
Photo by: Jackson Wagner
Griz close out non-conference at San Francisco
12/19/2024 3:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Montana (7-5) at San Francisco (9-3)
Dec. 21 / 4:00 PM (MT) / Watch / Live Stats
Â
The Montana men's basketball team will wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule on Saturday afternoon at San Francisco. The Grizzlies will take on the 9-3 Dons at 4:00 P.M (MT) in the final game of 2024.
Â
The Griz are still searching for their first road win in a schedule that has been among the most difficult in the entire country during the non-conference slate, particularly in the away game category.
Â
This is Montana's sixth road game of the year. The opponents in those six games all rank inside the top third of the NET Rankings and are a combined 56-13 (.812). Even more impressively, the six teams are a combined 37-3 (.925) at home.
Â
San Francisco will keep that trend going as the Dons enter the game 9-3 overall and 7-0 at home. They are ranked No. 55 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings and were ranked No. 6 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25.
Â
The Grizzlies will look to shake off a difficult game at Northern Iowa on Monday night. Montana allowed an opponent to hit the century mark for just the second time under head coach Travis DeCuire and for the first time since 2014.
Â
The Panthers lead the country in field goal percentage, and had their best night of the season against the Griz, shooting 69.0 percent from the floor. It's the highest field goal percentage allowed by a Montana opponent this season.
Â
There were still bright spots for the Grizzlies in the loss. Te'Jon Sawyer had a tremendous start to the game, led Montana in minutes for the first time in his career, and reached double figures against a D-1 opponent for the first time this season.
Â
Kai Johnson shook off a slump on the road by leading Montana with 18 points on 75 percent shooting from the floor. It was the first time that Johnson scored in double figures on the road this year.
Â
Money Williams continued a good shooting stretch with 15 points, knocking down 3-of-5 shots from behind the arc. He's now 10-of-17 (.588) from three-point range over Montana's last three games.
Â
Malik Moore also scored in double figures for the fifth straight time in the loss.
Â
The offense had a good day, shooting 54.7 percent from the floor. It was the third-best percentage this season, and also the third straight game for Montana shooting over 50 percent from the floor. They were just the third team this year to reach 70 points against the good Panther defense.
Â
They will face another top-level defense in San Francisco. The Dons allow just 62.3 points per game, the 18th best number in college basketball. They have outscored opponents by nearly 14 points per game, and rank in the top 100 in steals, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, and opponents' rebounds.
Â
Montana will need to have a fantastic performance to get an upset on the road. After this game, the Griz will have over a week off before opening Big Sky play with a road trip to Eastern Washington and Idaho.
Â
VS. THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE
This will be head coach Travis DeCuire's eighth game against an opponent from the WCC in his 11 years at Montana. The last game was on the road against Gonzaga on Dec. 20, 2022. DeCuire is 2-5 against the WCC with wins over Pepperdine (12/22/16) and San Francisco (12/4/15).
Â
Against the current West Coast Conference, which includes Oregon State and Washington State, the Griz are 165-202 overall. If you remove the former Pac-12 teams, the Griz are 134-107 all-time against the other nine teams in the WCC.
Â
A bulk of Montana's games against the WCC have come against Gonzaga. If you remove the Bulldogs, Montana is 46-41 against the other eight teams in the WCC.
Â
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO (9-3)
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE DONS
GAME NOTES
SUPER SCHEDULE
The Grizzlies have played the 17th most difficult schedule in the NCAA this season, according to the NET Rankings. Montana has played two teams currently ranked in the top 12 of the AP Poll (#1 Tennessee and #12 Oregon). Utah State is receiving votes to be ranked. The trio of teams are a combined 31-2.
San Francisco is ranked 55th in the last NCAA Net Rankings. They will be the sixth top 100 team that Montana has played already this season.
In the non-conference portion of the schedule, Montana will have played 10 D-1 opponents. Eight of them are above .500. The 10 opponents are a combined 80-40 (.667) overall this year.
Â
HOMECOMING GAME
This will be a homecoming game for many players on the Montana roster. The Grizzlies have have nine total players from the state of California on the roster, and four of those grew up in the Bay Area.
Â
Te'Jon Sawyer (San Francisco), Money Williams (Oakland), Tyler Thompson (Fairfield), and Jeremiah Dargan (Concord) are all from the area.
Â
Several other Griz greats, including Sayeed Pridgett, Will Cherry and David Bell, have come to Missoula from Oakland. Sawyer is the first Montana player to have called San Francisco home since Griz legend Delvon Anderson, the 1992 Big Sky MVP.
Â
Dec. 21 / 4:00 PM (MT) / Watch / Live Stats
Â
The Montana men's basketball team will wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule on Saturday afternoon at San Francisco. The Grizzlies will take on the 9-3 Dons at 4:00 P.M (MT) in the final game of 2024.
Â
The Griz are still searching for their first road win in a schedule that has been among the most difficult in the entire country during the non-conference slate, particularly in the away game category.
Â
This is Montana's sixth road game of the year. The opponents in those six games all rank inside the top third of the NET Rankings and are a combined 56-13 (.812). Even more impressively, the six teams are a combined 37-3 (.925) at home.
Â
San Francisco will keep that trend going as the Dons enter the game 9-3 overall and 7-0 at home. They are ranked No. 55 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings and were ranked No. 6 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25.
Â
The Grizzlies will look to shake off a difficult game at Northern Iowa on Monday night. Montana allowed an opponent to hit the century mark for just the second time under head coach Travis DeCuire and for the first time since 2014.
Â
The Panthers lead the country in field goal percentage, and had their best night of the season against the Griz, shooting 69.0 percent from the floor. It's the highest field goal percentage allowed by a Montana opponent this season.
Â
There were still bright spots for the Grizzlies in the loss. Te'Jon Sawyer had a tremendous start to the game, led Montana in minutes for the first time in his career, and reached double figures against a D-1 opponent for the first time this season.
Â
Kai Johnson shook off a slump on the road by leading Montana with 18 points on 75 percent shooting from the floor. It was the first time that Johnson scored in double figures on the road this year.
Â
Money Williams continued a good shooting stretch with 15 points, knocking down 3-of-5 shots from behind the arc. He's now 10-of-17 (.588) from three-point range over Montana's last three games.
Â
Malik Moore also scored in double figures for the fifth straight time in the loss.
Â
The offense had a good day, shooting 54.7 percent from the floor. It was the third-best percentage this season, and also the third straight game for Montana shooting over 50 percent from the floor. They were just the third team this year to reach 70 points against the good Panther defense.
Â
They will face another top-level defense in San Francisco. The Dons allow just 62.3 points per game, the 18th best number in college basketball. They have outscored opponents by nearly 14 points per game, and rank in the top 100 in steals, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, and opponents' rebounds.
Â
Montana will need to have a fantastic performance to get an upset on the road. After this game, the Griz will have over a week off before opening Big Sky play with a road trip to Eastern Washington and Idaho.
Â
VS. THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE
This will be head coach Travis DeCuire's eighth game against an opponent from the WCC in his 11 years at Montana. The last game was on the road against Gonzaga on Dec. 20, 2022. DeCuire is 2-5 against the WCC with wins over Pepperdine (12/22/16) and San Francisco (12/4/15).
Â
Against the current West Coast Conference, which includes Oregon State and Washington State, the Griz are 165-202 overall. If you remove the former Pac-12 teams, the Griz are 134-107 all-time against the other nine teams in the WCC.
Â
A bulk of Montana's games against the WCC have come against Gonzaga. If you remove the Bulldogs, Montana is 46-41 against the other eight teams in the WCC.
Â
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO (9-3)
- The Dons are coming off a tight loss on the road against a 9-2 Bradley team. USF had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but a three-point attempt was no good and the Braves held on for a 66-64 victory.
- San Francisco's only loss at home was a 68-64 loss to Memphis. The Tigers are ranked No. 21 in the latest AP Poll. Their only other loss is to current No. 25 Clemson.
- Head coach Chris Gerlufsen is in his third season with San Francisco, and the team has improved all three years. He went 20-14 in his first season and 7-9 in WCC play. Last year, the Dons finished 23-11 overall and 11-5 in the WCC.
- USF has one of the top defenses in the country. They are ranked 21st in the country with a 96.4 defensive rating. They allow just 62.3 points per game, the 18th best scoring defense in the NCAA. USF has held six straight opponents under 70 points, and have only allowed 70+ in three out of 12 games
- The Dons are shooting 47.6 percent from the floor this year, which ranks 75th in the NCAA. They are also holding opponents to just a 39.1 percent success rate from the floor, the 37th best mark in the country.
- They force 14.8 turnovers per game, which ranks 55th in the NCAA. They are also in the top 100 in steals per game at 8.2.
- Malik Thomas is 57th in the NCAA in scoring with 18.3 points per game. He's an efficient scorer, shooting 50.4 percent from the field. Â He has made 59 total free throws, the 26th most in the country.
- Thomas is also 19th in the country in total steals with 27. He leads the WCC, and averages 2.25 per game.
- Marcus Williams is just outside of the top 100 nationally with 4.0 assists per game. He's got a 1.50 assist/turnover ratio, and has made 26 threes (2.17/game).
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE DONS
- This will be the 9th all-time meeting between Montana and San Francisco with all of them coming since 2003. The Grizzlies are 1-7 all-time against the Dons.
- Montana won the last meeting between the two schools 82-50 in Missoula on Dec. 4, 2015.
- This will be Montana's fifth trip to San Francisco. They are still looking for their first road win against the Dons.
GAME NOTES
- This is the sixth game against a top 100 NET team this season for Montana. They have played eight games against teams ranked inside the top 150 in the NET. Eight of Montana's 10 D-1 non-conference games have been played against teams ranked higher in the NET than the top Big Sky Conference team (Montana State, 139).
- If Montana loses on Saturday, it will be the second time in the last four years and third time overall under DeCuire that the Griz have entered Big Sky play undefeated at home but winless on the road.
- Montana is 9-49 (.155) in road non-conference games under Coach DeCuire.
- This is the 5th Quad-1 game for Montana this season.
- The Grizzlies gave up 11 three pointers on Monday, the most by an opponent this season.
- Malik Moore and Money Williams combine to average 40.4 points per game on the road this season. No other Grizzly player is averaging 10.0-plus points per game away from Missoula.
- Adam Shoff scored his first career points in the loss at UNI (Dec. 16) in his 17th career game at Montana.
SUPER SCHEDULE
The Grizzlies have played the 17th most difficult schedule in the NCAA this season, according to the NET Rankings. Montana has played two teams currently ranked in the top 12 of the AP Poll (#1 Tennessee and #12 Oregon). Utah State is receiving votes to be ranked. The trio of teams are a combined 31-2.
San Francisco is ranked 55th in the last NCAA Net Rankings. They will be the sixth top 100 team that Montana has played already this season.
In the non-conference portion of the schedule, Montana will have played 10 D-1 opponents. Eight of them are above .500. The 10 opponents are a combined 80-40 (.667) overall this year.
Â
HOMECOMING GAME
This will be a homecoming game for many players on the Montana roster. The Grizzlies have have nine total players from the state of California on the roster, and four of those grew up in the Bay Area.
Â
Te'Jon Sawyer (San Francisco), Money Williams (Oakland), Tyler Thompson (Fairfield), and Jeremiah Dargan (Concord) are all from the area.
Â
Several other Griz greats, including Sayeed Pridgett, Will Cherry and David Bell, have come to Missoula from Oakland. Sawyer is the first Montana player to have called San Francisco home since Griz legend Delvon Anderson, the 1992 Big Sky MVP.
Â
Players Mentioned
March Madness Denver Pep Rally - 3/19/25
Thursday, March 20
Montana? Yes, Montana!
Wednesday, March 19
Griz Basketball Open Practice [March Madness] - 3/19/25
Wednesday, March 19
Griz Basketball Arrival To Denver [March Madness] - 3/18/25
Tuesday, March 18