Griz look to keep hot start rolling at Stanford

Saturday, November 8

Stanford, Calif.

2:00 PM (MT)

Montana

Stanford

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

11/7/2025 9:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Montana Game Notes Stanford Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (2-0) at STANFORD (1-0)
Saturday, Nov. 8 / 2:00 p.m. (MT) / ACCNX / Live Stats

MONTANA at UNLV (0-1)
Tuesday, Nov. 11 / 8:00 p.m. (MT) / MW Network / Live Stats

The Montana Grizzlies will take their best start in seven years on the road this weekend as they get set to play at Stanford on Saturday. They will remain on the road as they take on UNLV in Vegas on Tuesday.

It's the first road trip of the season for a Grizzly team that has yet to be tested in 2025-26. The Grizzlies won by 65 over Northwest Indian, the 2^nd largest win in program history, and followed it up with a 34-point victory over Ottawa (AZ) on Wednesday night.

In a growing trend in college basketball, Montana is far from the only team playing against non-D1 teams to start the year. Montana's 49.5 points average margin of victory this season ranks 31^st in the NCAA.

The season will really begin to ramp up this weekend as Montana closes out an opening stretch of four games in eight days with two difficult road games. It's the third time that the Grizzlies have played Stanford under DeCuire and the first with the Cardinal as a member of the ACC.

This is the first time DeCuire's team has played UNLV. The Grizzlies and Runnin' Rebels haven't met on the hardwood since 2003.

It's been an impressive start to the season for the new-look Grizzlies on the defensive end as they've held opponents to just 40.0 points per game, which ranks inside the top 10 in the NCAA.

The team has eight newcomers, and all eight have had flashes through the first two games. DeCuire's teams typically feature an 8-9 player rotation, but in both games this season all 13 players that have dressed have entered the game.

The Grizzlies will look to stop a 20-game losing streak on the road in the month of November. The last time the Grizzlies won a game away from home in November was an overtime victory over Pitt in 2017.

NOVEMBER ROAD BLUES
Montana has struggled on the road in the month of November under head coach Travis DeCuire, typically playing against Power 4 schools in the non-conference portion of the schedule.

The Grizzlies are just 2-29 (.065) in November road games since 2014. They have been outscored by 15.5 points per game, allowing 76.9 points while scoring 61.4 points per game.

They are currently on a 20-game road losing streak in the month of November. The last win came on Nov. 13, 2017 at Pitt.

GRIZZLIES AGAINST THE ACC
This is just the third time under Coach DeCuire that Montana has played a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Stanford, now in its second year as an ACC member, will be the first team from the league that Montana has played since beating Pitt in 2017.

Montana is 1-5 all-time vs. the ACC. They have played four regular season games against teams from the conference and two NCAA Tournament games, most recently playing Boston College in the Second Round in 2006.

THE STANFORD CONNECTION
Stanford's all-time winningest coach, Mike Montgomery, got his start at the University of Montana in 1978. 'Monty' would coach at Montana for eight years, compiling a 155-76 (.669) record with the Griz before taking the Stanford job in 1986.

He would go on to win 393 games in 18 seasons with the Cardinal, leading them to a Final Four in 1998.

Montgomery will be inducted into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame the night before Montana and Stanford meet on the hardwood. The legendary coach also hired current Montana head coach Travis DeCuire as an assistant for him at Cal in 2008.

SCOUTING STANFORD (1-0, 0-0 ACC)

The Cardinal are coached by Kyle Smith. He is in his second season at Stanford after a successful stint at Washington State. Smith is 22-14 at Stanford and 280-207 overall in his career as a head coach.
Stanford went 21-14 last season in the program's first year in the ACC. They went 11-9 in league play and reached the second round of the NIT. The 21 wins were the most for the program since 2014-15.
Inside Maples Pavilion, Stanford racked up 17 wins last season. It tied the program record for most home wins in a single season.
They opened the new season with an 89-79 win over Portland State at home. It was the first of three straight games against Big Sky opponents for the Cardinal as they take on Montana State next Wednesday.
Freshman guard Ebuka Okorie scored 26 points in the season-opening win. It's the most points by a true freshman in program history.
Okorie also had seven rebounds and two steals in the win and is one of just two freshmen in the country with a 26-point game, joining Arizona's Koa Peat.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE CARDINAL
Stanford leads the all-time series with Montana 5-2. The Grizzlies are 1-4 on the road against the Cardinal with the last road win coming in 2002. Montana's only other win came in 2005 in Missoula.

The Cardinal have won the last two meetings in 2017 and 2019 by an average of 13.5 points.

SCOUTING UNLV (0-1, 0-0 MWC)

The Runnin' Rebels went 18-15 last season with an 11-9 record in Mountain West play. They were eliminated by Utah State in the Mountain West quarterfinal.
UNLV were upset at home in the first game of the season by UT Martin. The Skyhawks entered the game barely inside the top 300 in the KenPom ratings.
Head coach Josh Pastner is in his first season at UNLV after serving as a national broadcaster for several years. Pastner has a 254-187 (.576) career record with stops at Memphis and Georgia Tech in his career.
Pastner has 13 newcomers with only one returning player on the roster. There are eight D1 transfers included in the group of new faces.
The Runnin' Rebels are banged up at the moment with four players missing the season opener because of injury.
Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn, an Illinois transfer, led UNLV in the first game of the season with 18 points.
UNLV committed 22 turnovers in the opener, leading to 21 points for UT Martin.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE RUNNIN' REBELS
UNLV leads the all-time series with Montana 4-1. The two sides last met in 2003 in Las Vegas in an 86-67 win for the Runnin' Rebels. Montana is 1-2 on the road against UNLV with the only win coming back in 1964.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana is 2-0 for the first time since 2018. It's just the third time under Coach DeCuire that the Grizzlies have opened a season with consecutive wins. The previous two times that Montana started 2-0, they would go on to win Big Sky Championships.
In road openers, head coach Travis DeCuire is just 1-10 at Montana. The only win came in 2017 on the road against Pitt. Montana has lost its first road game of the season seven straight years.
The Grizzlies have started 3-0 just once in DeCuire's tenure, opening the 2018-19 season with four straight wins. They would go on to a 26-9 record and Big Sky Regular Season and Tournament Championships that year.
Montana has now won nine straight home games dating back to last year after starting the new year 2-0 inside Dahlberg Arena.
The Griz held Ottawa to just 39 points on Wednesday. It's the first time Montana has held a team under 40 points since 2021 when they defeated Dickinson State 74-27.
Montana is 9-50 (.153) in regular season road non-conference games under Coach DeCuire. They have lost six straight road non-conference games with the last win coming on 1/4/24 at North Dakota State.

PLAYER NOTES

Money Williams recorded his first career double-double on Wednesday. The junior guard scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the win over Ottawa.
- Williams reached double figures for the 26^th time in his career on Wednesday.
- He will be playing his 50^th career game at Montana on Saturday.
Te'Jon Sawyer needs five more points for 750 in his career. He has scored 646 of those points at Montana.
Tyler Isaak had a D1 career high with 12 points in the win over Ottawa (11/5). Isaak's 6 rebounds in that game were also a career high.
Kenyon Aguino had 14 points and 8 rebounds in his collegiate debut against Northwest Indian (11/3).
- The freshman has grabbed at least seven boards in both games this season.
Brooklyn Hicks scored a career high 17 points vs. Northwest Indian. It was also his career high for threes made (3) and attempted (6).
- Hicks needs nine more points for 250 in his career.
R-Freshman Tyler Thompson has made a three in both games this season and is shooting 37.5 percent from the arc.
- The guard also has five rebounds in each game that Montana has played this year.
Kadyn Betts scored a career high 9 points vs. Northwest Indian (11/3). He also had his career high for rebounds with four in that game.
Connor Dick had a career high 8 points against Northwest Indian (11/3).
- Dick set a new career high with 6 rebounds vs. Ottawa (11/5)
Grant Kepley led Montana in assists in his Grizzly debut, recording 6 against Northwest Indian (11/3).
Trae Taylor grabbed his 300^th career rebound against Ottawa (AZ) on 11/5/25.
Courtney Anderson Jr. has attempted 11 shots as a Grizzly and 10 of them have come from beyond the three-point line. He is 2-of-10 from the arc this season.