Griz rock Bears to move into tie for first place

Thursday, February 6

Greeley, Colo.

6:00 PM

Montana

16-8,9-2Big Sky

Northern Colorado

17-7,9-2Big Sky

Montana

Northern Colo.

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

2/6/2025 9:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

In a battle of the top two teams in the Big Sky Conference, Montana exacted revenge against Northern Colorado in a dominant road win to move into a tie at the top of the league standings. Montana led by as many as 21 points and held on late for an 86-78 win over the Bears.

It's the first home loss for Northern Colorado during Big Sky play, and was a crucial game for Montana as they pull level with the Bears at 9-2 in conference play. It's the third straight game that Montana has scored at least 86 points.

Montana flipped the script from a tough loss at home 26 days ago, jumping on the Bears early with an 11-0 run to force a Northern Colorado timeout before the first media timeout. It set the tone, as Montana's offense lit it up all night by shooting 62.0 percent from the floor and 62.5 percent from three.

The Griz outrebounded the Bears 30-26, again taking a weakness from the first matchup and turning it into a strength. Northern Colorado averages 82 points per game and shoots 51.2 percent from the field, both easily the top marks in the league.

The fast-paced offense was held below its season averages as Montana was physical from the opening tip and kept the Bears out of rhythm.

"This is the least that I've put on the board before the game. Be physical. Be tough. Play like a winner. We already gave them the blueprint in practice and walkthrough in terms of our keys to getting stops," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "If we could slow this team down, we would generate enough offense. We had some guys really execute with perfection defensively, especially in the first half. We gave up too many threes in the second half, but we built a big enough lead to survive it."

Needed a bucket. Called on Money. He delivered. 💰@mxney___ | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/5M63HTp51u
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 7, 2025

The Grizzlies torched the nets early on, making five straight shots during an 11-0 run early. They had balanced scoring from the jump with four different players contributing the first five makes. The starting lineup remained consistent for the fourth straight game, and remains undefeated when starting together.

Money Williams came off the bench as the sixth man and took over the game on the offensive end. Williams had eight quick points to help Montana take a 10-point lead at the 12-minute mark.

Malik Moore joined in on the fun late in the first half as Montana continued to build the lead. Moore made three shots from the arc in a two-minute stretch to build the lead up to 47-32.

FROM THE @BigSkyConf LOGO 😱@mooremalikk is up to 13 and the Griz have a season-high 47 first half points!#GrizHoops | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/zlfRkr5XvY
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 7, 2025

Moore and Williams each had 13 first-half points on a combined 6-of-8 from three point range, while Te'Jon Sawyer and Joe Pridgen combined for 14 first half points.

"They all were impactful. They all had moments and streaks," DeCuire said. "Money rotates in and that was the longest rotation of flawlessness that I've seen in a long time. He made all the right play, the hoop got big and then it got contagious. Malik made two in a row. I didn't realize that Kai hadn't had very many shots but it got to a point where they were switching and we needed to attack the rim and it was like hey, bring us home."

Montana led by double digits at half time for the fourth straight game, and improved to 13-1 when taking the lead into the locker rooms this year. The Grizzlies shot 67.9 percent in the first half, making 19-of-28 attempts from the floor. They also connected on 7-of-10 threes to score a season high 47 first-half points.

Brandon Whitney had the first four points out of the half for Montana as he continues to climb closer to the top 10 in program history in scoring. Whitney had six points in the second half to bring his career total to 1,496 points.

But more importantly, Whitney had a fantastic game on the defensive end of the floor. Whitney held Jarron Rillie to just 40 percent shooting and a single assist.

Whitney and Sawyer, who guarded Brock Wisne on the post, were key to the win with their defensive play. Wisne had 19 points and 8 rebounds on 75 percent shooting in the first meeting. Sawyer held him to just five points and two rebounds on Thursday.

"For Te'Jon Sawyer and Brandon Whitney to shut down their guys tonight without needing double teams in the post, that was huge," DeCuire said. "It allowed everybody else to play their role and not guard two people. That was huge."

Two straight from the arc for Te'Jon 🎯🎯@tejxn__ | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/OOoNQ1sgRq
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 7, 2025

A layup from Pridgen at the 12:23 mark increased the Grizzly lead to a game-high 21 points at 65-44. The Bears wouldn't go away quietly, and the three point line helped the hosts climb back into it. They went on a 15-4 run behind a trio of threes from Quinn Denker to cut the lead to 10.

They would get as close as six points a couple of times down the stretch, but Montana had a response every time. In what could be considered a must-win game, and the most crucial to the Big Sky title race all season, Montana held on for the eight-point win.

"It boosts confidence. It boost morale. We're asking people to do things that are hard. We're asking guys to assume roles that have never been assigned to them before, defensively, passing, no you don't get 20 shots you get 10, sometimes five," DeCuire said. "Decision making. Thought process. The way we prepare, the film we watch. We're asking a lot of these guys, so when you come out in these situations and win, it makes it worth it."

Williams led Montana with 18 points and nine rebounds on the night, team highs in both categories off the bench. Te'Jon Sawyer had 15 points and seven rebounds. Kai Johnson added 14, while Moore and Pridgen each scored 13.

Montana outscored Northern Colorado in the paint 34-30, and outrebounded the Bears 30-26. The Grizzlies had six steals, led by Whitney with three and Johnson with two, and blocked five Bears shots.

The Grizzlies shot 62.0 percent from the floor. It's the second time in the last three games that Montana has shot better than 60 percent from the floor. It's also the second time that they've made at least 10 threes on better than 60 percent shooting as they have become the hottest shooting team in the Big Sky Conference.

Montana is one of just 16 teams in the NCAA this season with multiple games shooting better than 60 percent, and they've done it all in the last week.

That's an 1⃣1⃣ to 0⃣ run for Montana to force an early UNC timeout 😤@mooremalikk | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/BlbjoJ2kZb
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) February 7, 2025

With seven games remaining, Montana is right back in the driver's seat of the Big Sky regular season championship. For a team with eight transfers, nine new players overall, they have learned what it means to play in DeCuire's program and the expectations that come with it quickly.

"They need to experience it. Most of these guys have never experienced it before. That's part of the reason we lost the way we did at home, we hadn't had anyone play in that type of game before," DeCuire said. "They hadn't played for a championship, or been in front of a crowd that had a level of expectation for them, and a team that was hunting us. One of the things we did was flip the script and said we're the predators tonight."

Montana will now head up to the elevation of Flagstaff, Ariz. for a matchup with Northern Arizona on Saturday evening. The Lumberjacks defeated Montana State on Thursday night to improve to 5-6 in Big Sky play.

"This is a dangerous team. They can beat you in a lot of ways," DeCuire said. "They didn't go away at home, and we walked away from it feeling like we played well but we did not. We've got to be a lot better, and we need to better in some areas than we were tonight. For us, every game is a championship game moving forward so we need to give these guys the same attention we gave these guys."