Griz roll again to start 2-0 for first time since 2018

Wednesday, November 5

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

2-0,0-0Big Sky

Ottawa (AZ)

0-1

Ottawa (AZ)

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

Griz roll again to start 2-0 for first time since 2018

11/5/2025 10:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana cruised to another easy victory inside Dahlberg Arena on Wednesday night, defeating Ottawa (AZ) 73-39 to start a season 2-0 for the first time since 2018. Money Williams recorded his first career double-double to lead Montana to the win.

The Preseason MVP of the Big Sky Conference also added six assists in one of the most complete performances of his career.

The Grizzlies went ahead early and never looked back, leading by 30-plus over much of the final 10 minutes against the NAIA team from Surprise, Ariz. It was a much better start to the game than the team had on Monday against Northwest Indian as they played aggressively from the opening tip.

"There was some growth in terms of our intensity. I thought the first four minutes was a lot better than it was on Monday night," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "We're still working kinks out and defensively we continue to grow. I think our defense was a lot further along than it has been at this stage but our offense isn't necessarily clicking. I think that a lot of that has to do with me still trying to work out rotations."

DeCuire once again went deep into his bench as he played 13 different people on Wednesday night. The 12^th year head coach is still trying to find the rotation as guys have made things difficult on him with good play from deep rotation spots.

He had 11 different players score against Ottawa with Tyler Isaak as the only other Grizzly in double figures with 12 points on 60 percent shooting. Isaak also added six rebounds.

Every player in the starting five finished the game with at least five rebounds as Montana, for the second straight time, dominated the glass. The Griz outrebounded the Spirit 55-29, including 11 offensive boards.

Williams set a new career high with his 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. He had missed out on a double-double by one rebound on two occasions in his first two seasons at Montana.

Freshman Kenyon Aguino was next with seven rebounds to go with his five points. Connor Dick, in 17 minutes off the bench, had six rebounds.

Te'Jon Sawyer had nine points and six rebounds in his 21 minutes of action and Courtney Anderson Jr. had eight points, which all came in the second half as he got hot from three-point range with a couple of makes.

It all leads to a conundrum for the Grizzly head coach.

"Usually by this time I'm at least at nine or 10, and right now there is not a lot of separation from 5-13," DeCuire said. "It makes it hard on me, and I just can't play that many guys because it gets people out of rhythm trying to get more guys in the game. I thought that led to some of our cold spurts."

Montana was doubling Ottawa up at 12-6 by the first media timeout and used a 13-2 run late in the first half to go into the break up 32-19.

They used three scoring runs of 7-or-more in the second half to create the large gap in the scoring margin. Williams contributed to much of that despite not making a field goal in the second half.

The guard had seven rebounds and four assists in the second half, consistently getting the ball up the floor before the Ottawa defense could come set. DeCuire rotated much of the rotation, but Williams was on the floor for 17 minutes in the second half and 34 overall on the night.

"There was the thought of resting him to get through the weekend, but I wanted to see what his energy was going to be like in the second half," DeCuire said. "I feel like he's going to have to play big minutes in these next two games."

Montana shot 44 percent on the night and 29 percent from three as the offense struggled to find a good rhythm. They made up for it on the other end by holding Ottawa to just 14-of-61 (.230) shooting from the field and 15 percent from the arc.

The Grizzlies forced 11 turnovers which led directly to 24 points as they were able to get out in transition often on the night. Montana had 13 fast break points.

The best start in seven years will now be put to the test with a pair of road games beginning on Saturday. The Grizzlies will head to California to face off with Stanford on Saturday afternoon and then head east to Vegas for a Tuesday night matchup with UNLV.

The Cardinal opened the season with an 89-79 win over Portland State on Tuesday night and won't play again until Saturday. The Runnin' Rebels were upset by Tennessee Martin in the home opener 86-81. They face Chattanooga on Saturday.

"Two good teams. Good size, good athleticism, very different," DeCuire said. "We're going to see a lot of zone in one game and physicality. Our defense is going to be challenged big time against Stanford. Our rebounding and attention to detail away from the ball will be challenged against UNLV. Two big games, two rough road trips, but we're excited"