First week of Big Sky play features title game rematch in Missoula

Thursday, January 1

Missoula, Mont.

4:00 PM

Montana

Northern Arizona

Buy Tickets

Montana play the Salish Kootenai Bison at Dahlberg Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 10. 2025.

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke / University of Montana

First week of Big Sky play features title game rematch in Missoula

12/30/2025 2:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (6-7, 0-0 Big Sky) vs. NORTHERN ARIZONA (6-7, 0-0 Big Sky)
Thursday, Jan. 1 / 4:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

MONTANA vs. NORTHERN COLORADO (10-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
Saturday, Jan. 3 / 4:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

By the time Montana men's basketball takes the floor on New Year's Day, 11 calendar days will have passed since the team's last appearance. The Grizzlies will come back from the long break with Big Sky Conference play ahead of them in 2026.

The Grizzlies will hope to start the new year off on the right foot when they host Northern Arizona in an afternoon matinee. They will then host Northern Colorado in a rematch from last year's Big Sky Conference Championship game. Both games will tip at 4:00 p.m.

The calendar year 2025 came to a difficult end, but after a long break the Grizzlies will hope to recreate the Big Sky success that they had last season. Montana was just 7-6 entering conference play last season. They finished the year 25-10 overall with two Big Sky Championship trophies.

Head coach Travis DeCuire will once again hope that the lessons learned during non-conference play translate to Big Sky success as they open their title defense. The Grizzlies will be searching for DeCuire's fifth regular season championship in his 12^th season in charge at his alma mater.

They open with a Northern Arizona team that enters league play at 5-7 overall with all five wins coming at home. The Lumberjacks, picked last in the Big Sky by both the media and the coaches, are 0-5 in true road games this year.

Montana then faces off against the hottest team in the league at the moment. Northern Colorado, who Montana shared last season's regular season championship with, is 10-3 entering Big Sky Conference play.

The Bears picked up their biggest win of the season on Sunday, knocking off Colorado in Boulder 86-81 in front of a crowd of over 8,000. They rank in the top 50 in the country in scoring at nearly 87 points per game and have been very good on the road, going 5-1 in true road games.

It's the second straight season that Montana starts the home conference schedule with these two opponents. Last year, the Grizzlies knocked off Northern Arizona 81-76 before falling to Northern Colorado.

The loss would prove to be the only home blemish during league play for Montana as they went on to win the final seven home games of 2025. They also returned the favor on the Bears and then some, winning in Greeley before eliminating UNC in the Big Sky Championship game.

These have been two of the best programs in the Big Sky over the past decade. Montana has 17 more wins than any other team in the league since DeCuire took over in 2014, going 232-141 in that time. Northern Colorado is third with 204 wins.

Since current UNC head coach Steve Smiley took over in 2020, Montana has 105 wins, again the most in the league, while Northern Colorado has 99.

The stakes will be high as Montana opens the new year and sets its sights on back-to-back conference championships, and it all starts on Thursday afternoon.

REMATCH OF THE 2025 TITLE GAME
Montana and Northern Colorado split the regular season series in 2024-25 and tied for the regular season crown by going 15-3 in league play. The two teams then met in Boise with a ticket to the Big Dance on the line.

The Grizzlies won that contest 91-83 behind an incredibly efficient offensive performance. Montana shot 65.2 percent from the field, 63.6 percent from three-point range, and 85.7 percent from the free throw line in the win.

HOME BIG SKY RECORD
Montana went 8-1 at home in Big Sky play in 2024-25. The Grizzlies have been very good inside Dahlberg Arena under head coach Travis DeCuire during Big Sky Conference play. Since he took over in 2024, Montana has gone 75-24 at home against league opponents.

The .758 winning percentage is second best in the conference, trailing only Eastern Washington (.782). He has gone 9-2 against Northern Arizona, but nearly a third of his total home losses have come at the hands of Northern Colorado.

The Bears are 7-5 in Missoula since DeCuire took over and have won the previous two meetings inside Dahlberg Arena.

BIG SKY OPENERS
Montana is 8-3 under head coach Travis DeCuire in Big Sky Conference openers. The Grizzlies have started 0-1 in league play in two of the last three seasons. This is just the 5^th time that the Grizzlies have opened league play at home under DeCuire. They are 3-1 in the previous four league openers inside Dahlberg Arena.

This is the 5^th time under DeCuire that Montana opens league play against Northern Arizona. The Grizzlies are 4-0 in the previous matchups with three of the wins coming on the road.

JANUARY SUCCESS
The month of January has been very good to Coach DeCuire and the Grizzlies. Since DeCuire took over in 2014, Montana is 62-25 (.713). It's tied with Kansas for the 28^th best winning percentage in all of college basketball and is the best in the Big Sky.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana has won five straight over Northern Arizona, including a 3-0 record against the Lumberjacks last season with home, road, and neutral site wins.
The 40-point loss at Louisville was the first for Montana since falling by 40 on the road to Oregon in November of 2021.
The Grizzlies were held to a season low 54 points at #11 Louisville.
UM matched a season high with 9 steals at Louisville.
The loss at Louisville was just the second time this year that Montana did not hold a lead at any point in the game. The other came at Stanford.
Coach DeCuire is 140-61 (.697) in Big Sky Conference play.
Montana had allowed more than 8 three pointers in a game just once this season over the first 11 games, but have allowed 12+ in back-to-back games. The previous two opponents have gone 26-of-53 (.491) from three-point range against Montana.
The Griz have more turnovers than their opponent in 11 of 13 games. They are 2-0 when committing fewer turnovers, but 4-7when committing more.
The Grizzlies have scored 100+ points in three games already this season. It's tied for the most 100-point games in a single season in program history. The Grizzlies also reached the century mark three times in 1965-66 and 1990-91.
Montana shot 70.5 percent from the floor against Salish Kootenai. It's the first time since 1968 that Montana has shot over 70 percent in a game, and the 5th best shooting percentage in the NCAA this year.
Montana is 6-1 when going on a 10-point scoring run during the game. They are 0-6 if they don't have a 10-point scoring run in the game.
In six wins, Montana is averaging 92.0 points per game. In the seven losses, they are averaging just 71.4 points per game.
Montana overcame a halftime deficit for the first time this season at North Dakota (12/6). The halftime leader has gone on to win in 12 of the first 13 games this season.
Montana overcame a 10-point deficit at North Dakota (12/6). It's the largest come-from-behind win this season for the Griz, and the largest since coming back from 14 points down against Eastern Washington last March.
Montana has a better field goal percentage than its opponent in 9 games this season.
The Griz are 4-1 when finishing with more rebounds but have been outrebounded in eight games.
The Griz played in seven straight games decided by single digits from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6. They have played in eight total games decided by single digits.
Montana has been .500 or better through 10 games every season since 2020-21.
The Grizzlies have allowed 80+ points in eight games this year. They have allowed the opponent to reach 90 points four times.

PLAYER NOTES

Te'Jon Sawyer set new career highs with 23 points and 12 rebounds against Montana Tech (12/17). It's the second double-double of his career but first with Montana.
Sawyer came off the bench for the first time in 40 games against Tech. He responded with the best statistical game of his Grizzly career.
Grant Kepley played a season high 26 minutes at Louisville, scoring in double figures for the first time in his D1 career with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
Tyler Thompson is 18-of-37 (.486) from three-point range over his last five games. He's made multiple threes in all five and attempted a new career high 11 threes at Louisville, making 4 of them.
Money Williams recorded his 3rd double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 assists against Salish Kootenai (12/10).
Williams now has two games with 10+ assists this season. It's tied for the 6th most in the country. Purdue's Braden Smith leads with six games. He's the first Grizzly since Cameron Parker in 2021-22 to have two 10-assist games in the same year.
Tyler Isaak recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 assists against Salish Kootenai (12/10). The 10 assists are a new career high for Isaak.
Isaak ranks 28th in the NCAA with a 3.57 assist/turnover ratio.
Money Williams is one of two players in the NCAA this season averaging at least 18.0 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game.
Williams will be starting his 40^th career game on Thursday.
Brooklyn Hicks started his first game as a Grizzly against Montana Tech. It was the 8th start of his career. He scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the start.
Trae Taylor played a season high 15 minutes at Louisville. He recorded 4 points and 3 rebounds.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA (6-7, 0-0 BIG SKY)

The Lumberjacks enter Thursday's contest coming off a win over Benadictine Mesa on Monday night. They enter league play 2-5 in their previous seven games.
Former Grizzly Zack Davidson leads the Lumberjacks in scoring at 15.2 points per game. Davidson is also third on the team in rebounding with 5.0 per game and has started 11 of the team's 13 games.
Davidson appeared in 16 games in two seasons at Montana, scoring 38 total points and grabbing 25 rebounds.
Northern Arizona was picked last in both the Media and Coaches Polls this preseason. They went 8-10 in league play last year to finish tied for 6^th in the league and were eliminated by Montana in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Tournament.
Head coach Shane Burcar is in his 7^th season at Northern Arizona. The head coach has an 81-118 (.407) overall record.
NAU is one of the better three-point shooting teams in the country. They are inside the top 40 nationally and rank 3^rd in the Big Sky by shooting 37.9 percent from the arc this season.
Against Quad 4 teams, Northern Arizona is 3-1. Against the top three quads, they are 0-6. This will be a Q3 game for the Lumberjacks.
The Lumberjacks average 75.2 points per game while allowing 73.5. The 1.6 scoring margin ranks 228^th in the country.
Northern Arizona force 14.0 turnovers per game to rank inside the top 100 nationally.
Zack Davidson ranks 21^st nationally and leads the Big Sky Conference by shooting 63.1 percent from the field. He is also 9^th in the Big Sky in scoring.
Ryan Abelman leads the 'Jacks in rebounding (6.0/game). Abelman is also 3^rd in the Big Sky Conference with 1.8 steals per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE LUMBERJACKS
Montana leads the all-time series against Northern Arizona 82-36. The Grizzlies are currently on a five-game winning streak in the series and have won seven of the last 10. Montana is 45-11 at home in the series with three straight wins inside Dahlberg Arena.

Head coach Travis DeCuire is 18-5 against Northern Arizona in his career, including a 9-2 record at home.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO (10-3, 0-0 Big Sky)

The Bears enter Big Sky play atop the league standings at 10-3. They snapped a two-game losing streak in a big way on Sunday, going on the road to knock off Colorado 86-81.
Northern Colorado's only losses have come at nationally ranked Texas Tech, against St. Thomas on a neutral floor, and at home against Denver.
Head coach Steve Smiley is looking for his 100^th career win this weekend. The 6^th year head coach is 99-74 at Northern Colorado.
The Bears have a fantastic offense, which is typical of a Smiley coached unit. They rank 47^th in the country and lead the Big Sky in scoring at 86.8 points per game. They have an effective field goal percentage of .594, the 14^th best in the NCAA.
UNC has scored 90+ points five times this season and 80+ nine times. They are 8-1 when scoring at least 80 points.
Quinn Denker has been one of the best players in the Big Sky this season, averaging 18.7 points and 6.3 assists per game. He leads the league in both categories.
Denker was named the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week for his performance last week, scoring 33 points to go with 8 rebounds and 8 assists in the upset win over Colorado.
Brock Wisne is averaging 16.5 points per game this season to rank 6^th in the Big Sky Conference. The senior has gone over 1,000 career points this season and is closing in on 500 career rebounds. He's appeared in 111 games and started 89 of them for UNC.
Zach Bloch, an All-Defensive Team member in 2024-25, is averaging 12.8 points per game and leads the Bears with 19 steals. In Denker, Wisne, and Block, all three of UNC's top scorers were on the team that reached the title game last season.
The Bears will play in Bozeman at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday night to open Big Sky Conference play.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BEARS
Montana is 30-17 all-time vs. Northern Colorado and have won the previous two meetings. The teams faced off in the 2025 Big Sky Championship game with Montana prevailing 91-83.

In Missoula, the Grizzlies hold a 15-9 advantage over the Bears. The series has been flipped on its head a bit since DeCuire took over in 2014. He is 13-10 overall against Northern Colorado, but just 5-7 in Missoula. DeCuire is 6-3 in Greeley and 2-0 in neutral site games against UNC.