Johnson dazzles in debut as Griz win big

Monday, November 4

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

1-0,0-0Big Sky

Hawaii Hilo

2-1,0-0PacWest

Hawaii Hilo

Montana

Photo by: Taylor Decker/University of Montana

11/4/2024 10:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana basketball rolled to an easy season opening victory on Monday night over Hawai'i Hilo behind one of the most impressive Grizzly debuts of all time. Kai Johnson, a transfer guard from Western Washington, broke the scoring record for a Grizzly debut with 27 points to lead Montana to a 92-61 victory.

The senior is no stranger to scoring as he has over 1,000 career points and averaged over 20.0 per game last year at the D-II level. He proved that his game will translate to Montana as he made 10-of-14 shots to score 27 in just 27 minutes of action.

It helped head coach Travis DeCuire improve to 10-1 all-time in home openers.

"He can slow the game down to his pace. He's got great vision, so I think he can make you pay if you load up on him and bring help from two different places as we saw with a skip pass for a three," DeCuire said. "He doesn't need a lot of room to wiggle, and when you have a guy that can score at all three levels, he's incredible getting to the rim, he can pull up and get a shot off, and he's consistent from three. Any time you can score from all three levels, you're going to be very difficult to stop."

That boy smooth 🌊

Kai Johnson already in double-figures ‼️ pic.twitter.com/8DfXwp2KnM
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 5, 2024

Johnson wasn't the only Grizzly to make a great first impression. Montana has eight transfers on the roster this year, the most in program history, and several shined in their first regular season game in a Grizzly uniform.

Joe Pridgen got the start and put up 14 points on near-perfect shooting to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. Pridgen also dished out four assists. Austin Patterson, a familiar player to most fans after transferring from Sacramento State, scored 12 points in his debut.

It wasn't just the transfers making an impact, either. Redshirt-freshman Zack Davidson added seven points and six rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench. There were nine different Grizzlies that played at least 10 minutes as DeCuire mixed and matched lineups of all shapes and sizes.

"The closed door scrimmage gave us a look at a larger lineup that we could potentially look at, and we did in this game," DeCuire said. "Our scrimmage against Saint Martin's gave us a look at playing against a smaller team. We knew we had some versatility."

The Griz took control of the game from the opening tip, scoring the first 10 points of the contest and not giving up a made field goal to the Vulcans for over seven minutes to start. The lead had already ballooned to 17-4 by the time Hawaii Hilo made a shot.

There were plenty of highlights for Montana during that time. Johnson got the scoring started with a steal on one end that led to a nifty basket on the other. Money Williams then found Pridgen for an alley-oop on the next possession for the Grizzlies.

It was one of several thunderous slams by Montana players on the night. Amari Jedkins showed his athleticism with a huge dunk, and the highlight of the night came in transition when Pridgen dumped it to Te'Jon Sawyer. The returner took care of the rest, rising above the defender and putting him on a poster in the second half.

𝐎𝐍. 𝐇𝐈𝐒. 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃. 😤

Have mercy, @tejxn__ pic.twitter.com/OduD1qHUze
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 5, 2024

The Griz held a double-figure lead for nearly 35 minutes in a game that was never very competitive. The Griz made 57 percent of their shots on the night and held Hawaii Hilo to just 37 percent shooting. Montana also outrebounded the Vulcans 43-35 and were much better in possession, outscoring them 25-6 off of turnovers.

The newcomers may have been the shiny new object of Griz fans' eyes, but the core of returning players did exactly what you would expect. Brandon Whitney had 11 points in a very solid 28 minutes, Te'Jon Sawyer had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Money Williams had five points and a game-high five assists.

Montana had 15 assists as a team, and had several big plays that came off an extra pass. Despite two-thirds of the lineup playing its first game in a Grizzly uniform, the chemistry looked impressive in the season opener.

"I think these guys are really tight off the court. We brought everybody in during June and they've spent a lot of time together since," DeCuire said. "I think there's that, but then when your better players are selfless in terms of their time, their willingness to have others succeed, you are just going to have a team that's very unselfish."

The defense put forth an impressive effort, blocking nine shots and pulling seven steals. Pridgen had a team high three blocks and Jedkins added two more. Johnson led the team with three steals.

The Grizzlies hit the road later this week for a rematch at Oregon from the 2023-24 season. Montana held a second-half lead the last time they played inside Matthew Knight Arena, but the Ducks pulled away late for the win.

Oregon won their season opener 91-76 at home over UC Riverside on Monday night.

"It's always one game at a time. We need to figure out a way to create good balance on both sides of the ball," DeCuire said. "How do we defend Oregon? It's always difficult with a team that can explode on offense and they've got great versatility, too, with the transfers they brought in. We need to find the right matchups defensively and see if we can get out in transition a bit because they are hard to score on in the half court."