Griz finish on fire but fall just short at Texas A&M

Tuesday, November 18

College Station, Texas

6:00 PM (MT)

Montana

4-2,0-0Big Sky

Texas A&M

3-2,0-0SEC

Montana

Texas A&M

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

Griz finish on fire but fall just short at Texas A&M

11/18/2025 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

The crowd inside Reed Arena didn't know how to react as Montana made a furious run to close out Tuesday night's contest against the host Aggies. A relaxed crowd for much of the game as the host Aggies led by 19 with under seven minutes to play, they were suddenly faced with a one possession game.

It came after Money Williams made his third consecutive three pointer in a 13-second stretch. There was a stunned silence from the crowd of over 6,000 with the feeling that what they were seeing couldn't actually be happening.

Montana erased a 73-54 deficit with a 26-8 run over the final six minutes. The only thing getting in the way of a massive upset was the free throw shooting of Texas A&M. The Aggies made nine straight free throws down the stretch to hold off the Griz for an 86-81 win.

"I've got mixed emotions," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "I would have liked to have played that hard in the first half and not dug ourselves that big of a hole. But I'm definitely proud of the fight that we had and this group knows that they are capable of playing good ball, we just have to put it together for 40 minutes."

Williams scored 17 points in the final five minutes and finished the night with 22 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds. It was a big second half from the preseason MVP as all of his scoring came after the break.

"We know what he's capable of and explosions come," DeCuire said. "I think they did a pretty good job keeping him out of the paint and keeping speed on him, keeping length on him. They mixed up their coverages so it took him a while to settle in and once he did, he took over when we needed it most."

The Grizzlies were able to hang around thanks to strong performances from Brooklyn Hicks and Tyler Isaak. The duo combined for 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting to pace the Griz while Williams searched to find a rhythm.

Texas A&M jumped out to an early lead after Montana made its first two shots of the game, starting an impressive run with 11 makes in their first 14 field goal attempts. They were up a dozen points within the first 10 minutes of the game.

Montana withstood a scorching shooting half from the Aggies, who used a 15-3 run over the final 5:37 to take a 45-31 lead into the halftime break. Texas A&M shot 70.8 percent from the floor and 54.5 percent from three-point range during the opening 20 minutes.
They dominated inside, outscoring the Griz 18-2 in the paint in the half. Montana was hot from three-point range, going 8-of-18 (.444) in the first half, but they made just 3-of-9 attempts from inside the arc.

DeCuire had a couple of keys for his guys in the second half. Keep the Aggies away from the rim and force them to make jumpers, and increase the number of paint touches on the offensive end.

They started the half well, finding four different scorers early to cut the Aggie lead to 10 points. It was a competitive game for the first half hour but the Aggies started to pull away during a Grizzly scoring drought in the second half. They went ahead by 19 after a huge slam from Jamie Vinson that got the crowd on its feet.

The Grizzlies wouldn't say die. Hicks connected on a pair of threes to give them some momentum, and then the Grizzly defense started to find its groove.

"We got stops. We minimized their paint points. They have guys that percentage-wise and reputation-wise are good shooters. We respected them early and they really weren't trying to get that many shots outside of one shooter," DeCuire said. "Once we got to a point where we contained them, then we needed to fix our offense and once we got that rolling we got back in the game. Defensively in the second half I thought we were a lot better."

Montana held Texas A&M without a made field goal for more than five minutes. In that time, Williams took over on the offensive end.

He made a three to cut the lead to 13 and then made it 73-61 with a free throw. He knocked down a pull-up jumper to cut it to 10. Te'Jon Sawyer added four quick points and Hicks made a lay-up a minute later to make it 75-69 Aggies.

Williams then entered heat check mode. He made a pull-up jumper with 1:08 remaining. The next time down the floor he connected on a three to cut the lead to 77-74. Two free throws on the other end were answered by another tough shot from the arc by Williams.

His most improbable shot came on his final offensive possession of the game, rising up between several defenders to hit an off-balance three pointer that brought Montana within a single point at 81-80.

Williams picked up his 5^th foul on the inbounds pass and had to head to the sideline for the final eight seconds. The Aggies made two free throws to make it 83-80 with seven seconds to go.

They didn't give Montana a chance to tie it on the last possession, fouling Chase Henderson as soon as he touched the inbounds pass. The Aggies would knock down the free throws in the closing moments to hold on for an 86-81 win.

The barrage from Williams late was part of an impressive shooting night from three-point range. They went 16-of-31 (.516) from the arc in the game behind 5-of-6 from Williams, 3-of-4 from Hicks, and 3-of-6 from Tyler Thompson.

It's just the second time ever that a team coached by DeCuire has made at least 16 threes on better than 50 percent shooting. The only other occasion was in 2015 in a double-overtime win against Northern Arizona. It's the most three-point makes in a game for Montana since 2021.

"We got some really good looks. I thought maybe we were shooting too many in the first half and relied on that and didn't attack the paint," DeCuire said. "In the second half we got paint touches and the shots were even better. When our feet are set, we will make them."

Montana put together one of the best halves of basketball you will see on the offensive side of the ball in the second half. After Texas shot 70.8 percent from the floor in the first half, Montana one-upped them in the second.

The Grizzlies went 18-of-25 (.720) from the floor in the second half and made 8-of-13 (.615) from three-point range. Hicks contributed 11 points in the second half on perfect shooting and Isaak had seven points and five assists.

As a team, Montana made its final 12 shots from the floor. The late run from Williams may have stolen the show, but it was an impressive all-around night for the Grizzly offense.

"We've got guys that can produce offense whether it's creating their own or producing for others. Our ability to execute is at a decent level right now," DeCuire said. "I think there is still room for growth, but the important thing is that we have a lot of confidence in our group and their ability to fight through adversity is a sign of their potential down the road."

Montana outshot Texas A&M on the night and hung with the larger Aggies on the glass as well. The hosts had just a 30-27 advantage on the boards. The paint was the biggest differentiator as the Aggies held a 40-18 advantage in that category.

Montana assisted on 22 of its 29 made field goals. Williams and Isaak shared the team high with seven. Isaak more than doubled his previous career high for assists in his second straight impressive performance.

The Grizzlies will now return home for three straight, starting with the Blaine Taylor Classic on Sunday, Nov. 23. They will play Lamar on Sunday and Oakland on Tuesday before hosting North Dakota State on Dec. 3 as part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.

"You reevaluate how you've played up to this point and you set new goals for yourselves individually and collectively. It's an opportunity to grow," DeCuire said. "We know what we're capable of and we've put two good halves together against Stanford and in this game. We know that if we put two halves together we can compete with tournament teams."