Thursday, January 30
Missoula, Mont.
7:00 PM
Montana
14-8,7-2Big Sky
92
vs
78
Portland State
13-8,5-3Big Sky
1
2
F
Portland St.
33
45
78
Montana
44
48
92
Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/ University of Montana
Griz dominate Vikings in top three matchup
1/30/2025 10:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
In a top-three matchup featuring two teams riding plenty of momentum, Montana dominated for the full 40 minutes and moved within a half-game of first place in the Big Sky Conference with a 92-78 win over Portland State.
The Vikings had won three straight and sat right behind Montana in the league standings at 5-2. Portland State had been holding opponents under 60 points on average over the last 11 games, but a balanced offense from Montana overpowered them in a fun night inside Dahlberg Arena.
"That's as well as we've played in a while offensively," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "They had some hot hands defensively, so we had to score at a high level. We share the ball, when the ball moves and we don't really care who shoots it or who gets the assist, we can be explosive. I think we're starting to figure that out a little bit, we just have to be consistent with it."
Montana (14-8, 7-2 Big Sky) matched its season high against a D1 team this season with the 92 points, and the balance in which they achieved the final score was impressive. Six players reached double figures for the Griz for the first time in seven years, led by 19 points from Brandon Whitney.
Whitney took over down the stretch, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the second half. He also dished out four assists on the night, moving up to a tie for third all-time with Scott Zanon at 411 career assists. He also is within a point of Will Cherry on the career scoring chart.
The 5th year guard looked exactly like the veteran he is by scoring 10 of his points in the final five minutes of the game as he helped Montana lead by double figures for nearly the entire second half.
"(Whitney) was aggressive. It was tight starting the way they were reaching and taking us out of some of our ball screen actions, so there wasn't a lot of room for him to wiggle," DeCuire said. "We had one conversation in the first half of just, hey, if you go in there, the play is over. So when you do, you need to make a play, and he got ultra aggressive."
The Grizzlies have known all season that they have multiple playmakers offensively, but the struggle has been to get everybody going at the same time. They were able to do so on Thursday with several players taking over for stages of the game.
It resulted in Montana shooting 63.6 percent from the floor. It's the first time they have shot over 63 percent against a D1 opponent since a Big Sky Tournament win over Idaho in 2016. They also went 10-of-15 (.667) from three-point range, shooting over 60 percent with double-digit makes from the arc for just the fourth time under DeCuire.
Malik Moore got the Grizzlies going early, scoring 11 of the first 15 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting to help the Grizzlies out to a 15-10 lead. Portland State would climb back to a tie at 23-all with nine minutes left in the half, but then it was Money Williams' turn to take over.
"We let it come to us. Malik didn't know he was going to be wide open on some of those possessions, but the execution was really good and he popped a couple," DeCuire said. "He heat checks you every once in a while and he tends to make those."
He scored 12 points over the final eight minutes of the half, and did a little bit of everything else by grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists in the first half.
He had the final four points of the half to send the Grizzlies into the locker room with a 44-33 halftime lead. It's the second straight game that Montana has led by double figures at the half, and they improved to 11-1 with a halftime lead. Williams played a big role off the bench in the opening 20 minutes.
"Money was just aggressive. We drew some stuff up to draw attention, and he just happened to get to the rim on most of them," DeCuire said. "But his rebounding and his physical play on the defensive side of the ball is what stood out most to me."
The Grizzlies remained hot in the second half. Moore hit a jumper on the first possession of the second half and three different Grizzlies all made three as they kept the Vikings at an arms length. PSU went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to nine, but Austin Patterson made a three on the other end and the Griz led by double figures the rest of the way.
Whitney put the exclamation point on the win with a couple of three-point plays in the closing minutes as Montana ran away down the stretch for the 14-point win.
Portland State had the top defense in the Big Sky Conference coming into the game and ranked in the top 50 in the country in both blocks and steals. The Grizzlies turned it over just nine times, the second-fewest by a Viking opponent this season.
"They turn you over, that's really the deal for them is that they get more shots," DeCuire said. "They crash the offensive glass and that's how they outscore you. For us, it was all about being physical tonight and the ball-control. If you get a shot on goal every possession, you'll probably make a few."
The ball control was crucial for Montana, but the Vikings also ranked 63rd in the country in rebounding margin, and they grab nearly 13 offensive rebounds per game. The Griz limited them to six offensive rebounds, and Montana had a plus-three rebounding margin. It's just the second time they have outrebounded their opponent in Big Sky play.
"I think the rebounding was more critical. You can survive a couple turnovers here and there if you don't give up second shots against a team like this," DeCuire said. "If you would have told me both we're going to happen, I would have told you we would maybe reach 80 and have a double-digit win."
Montana won in several other categories, most notably in bench points where Portland State entered the game the best in the league. Williams played a big part in that, but Austin Patterson also had eight points on 2-of-2 shooting in his 14 minutes. The Grizzlies outscored the Vikings 23-7 off the bench.
Whitney led with 19 points, Moore had 15, and Joe Pridgen was third on the team with 14 points. Pridgen also had five rebounds and a couple of impressive slams as he continues to thrill the Dahlberg Arena crowd with his physical playmaking.
Williams had 12 points and led the team in both rebounding (8) and assists (6). Te'Jon Sawyer had 11 points on a perfect shooting night that included a career-high three made three-pointers. Kai Johnson finished with 10 points to round out the double digit scorers.
It led to win No. 215 for DeCuire in his career as he now trails George "Jiggs" Dahlberg by six wins for the program record.
Montana now has the same amount of wins (7) as league leaders Northern Colorado. The Bears were off on Thursday, and maintained a half-game lead over the Grizzlies, but the two are separating themselves from the rest of the league at the midway point.
Portland State remains in third place at 5-3 in league play. Second place was on the line tonight, and Montana left no doubt of who claims it.
"It's an opportunity, and you only get so many. A couple of weeks ago, we weren't ready," DeCuire said, referencing Montana's home loss to Northern Colorado. "You've got a team that's going to come in here and try to beat you a little differently and you have to hold down the home fort, but you have to be the aggressor to win this game and I thought the guys responded."
The Grizzlies will be back in action on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the annual N7 Game. Montana hosts Sacramento State. The Hornets (6-15, 2-6 Big Sky) are coming off a 70-58 loss at Montana State on Thursday.
The Vikings had won three straight and sat right behind Montana in the league standings at 5-2. Portland State had been holding opponents under 60 points on average over the last 11 games, but a balanced offense from Montana overpowered them in a fun night inside Dahlberg Arena.
"That's as well as we've played in a while offensively," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "They had some hot hands defensively, so we had to score at a high level. We share the ball, when the ball moves and we don't really care who shoots it or who gets the assist, we can be explosive. I think we're starting to figure that out a little bit, we just have to be consistent with it."
Montana (14-8, 7-2 Big Sky) matched its season high against a D1 team this season with the 92 points, and the balance in which they achieved the final score was impressive. Six players reached double figures for the Griz for the first time in seven years, led by 19 points from Brandon Whitney.
Whitney took over down the stretch, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the second half. He also dished out four assists on the night, moving up to a tie for third all-time with Scott Zanon at 411 career assists. He also is within a point of Will Cherry on the career scoring chart.
The 408th career assist from @bwhit_12 moves him past Kareem Jamar into 4th place in program history!#GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/J1etWgu106
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 31, 2025
The 5th year guard looked exactly like the veteran he is by scoring 10 of his points in the final five minutes of the game as he helped Montana lead by double figures for nearly the entire second half.
"(Whitney) was aggressive. It was tight starting the way they were reaching and taking us out of some of our ball screen actions, so there wasn't a lot of room for him to wiggle," DeCuire said. "We had one conversation in the first half of just, hey, if you go in there, the play is over. So when you do, you need to make a play, and he got ultra aggressive."
The Grizzlies have known all season that they have multiple playmakers offensively, but the struggle has been to get everybody going at the same time. They were able to do so on Thursday with several players taking over for stages of the game.
It resulted in Montana shooting 63.6 percent from the floor. It's the first time they have shot over 63 percent against a D1 opponent since a Big Sky Tournament win over Idaho in 2016. They also went 10-of-15 (.667) from three-point range, shooting over 60 percent with double-digit makes from the arc for just the fourth time under DeCuire.
Malik Moore got the Grizzlies going early, scoring 11 of the first 15 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting to help the Grizzlies out to a 15-10 lead. Portland State would climb back to a tie at 23-all with nine minutes left in the half, but then it was Money Williams' turn to take over.
"We let it come to us. Malik didn't know he was going to be wide open on some of those possessions, but the execution was really good and he popped a couple," DeCuire said. "He heat checks you every once in a while and he tends to make those."
Oh he's HOT hot 🔥🔥🔥
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 31, 2025
8 points for @mooremalikk and we're not even to the first media timeout.#GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/a7MidNgONP
He scored 12 points over the final eight minutes of the half, and did a little bit of everything else by grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists in the first half.
He had the final four points of the half to send the Grizzlies into the locker room with a 44-33 halftime lead. It's the second straight game that Montana has led by double figures at the half, and they improved to 11-1 with a halftime lead. Williams played a big role off the bench in the opening 20 minutes.
"Money was just aggressive. We drew some stuff up to draw attention, and he just happened to get to the rim on most of them," DeCuire said. "But his rebounding and his physical play on the defensive side of the ball is what stood out most to me."
Tough bucket from 💰
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 31, 2025
He's got 6 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds in just 8 minutes 😲@mxney___ | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/lEocbHeLc3
The Grizzlies remained hot in the second half. Moore hit a jumper on the first possession of the second half and three different Grizzlies all made three as they kept the Vikings at an arms length. PSU went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to nine, but Austin Patterson made a three on the other end and the Griz led by double figures the rest of the way.
Whitney put the exclamation point on the win with a couple of three-point plays in the closing minutes as Montana ran away down the stretch for the 14-point win.
Portland State had the top defense in the Big Sky Conference coming into the game and ranked in the top 50 in the country in both blocks and steals. The Grizzlies turned it over just nine times, the second-fewest by a Viking opponent this season.
"They turn you over, that's really the deal for them is that they get more shots," DeCuire said. "They crash the offensive glass and that's how they outscore you. For us, it was all about being physical tonight and the ball-control. If you get a shot on goal every possession, you'll probably make a few."
The ball control was crucial for Montana, but the Vikings also ranked 63rd in the country in rebounding margin, and they grab nearly 13 offensive rebounds per game. The Griz limited them to six offensive rebounds, and Montana had a plus-three rebounding margin. It's just the second time they have outrebounded their opponent in Big Sky play.
"I think the rebounding was more critical. You can survive a couple turnovers here and there if you don't give up second shots against a team like this," DeCuire said. "If you would have told me both we're going to happen, I would have told you we would maybe reach 80 and have a double-digit win."
Montana won in several other categories, most notably in bench points where Portland State entered the game the best in the league. Williams played a big part in that, but Austin Patterson also had eight points on 2-of-2 shooting in his 14 minutes. The Grizzlies outscored the Vikings 23-7 off the bench.
Whitney led with 19 points, Moore had 15, and Joe Pridgen was third on the team with 14 points. Pridgen also had five rebounds and a couple of impressive slams as he continues to thrill the Dahlberg Arena crowd with his physical playmaking.
We already had a Joe Jam™️ but this time it's a 𝑷𝑹𝑰𝑫𝑮𝑬𝑵 𝑷𝑶𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹 🖼️#GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/GE9GaQbl3l
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 31, 2025
Williams had 12 points and led the team in both rebounding (8) and assists (6). Te'Jon Sawyer had 11 points on a perfect shooting night that included a career-high three made three-pointers. Kai Johnson finished with 10 points to round out the double digit scorers.
It led to win No. 215 for DeCuire in his career as he now trails George "Jiggs" Dahlberg by six wins for the program record.
Montana now has the same amount of wins (7) as league leaders Northern Colorado. The Bears were off on Thursday, and maintained a half-game lead over the Grizzlies, but the two are separating themselves from the rest of the league at the midway point.
Portland State remains in third place at 5-3 in league play. Second place was on the line tonight, and Montana left no doubt of who claims it.
"It's an opportunity, and you only get so many. A couple of weeks ago, we weren't ready," DeCuire said, referencing Montana's home loss to Northern Colorado. "You've got a team that's going to come in here and try to beat you a little differently and you have to hold down the home fort, but you have to be the aggressor to win this game and I thought the guys responded."
The Grizzlies will be back in action on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the annual N7 Game. Montana hosts Sacramento State. The Hornets (6-15, 2-6 Big Sky) are coming off a 70-58 loss at Montana State on Thursday.
Team Stats
PSU
Mont
FG%
.554
.636
3FG%
.313
.667
FT%
.688
.857
RB
23
26
TO
8
9
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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