Griz beat Bengals, head to Boise as No. 3 seed

Monday, March 4

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

21-10,12-6Big Sky

Idaho State

12-19,7-11Big Sky

Idaho St.

Montana

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke

3/4/2024 10:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana closed the regular season in style, sending off the five seniors playing in their final game on Robin Selvig Court with a dominant 79-65 win over Idaho State on Monday night. The Grizzlies locked up the No. 3 seed at the Big Sky Tournament next week in Boise. They will face No. 6 Portland State on Monday, March 11 at 8:00 p.m.

The seniors received a massive standing ovation from the crowd inside Dahlberg Arena as they checked out of the game one at a time in the closing minutes. The group shined in their final home game, combining for 68 of Montana's 79 points in the win.

Montana ends the season 21-10 overall and 12-6 in Big Sky play. It's the most league wins since 2019-20 when the Griz finished 14-6. The 21 overall wins are the most in a single season since 2018-19's team went 26-9.

The Grizzlies led for nearly 38 minutes, trailing only after Idaho State made the first basket of the game. The offense couldn't get rolling in the first half in part because of foul trouble, but it exploded in the closing 20 minutes for 48 points to cruise past the Bengals.

Aanen Moody led the way for Montana with 22 points, scoring 20 of them in the second half. Josh Vazquez and Brandon Whitney had 14 each, while Dischon Thomas was also in double figures with 12 points and seven rebounds. Laolu Oke had six points on perfect shooting to go with a team-high nine rebounds.

The Grizzlies shot over 60 percent from the floor for the third time this season and second in Big Sky play.

"Great team effort. These guys do a phenomenal job of playing together," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "You have a guy like Moody that is an explosive scorer and still is patient enough to allow other guys to make plays for each other, themselves, and him. We are so willing to share the ball and it makes us a balanced offense. If we can continue to play that way, we will be fine next week."

The shooting and ball movement is what separated Montana on Monday night. The Grizzlies had 15 assists to just six for the Bengals. Idaho State won the battle of the boards 33-30, including 14 offensive rebounds. That led to a 19-8 advantage for the visitors in second-chance points, but they just couldn't overcome a Montana offense that went 20-for-29 from the floor in the second half.

Vazquez opened the game hot, scoring five of the first seven points as Montana jumped out to a 7-2 lead. But he and Moody both picked up a pair of early fouls and it forced DeCuire to go to his bench in a slower first half offensively for both teams.

"The foul trouble stunted our offense. We were defending well enough, we held them to 37 percent in the first half, but we couldn't pull away because we didn't have the right guys on the floor and we missed some open threes, things like that" DeCuire said. "We never really got the tempo up, but coming into the second half we decided to push the ball make-or-miss, and I thought once we got the tempo up it was in our favor."

The Grizzlies never gave up the lead and took a 31-27 lead into the halftime break. The Bengals would pull the game back to a tie at 36. Whitney then pushed the tempo and found Thomas for back-to-back corner threes that allowed Montana to jump up 42-38.

The man is 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐! @AJMoody9 pic.twitter.com/6sS57lq2h9
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) March 5, 2024

After an ISU basket cut it to two, Montana put the game out of reach for good with a 12-0 run. Whitney started it with a three-point play and Moody contributed one of his own on Montana's next possession. He got to the rim the next two trips down the floor as well, going on a 7-0 run by himself in the midst of the team's larger run.

Oke finished off the run in emphatic fashion, slipping loose on an inbounds play for a two-handed jam that made it 54-40. The Griz led for double figures nearly the entire way from that point, and Moody gave Montana its biggest lead of the game at 79-62 on a fast break lay-up.

Don't let this man @LaoluOke get to the rim 😤 pic.twitter.com/rt5qi9Q3vu
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) March 5, 2024

After going 12-of-16 from the arc in the previous two games, Idaho State made it a point to chase him off the three-point line on Monday. He took advantage, scoring 18 of his points inside the arc and dishing out a team-high five assists as well.

"Everybody wants to take away the three, and so when they press the court is open," DeCuire said. "We made it a point to just attack in the open court and (Moody) did a good job getting to the rim. With shooting on the floor, you've got four guys shooting good percentages from three, there is a lot of lane to penetrate and he did a good job attacking the spots."

All five starters played at least 30 minutes as Montana got production from the entire group. They made just five threes on 26.3 percent shooting, but were effective everywhere else. The Grizzlies end the season averaging 77.3 points per game, the best offense in DeCuire's 10 seasons.

"It's the full circle. We've got the inside game with more than one person that can score in the paint for us," DeCuire said. "Our balance shooting the ball. And I think the fact that we've got multiple passers and guys who can make plays for one another allows us to be efficient offensively."

Brandon Whitney continued to climb the all-time ranks at Montana, passing Jordan Gregory and Lou Rocheleau to move into 16^th place with 1,241 career points.

Moody is also closing in on joining Montana's 1,000-point club. He's up to 947 points in a Grizzly uniform. If he is able to reach 1,000 points by the season's end, he would be just the third player in program history to do it in two seasons, joining Anthony Johnson and Martin Breunig.

The Grizzlies didn't go deep in their rotation, but they did bring one key figure off the bench. Money Williams, who was hurt on Dec. 19 at UC Davis and hasn't played since, saw five minutes of action. He scored four points on perfect 2-for-2 shooting.

"The locker room had a ton of energy yesterday. The guys were happy to have him back," DeCuire said. "It gives us depth and versatility, and a lot of confidence. He's a good player. He had an incredible non-conference and when we lost him we took a hit mentally and it took us a long time to recover. I think our mojo is in a great place and he's a healthy addition to it."

The first points in the return for @mxney___ 💰 pic.twitter.com/sgHBtMRJbL
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) March 5, 2024

Montana now has a week off to prepare for Portland State at the Big Sky Tournament. The Grizzlies and Vikings split the regular season series with the home team winning both games. Portland State dominated the first game 72-46, but Montana responded with an 82-73 win in Missoula.

The Grizzlies finish the season tied for second in the league standings with Northern Colorado, but lose the tiebreaker as a result of an 0-2 record against the Bears. The Griz led by double figures late at home against UNC but let the game slip. Still, it's the highest finish in the league for the Griz since 2020. They will enter the Big Sky Tournament as a top four seed for the 7^th time in 10 seasons under DeCuire.

"Tied for second and they get the tiebreaker," DeCuire said. "We didn't take care of business when we could have and sometimes things play out the way you really want them to, and it's an opportunity to redeem yourself while you try to pursue something special."