Griz renew rivalry in Bozeman

MONTANA (9-8, 3-1 Big Sky) at MONTANA STATE (9-8, 3-1 Big Sky)
Saturday, Jan. 17 / 7:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA at NORTHERN ARIZONA (6-11, 0-4 Big Sky)
Monday, Jan. 19 / 6:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats

Montana and Montana State will meet for the 311^th time on Saturday evening in Bozeman in a game that is already shaping up to be an important one in Big Sky Conference play. The two teams enter with identical records both overall (9-8) and in league play (3-1) and are currently tied for second in the conference standings.

The two teams both jumped out to 3-0 starts in league play, and both seemed poised to move to 4-0 last Saturday. Then Montana fell by a point as Eastern Washington closed the game on a 9-0 run while Montana State allowed 62 second half points and blew an 18-point halftime advantage against Idaho.

Both teams will look to get back on track in a crucial showdown on Saturday.

The Grizzlies have won two straight and four of the last five in the rivalry, sweeping the series last season on the way to a Big Sky title. They made some history in Bozeman last season as head coach Travis DeCuire picked up his 221^st career win to tie George Dahlberg for the most in program history.

DeCuire has extended on that lead significantly since then and is looking to extend an impressive record against the rivals on Saturday. DeCuire is 16-5 overall against MSU and owns a 7-3 record inside Worthington Arena.

The only buildings that DeCuire has won more games inside of are Dahlberg Arena, Idaho State's Reed Gym, and Boise's Idaho Central Arena.

The game will be televised locally on Scripps Sports and streamed on ESPN+. Ben Creighton will be on the call with Jeff Riggs providing analysis. Kyle Hansen will serve as a courtside reporter for the game.

The Grizzlies will have a quick turnaround from the rivalry to prepare for a road contest at Northern Arizona. It will be the second meeting with the Lumberjacks already this season with Montana winning the first 78-64 in Missoula on New Year's Day.

REGULAR SEASON RIVALRY SWEEPS
Head coach Travis DeCuire has swept the regular season series over Montana State seven times in his first 11 seasons at Montana, including each of the previous two seasons. The rivalry series has been split only once in those 11 years.

In the rivalry, the winner of the first game has gone on to sweep the season series 14 of the previous 16 times. Since the 2008-09 season, the Griz and Cats have split the regular season series just twice, most recently in 2021-22.

Montana is responsible for 12 of the season sweeps in that time. Montana State has swept just twice.

CLOSE CONFERENCE GAMES
The Big Sky Conference has been full of parity this season with games coming down the wire every night. Through two weeks of league play, 33.3% of all Big Sky conference games have been decided by fewer than 4 points or have gone to overtime.

According to KenPom.com, this is the second highest percentage of "close games" by a conference in the NCAA out of 31 qualifying conferences. There has only been one "blowout" – a win by greater than 19 points – in the league this year.

DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS
Montana struggled defensively in the non-conference portion of the schedule, giving up 85.0 points per game to D-I opponents. They have greatly improved on the defensive end entering Big Sky play.

The Grizzlies are allowing just 70.5 points per game to league opponents and holding them to a .404 shooting percentage. They have the best defensive efficiency rating in the Big Sky during league play at 102.4, according to KenPom.com.

BIG SKY STARTS
This is the 9^th time in 12 seasons that Montana has been at least 3-1 through four games in league play under DeCuire. The Grizzlies are currently on the exact same pace as last year's squad. They will look to improve to 4-1 for the second straight season and 8^th time overall under DeCuire on Saturday.

BEST INDIVIDUAL SCORING SEASONS
In the long history of Montana basketball, only three players have averaged at least 20.0 points per game in a season. All three are now Grizzly Sports Hall of Famers. Larry Krystkowiak did it twice, averaging 22.2 in 1985-86 and 21.1 in '84-85. Michael Ray Richardson has the program record of 24.2 points per game set in 1977-78.

Bob Cope also did it in 1949-50, averaging 22.7 points per game. Money Williams is currently averaging 19.5 points per game, which would rank 6^th all-time for a single season at Montana. Sayeed Pridgett averaged 19.8 PPG in 2019-20.

FOUR-GAME ROAD STRETCH
This is the third game in the middle of a four-game stretch on the road for Montana. It's the first time since 2021-22 that they have played four consecutive road games on the road in Big Sky Conference play.

THE .500 SEASON STREAK
Montana has been .500 or better every single season since 2007-08. They are one of 14 schools nationally with 17 straight seasons at .500 or better, joining Arizona, Baylor, Belmont, Cincinnati, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Memphis, Michigan State, Montana, Saint Mary's, San Diego State, Vermont, VCU.

Head coach Travis DeCuire has never had a losing season at Montana.

100-100 CLUB
Money Williams eclipsed 100 made field goals and 100 made free throws at Eastern Washington on Jan. 10. He was the 4^th player in the NCAA to reach 100 in both categories.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana blew a 9-point lead at Eastern Washington. It's the largest lead given up by the Grizzlies this season.
The Grizzlies are shooting 49.1 percent as a team this year, which ranks 39^th nationally. Over the past two seasons, Montana is shooting .496 from the field to rank 10^th in the NCAA.
Saturday's loss was the first regulation conference loss for the Grizzlies in nearly a full calendar year. They had won 17 out of 18 against Big Sky opponents with the lone loss coming in overtime at Portland State prior to Saturday.
The Grizzlies were 7-0 when leading at the half before Saturday's loss at Eastern Washington. They held a 5-point advantage at the break but fell by one point.
Saturday's loss was the first game this year decided by one possession. Montana is now 0-1 in one-possession games and 2-3 in games decided by 6-or-fewer points.
The Griz are 0-4 when scoring fewer than 70 points.
The 2 made three-pointers on Saturday were a new season-low for Montana. It was just the 5^th time that the Grizzlies have made fewer 3FGs than their opponent. They are 1-4 when doing so.
Montana has more turnovers than its opponent in 14 of 17 games. They are 3-0 when committing the same or fewer, and 6-8 when committing more.
The Eastern Washington game (1/10) featured 11 lead changes, second most in a contest this season for Montana. The teams were tied 9 times, which matched a season high.
Money Williams has now scored 30+ points in five games this season and seven games in his career. He passed Hall of Famer Larry Krystkowiak for second in program history in both season and career 30-point games. He now trails only former NBA first round draft pick Michael Ray Richardson, who had eight 30-point games as a senior and 11 in his career.
Tyler Thompson and Kenyon Aguino are the first pair of freshmen to average at least 8.0 points per game in the same season since the trio of Josh Bannan, Robby Beasley, and Brandon Whitney did it in 2020-21.
Money Williams is averaging 19.5 points per game this season. It is the highest scoring average since Sayeed Pridgett averaged 19.8 as a senior in 2019-20.
The Griz improved to 8-2 when playing the team they faced in the Big Sky Championship game the previous year under Coach DeCuire with the win over Northern Colorado (1/3).
Montana led wire-to-wire against Northern Colorado, taking the lead 27 seconds into the game and holding it the rest of the way. It's the only time this year they've done it against a D-I team.
The 14-point win over Northern Arizona (1/1) was the largest this season against a D-I opponent. Montana also held its largest lead against a D-I team this season against Northern Colorado, going ahead by 17 points.
They are 6-2 when shooting over 50 percent in a game this season.
Coach DeCuire is 143-62 (.698) in Big Sky Conference play.
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 8-1 when going on a 10-point scoring run during the game.
In nine wins, Montana is averaging 88.6 points per game. In the eight losses, they are averaging just 70.6 points per game.
Montana lost while leading at the half for the first time this season at Eastern Washington (1/10). The halftime leader is now 13-2 in Montana's 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 13 games this season.
The Griz are 4-2 when finishing with more rebounds but have been outrebounded in 10 games.
The Griz played in seven straight games decided by single digits from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6. They have played in 11 total games decided by single digits.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE (9-8, 3-1 BIG SKY)

The Bobcats enter Saturday after a loss at Idaho in their last outing. They led by 18 at the break but allowed 62 second half points in a Vandal comeback.
Montana State started 3-0 in Big Sky play, matching Montana with an opening weekend road sweep and then adding a road victory over Eastern Washington.
At home, MSU is 5-1 this season. They have won four straight games inside Worthington Arena. The only loss came on Nov. 9 to Denver.
Head coach Matt Logie is in his 3^rd season at Montana State. Logie is 41-44 (.482) as head coach of the Bobcats. He went 17-18 in his first season and 15-18 in his second.
The Cats average 79.3 points per game and allow 70.5. They are in the top 100 nationally in scoring margin at 8.8.
They are an efficient shooting team that ranks in the top 100 nationally in field goal percentage (.477, 69^th), free throw percentage (.747, 86^th), and three-point percentage (.356, 94^th).
Montana State takes care of the ball well, leading the Big Sky in turnovers per game (10.8) while ranking second in turnover margin (0.9).
Patrick McMahon leads Montana State in scoring at 14.6 points per game. They have four different players averaging at least 11.9 points per game.
Jed Miller leads the Bobcats in minutes (32.4), rebounds (5.0), and assists (40) this season. He's also made 45 threes on 41.3 percent shooting from the arc to rank 45^th in the country and second in the Big Sky.
Miller also averages 1.53 steals per contest to rank 4^th in the Big Sky.
Washington transfer Christian King has played well recently after missing some time with injury. He's averaging 16.3 points per game in league play.
Chris Hodges is 2^nd in the Big Sky Conference with 19 total blocks this year, averaging 1.12 per game.

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Players Mentioned

Kenyon Aguino

Tyler Thompson

Brandon Whitney

Money Williams

University of Montana Athletics