of the last six years.

NOVEMBER ROAD BLUES
Montana have lost 19 straight road games in the month of November dating back to 2017. DeCuire is just 2-28 overall in November road games. The two wins were at Seattle U on Nov. 23, 2014, and in overtime against Pitt on Nov. 13, 2017.

MONTANA NOTES

In addition to his stellar scoring game, Williams also set a new career high with three steals against the Volunteers.
Kai Johnson is averaging 24.5 points in Montana's two wins this year, but has been limited to just 2.5 points per game in the losses against P-4 opponents.
This is the longest streak of games decided by 30-or-more points to start a season in program history.
Montana is averaging 72.8 points per game, which ranks 266^th in the country.
The Grizzlies have zero combined fast break points in the two games against D-I opponents this year.

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Players Mentioned

Kai Johnson

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics