Tuesday, December 10
Missoula, Mont.
7:00 PM
Montana
7-4,0-0Big Sky
89
vs
60
Montana Tech
0-1
1
2
F
Montana Tech
27
33
60
Montana
37
52
89
Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/ University of Montana
Griz improve to 7-0 at home with 89-60 win
12/10/2024 10:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
There are a few things that have become regular occurrences at Dahlberg Arena when the Montana men's basketball team takes the floor. The first is wins, of which Montana now has seven in seven games. And the second is Top 10 worthy dunks from Joe Pridgen.
The Griz once again had both on Tuesday night in an 89-60 win over an undefeated Montana Tech team. Pridgen had another poster slam as part of a 21-point, 13-rebound night for his second double-double of the season.
Montana bounced back from a tough loss at St. Thomas on Saturday and improved to 7-4 on the year.
"We needed that win. We had a little streak going, we thought pretty highly of ourselves going into the St. Thomas game, but we needed to tighten some things up defensively," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "Tonight was a great opportunity to do that, to get back to the basics defensively. And then offensively we put the ball in the basket at a high rate tonight and that always helps."
Pridgen was joined in double figures by four other players, including 20 points from Money Williams, 13 from Malik Moore, a dozen from Brandon Whitney, and 10 from Kai Johnson. It's the second time this season that five Grizzlies have been in double figures in the same game.
Moore continued a very impressive run of play since entering the starting lineup with an all-around performance. The junior led Montana with seven assists and also added five rebounds.
Whitney had six assists as the Griz totaled 15 as a team. Over the previous two games, Whitney has 14 assists and just two turnovers. He passed Michael Ray Richardson on Saturday for 6th in program history in career assists.
They scored at least 80 points for the seventh time this season, and did it with their best shooting performance of the year at 57.4 percent.
"We're very selfless. We've got three or four guys that can really score," DeCuire said. "Malik Moore is coming off a 30-point game and he turned down four or five wide open shots to get the ball to Joe, extra pass to Money to get him going, the turn to Whitney for a lay-up, those things are contagious."
It was a shaky start for Montana with six turnovers in the first five minutes. Montana Tech had a 7-2 lead at the first media timeout as a result, but the Grizzlies cleaned things up and got it rolling from there.
They took the lead for good with a 9-0 run that was capped off by a corner three from Jalen Foy, his first points as a Grizzly. It made it 16-11, and the Griz didn't trail the rest of the way.
"I think the hard part is getting up for it. We have to compete with ourselves from time-to-time," DeCuire said. "I think right now our maturity is being challenged in terms of getting up for the high-majors and then have like opponents with reputations. Then you have a local team coming in and I don't think our guys gave them enough respect early, so we got off to a slow start. But I'd rather learn with a win than a loss."
The Griz had another 8-0 run late in the half, and closed the first period on a 13-4 stretch that gave them a double-digit advantage at the break.
They really pulled away in the second half, going on a 12-0 run midway through that put Montana up 68-45. It was the Money and Joe show for long stretches. Pridgen had a fastbreak poster that was part of a run that saw him score eight straight Griz points.
It's the latest in a long line of big dunks for the transfer from Northeastern.
"We're getting used to it," DeCuire said. "We've had so many practices since June so that explosion is something that's become fairly ordinary for us on a daily basis. I always say go-go gadget, his arms are long and they stretch from time to time."
It was an emphatic bounce back game for Pridgen. He had his 12th career double-double and it's the second time this season he's had at least 20 points and 12 rebounds. It's his third game with at least 20 points, and 7th career game with at least 13 rebounds.
"Good players bounce back quickly," DeCuire said. "He had a tough start on Saturday, early fouls got him again, and he just never really got in sync. Tonight we tried to get him going early. He's an energy guy. He's always going to play hard, and when he does that good things happen."
Montana had another good night from three-point range, making 11-of-29 (.379) attempts. It's the third time in the last four games that Montana has made at least 10 three pointers. They did it zero times in the first seven games of the year.
"Some of it is just percentages catch up. We know that guys are good shooters and they keep shooting," DeCuire said. "The other thing is we've been a little more selective of who is taking shots. In November, sometimes you have an opportunity to play yourself into a role. Rotation is tighter right now than it was two weeks ago and so are the shots. Having Malik added to the lineup has helped with that as well."
Montana's size proved a big factor with a 39-25 advantage on the glass. The Griz also outscored Tech 40-32 in the paint and 11-2 on second-chance points. The game was fairly clean both ways with just 22 total free throw attempts split evenly down the middle.
Kai Johnson had 10 points and gave Tech all sorts of headaches on the other end with two blocks and four steals.
Montana has guaranteed a winning non-conference record with their seventh win of the season. They also finish the home non-conference season undefeated at 7-0 and have now won 10 straight home non-conference games.
It's the sixth time under DeCuire that Montana has been undefeated at home in non-conference play. He improved to 52-6 in such games in his 11 years in Missoula.
Their final two games will be on the road before opening Big Sky play on Jan. 2. They take on Northern Iowa on Monday, Dec. 16 and then close out non-conference play at San Francisco on Dec. 21.
"We're going to take a couple days off, finish finals, try to get fresh, and then start preparing to see if we can get our first road win before we get to conference," DeCuire said. "Northern Iowa is tough, big, and they know how to win. It's a huge opportunity for us, and we have to play a lot better to go in there and win that game."
The Griz once again had both on Tuesday night in an 89-60 win over an undefeated Montana Tech team. Pridgen had another poster slam as part of a 21-point, 13-rebound night for his second double-double of the season.
Montana bounced back from a tough loss at St. Thomas on Saturday and improved to 7-4 on the year.
"We needed that win. We had a little streak going, we thought pretty highly of ourselves going into the St. Thomas game, but we needed to tighten some things up defensively," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "Tonight was a great opportunity to do that, to get back to the basics defensively. And then offensively we put the ball in the basket at a high rate tonight and that always helps."
Pridgen was joined in double figures by four other players, including 20 points from Money Williams, 13 from Malik Moore, a dozen from Brandon Whitney, and 10 from Kai Johnson. It's the second time this season that five Grizzlies have been in double figures in the same game.
Moore continued a very impressive run of play since entering the starting lineup with an all-around performance. The junior led Montana with seven assists and also added five rebounds.
Whitney had six assists as the Griz totaled 15 as a team. Over the previous two games, Whitney has 14 assists and just two turnovers. He passed Michael Ray Richardson on Saturday for 6th in program history in career assists.
They scored at least 80 points for the seventh time this season, and did it with their best shooting performance of the year at 57.4 percent.
"We're very selfless. We've got three or four guys that can really score," DeCuire said. "Malik Moore is coming off a 30-point game and he turned down four or five wide open shots to get the ball to Joe, extra pass to Money to get him going, the turn to Whitney for a lay-up, those things are contagious."
It was a shaky start for Montana with six turnovers in the first five minutes. Montana Tech had a 7-2 lead at the first media timeout as a result, but the Grizzlies cleaned things up and got it rolling from there.
They took the lead for good with a 9-0 run that was capped off by a corner three from Jalen Foy, his first points as a Grizzly. It made it 16-11, and the Griz didn't trail the rest of the way.
It's the third game within the last week for Montana with two home games on either side of the road trip to St. Thomas. After the loss on Saturday, it took Montana a few minutes to get back into the right flow.First Griz points for Jalen Foy and it's an 11-2 run 👀@Foy15Jalen | #GrizHoops pic.twitter.com/ycOI9Ki69S
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 11, 2024
"I think the hard part is getting up for it. We have to compete with ourselves from time-to-time," DeCuire said. "I think right now our maturity is being challenged in terms of getting up for the high-majors and then have like opponents with reputations. Then you have a local team coming in and I don't think our guys gave them enough respect early, so we got off to a slow start. But I'd rather learn with a win than a loss."
The Griz had another 8-0 run late in the half, and closed the first period on a 13-4 stretch that gave them a double-digit advantage at the break.
They really pulled away in the second half, going on a 12-0 run midway through that put Montana up 68-45. It was the Money and Joe show for long stretches. Pridgen had a fastbreak poster that was part of a run that saw him score eight straight Griz points.
It's the latest in a long line of big dunks for the transfer from Northeastern.
"We're getting used to it," DeCuire said. "We've had so many practices since June so that explosion is something that's become fairly ordinary for us on a daily basis. I always say go-go gadget, his arms are long and they stretch from time to time."
Williams scored nine straight Montana points later on three made threes, all in under two minutes of play. The duo combined for 26 points in the second half.Add another one to the collection 😲
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 11, 2024
📁Folder
└ 📁Pridgen Posters#SCTop10 | @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/I4ro6DbFSE
It was an emphatic bounce back game for Pridgen. He had his 12th career double-double and it's the second time this season he's had at least 20 points and 12 rebounds. It's his third game with at least 20 points, and 7th career game with at least 13 rebounds.
"Good players bounce back quickly," DeCuire said. "He had a tough start on Saturday, early fouls got him again, and he just never really got in sync. Tonight we tried to get him going early. He's an energy guy. He's always going to play hard, and when he does that good things happen."
Montana had another good night from three-point range, making 11-of-29 (.379) attempts. It's the third time in the last four games that Montana has made at least 10 three pointers. They did it zero times in the first seven games of the year.
Williams was 3-of-5, Moore was 3-of-7, and five other Grizzlies made at least one three.𝑰𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑨𝑵𝑲 💰@mxney___ | #GrizHoops pic.twitter.com/uE46nno8O9
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 11, 2024
"Some of it is just percentages catch up. We know that guys are good shooters and they keep shooting," DeCuire said. "The other thing is we've been a little more selective of who is taking shots. In November, sometimes you have an opportunity to play yourself into a role. Rotation is tighter right now than it was two weeks ago and so are the shots. Having Malik added to the lineup has helped with that as well."
Montana's size proved a big factor with a 39-25 advantage on the glass. The Griz also outscored Tech 40-32 in the paint and 11-2 on second-chance points. The game was fairly clean both ways with just 22 total free throw attempts split evenly down the middle.
Kai Johnson had 10 points and gave Tech all sorts of headaches on the other end with two blocks and four steals.
Montana has guaranteed a winning non-conference record with their seventh win of the season. They also finish the home non-conference season undefeated at 7-0 and have now won 10 straight home non-conference games.
It's the sixth time under DeCuire that Montana has been undefeated at home in non-conference play. He improved to 52-6 in such games in his 11 years in Missoula.
Their final two games will be on the road before opening Big Sky play on Jan. 2. They take on Northern Iowa on Monday, Dec. 16 and then close out non-conference play at San Francisco on Dec. 21.
"We're going to take a couple days off, finish finals, try to get fresh, and then start preparing to see if we can get our first road win before we get to conference," DeCuire said. "Northern Iowa is tough, big, and they know how to win. It's a huge opportunity for us, and we have to play a lot better to go in there and win that game."
Team Stats
MtTech
Mont
FG%
.400
.574
3FG%
.250
.379
FT%
.636
.727
RB
25
39
TO
11
14
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
10
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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