DeCuire breaks Dahlberg's record in Sacramento

Thursday, February 27

Sacramento, Calif.

8:00 PM (MT)

Montana

21-8,14-2Big Sky

Sacramento State

7-22,3-13Big Sky

Montana

Sacramento St.

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

2/28/2025 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Coach DeCuire Postgame Interview Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Travis DeCuire's 222^nd career win didn't come easily, but his Montana Grizzlies survived a late run from Sacramento State on Thursday night to win 60-54 to improve to 21-8 on the season and 14-2 in Big Sky play.

The win moves DeCuire into sole possession of first place in program history for career wins, passing George "Jiggs" Dahlberg. It also put him just one win away from hanging yet another banner inside the arena named after the man he passed, as the Grizzlies can clinch at least a share of the Big Sky Championship with one win in the final two games.

"Anything that I've accomplished as a coach, either as a head coach or assistant coach, I've been a part of a lot of success, and at the end of the day, it's all based on surrounding yourself with winners or being taught by winners," DeCuire said. "Fortunately for me, I've been given the blueprint and been sitting in really great opportunities. I had good teammates when I played, and I've got good players when I coach.

"I'm along for the ride. I get the credit, but I'm along for the ride," DeCuire continued. "It's been special. I've got special people with me, and this group deserves the banner more than I do."

He stands alone. @CoachDeCuire is the winningest coach in Montana program history. #GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/WeyK2DTKKY
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 28, 2025

The game was a defensive struggle as Montana limited Sacramento State on one end of the floor but couldn't get things clicking on the other end. The Griz still shot 50 percent, doing so for the ninth straight game, but they turned it over 14 times for a new season high in Big Sky play.

The Hornets also forced a red-hot three-point shooting team off the line as Montana went just 2-of-10 from beyond the arc, the fewest makes in game this year for the Grizzlies.

Despite some offensive struggles, the Grizzlies still led wire-to-wire for the win, taking the first lead and holding it for 37 minutes. There were big runs to be had in the first half as Montana went on a 12-0 run that they extended out to 19-2 overall. It helped them build a 27-8 lead in the opening half.

It all occurred as Montana dealt with a couple of injury scares with Malik Moore and Kai Johnson both missing time in the opening 20 minutes.

Montana limited the Hornets to just 15 first half points, the fewest allowed by one of DeCuire's teams. It's the fewest first-half points allowed since 2010 when Montana limited Idaho to just 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Sacramento State scored just two points over a 10-minute stretch as Montana forced them into 10 straight missed field goals at one point.

"Our fire," Decuire said of the key to the defensive dominance. "We blew through screens, we didn't require very much help and when we did guys were there to contest shots. I thought they got off too man threes during that stretch, but they were contested and rushed, so that's probably our best defensive effort for a half all season."

The Hornets missed their first 15 attempts from three-point range in the game, and Montana kept things rolling, going ahead 39-17 on a Te'Jon Sawyer dunk with 16:49 to play. From that point on, the Hornets figured things out on the offensive end of the floor.

Joe Jam™️ No. 33 on the year!#GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/ccphxrnBTW
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 28, 2025

Sacramento State chipped away at the lead, pulling within single digits at 54-45 for the first time since the score was 15-6 in the first half. They kept it just within 10 points down the stretch, and a three-pointer from EJ Neal with 19 seconds left made it 58-54.

Money Williams went 2-2 at the free throw line, and Montana got the defensive stop it needed to survive its final trip to The Nest.

"We lost our edge. We got off to a really good start, I thought," DeCuire said. "Defensively, they couldn't get much in the first half, but offensively we were just stagnant. We got really good looks, but the ball didn't go in. We stepped out of bounds three times, so there were some uncharacteristic things that I thought slowed us down. Then we had zero aggression in the second half. But I'll take an ugly win in late February while chasing a championship."

It completes just the third perfect February in program history as Montana ends the month with a 7-0 record. It is also the fifth wire-to-wire win of the season, and second against Sacramento State.

DeCuire had the big record, but it was also a fantastic night for the man chasing him in the career assists chart. Brandon Whitney led all scorers with 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

Whitney also had four assists to bring his career total to 432. He passed Shane Christensen in the process, moving into second place in Montana school history. Whitney will need just four more assists to take the school record from his head coach.

"They had a hard time containing him," DeCuire said of his point guard. "I thought he got tired in the second half and it was harder for him to bring us home down the stretch because he was working so hard on the defensive side of the ball, but he's been rock solid for us."

The drive from Whitney, who is up to 18 points on 100 percent shooting tonight 🔥#GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/o2rfT0WzLu
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 28, 2025

Te'Jon Sawyer had 12 points for Montana on 66.7 percent shooting, also grabbing three rebounds while playing stout defense against the Hornets' leading scorer Jacob Holt. Holt was held under his season average in scoring and shot just 35.7 percent from the floor.

Joe Pridgen had 11 points and seven rebounds for Montana. Money Williams had seven points and matched his career high with nine rebounds.

Montana will have a chance to clinch a share of the Big Sky Conference regular season championship on Saturday afternoon at Portland State. The Vikings dominated Montana State for a 17-point win on Thursday night to improve to 7-0 at home in league play.

"Toughest place to play in the conference. They are undefeated at home for a reason, so if you want to win a championship you have to go make some things happen that other teams couldn't do," DeCuire said. "We've always said four losses wins conference, and it's looking like three will get you second place this year. It's going to be important for us to finish this thing off, we need to be loose, we need to be hungry."

DeCuire's team improved to 7-1 on the road in conference play, proving yet again that the difficult non-conference schedule did well to prepare them for league games on the road.

Last Saturday after tying Dahlberg's record, DeCuire thanked all of the assistants that he has had on staff in his 11 seasons at Montana. As DeCuire reflected on passing Jiggs Dahlberg to stand alone atop the Montana wins list Thursday night in Sacramento, he reflected on those that helped mold him from a young age.

What does becoming the all-time winningest coach in Montana history mean?

"It means I've been impacted by a lot of great coaches. You have to learn how to coach somewhere," DeCuire said. "From first grade to seventh grade I never lost a game. My father, uncles, godfathers, they taught us how to compete at a very young age. I transfer out to Mercer Island and play for the all-time winningest coach in the state of Washington in Ed Pepple, so I've always been surrounded by people who knew how to get the most out of me and others on my team."

You break the program record for career wins, you get the marker post game.

21 total wins. 14 Big Sky wins. One away from a Big Sky title. #GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/VA3YRNL1t7
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 28, 2025