Griz host Wildcats on Thursday night

Thursday, January 22

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

Weber State

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Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/ University of Montana

1/21/2026 1:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (10-9, 4-2 BIG SKY) vs. WEBER STATE (10-9, 4-2 BIG SKY)
Thursday, Jan. 22 / 7:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

PREVIEW
Montana men's basketball will be playing its third game in the last six days when they face off with Weber State on Thursday night inside Dahlberg Arena. The good news for Montana? They finally get to return home after playing four straight on the road.

The last time Montana played at home was way back on January 3 against Northern Colorado. The Grizzlies won that Big Sky title game rematch to improve to 2-0 in league play and then they embarked on the long stretch away from Missoula.

The Griz went 2-2 during that four-game stretch and enter the week at 4-2 in league play and tied for third place in the standings. The team that they are tied with comes to town on Thursday as Montana and Weber State renew their longtime rivalry.

The Wildcats and Grizzlies have identical overall and conference records this year, but are coming off different results. Weber State lost last Saturday to Idaho at home. Montana is coming off its largest win over a D-I program this season.

The Grizzlies bounced back in a big way on Monday night in Flagstaff, knocking off the Lumberjacks 98-72 in an impressive offensive display. Montana shot 67.9 percent in the win, the best mark against a D-I opponent this century.

Te'Jon Sawyer (27) and Money Williams (25) became the first Grizzlies in a decade to score 25+ in the same game and Montana coasted down the stretch for their 7^th straight victory over Northern Arizona.

They now prepare for the first matchup this season against a high scoring Weber State team. The game will tip off at 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+ with "Voice of the Griz" Riley Corcoran on the call.

MONEY'S STACK
Williams will almost certainly reach 1,000 points in his 67^th career game on Thursday night, needing just four points to hit the milestone. He will become the 38^th member of Montana's 1,000-point club and the 9^th player to reach 1,000 points while playing for Coach DeCuire.

He will become the 6^th fastest player to reach 1,000 points in program history. Martin Breunig and Anthony Johnson both reached the milestone in 56 games, which is the fewest in program history to reach 1,000.

Ahmaad Rorie did it in 58 games. Aanen Moody needed 61 games. All four players started their careers elsewhere and transferred to Montana. Ken McKenzie reached 1,000 points in 64 career games.

McKenzie started his career at UM but played a froshmore season that did not count toward his career games played or points total. He scored his 1,000^th varsity point in his 64^th varsity game.

Williams is the fastest player to 1,000 that played as a freshman, and the 2^nd fastest amongst players that began their careers at UM.

BIG SKY'S LEADING SCORER
Money Williams leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring this year both overall (19.7 PPG) and in league games (22.8 PPG). Montana has not had the league's leading scorer in a season since Anthony Johnson in 2008-09. Johnson averaged 17.6 for the season and 21.4 in league play that year.

Williams would be just the 6^th Grizzly ever to be the league's top scorer. Larry Krystkowiak did it twice, but Ken McKenzie ('73-74), Michael Ray Richardson ('77-78), Kevin Kearney ('90-91), and Johnson all ended a season atop the league's scoring charts.

TEAMMATES SCORING 25+
Te'Jon Sawyer scored a career high 27 points against Northern Arizona on Jan. 19. His teammate Money Williams poured in 25 points in the same game as the duo became the first players since 2016 to score 25+ in the same game.

Martin Breunig and Walter Wright were the last pair of Grizzlies to each reach the 25-point mark in the same game, doing so in a 74-69 win over Eastern Washington on Jan. 23, 2016. Breunig had 26 and Wright scored 25 in that game.

SHOT THE LIGHTS OUT
Montana had its best shooting performance this century against a D-I opponent in the win at Northern Arizona on Jan. 19. The Grizzlies shot 67.9 percent in the win over NAU and scored 98 points.

The Grizzlies had multiple streaks of 10-or-more made field goals in the game, ending the first half and starting the second with 12 straight makes and also closing out the final 8:15 of the game with 10 straight made field goals.

Montana is shooting 49.7 percent from the field this season to rank 23^rd nationally.

PREMIER SHOOTING PROGRAM
Montana has emerged as one of the best shooting teams in the country in the last three seasons. The Grizzlies are once again toward the top of the country this year, shooting 49.7 percent to rank 23^rd in the NCAA.

Since 2023-24, Montana has made 50.3 percent of its total field goal attempts. The number ranks 6^th in the nation but is tied with Northern Colorado for the Big Sky lead.

CHANGING THE STARTING FIVE
For just the second time this year and first time in a game that didn't include an injured player, Coach DeCuire mixed up the starting lineup. Grant Kepley started over Tyler Isaak at Northern Arizona.

Kepley had emerged as a strong role player over the last month, but got his first D-I start at NAU.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana committed a season-low 7 turnovers at Northern Arizona. They are now 4-0 when committing the same or fewer turnovers than their opponent.
They have scored 90+ five times this season and have won all five games.
The Griz have outshot opponents in 15 of 19 games. They are 0-4 when shooting a worse field goal percentage.
Montana is the only team in the Big Sky to rank inside the top two in both offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency in league play, according to KenPom.com. Montana is the 2^nd best offense and 2^nd best defense in the league according to the site.
They have shot better than 50 percent in nine games this year, going 7-2 when doing so.
The halftime leader is 15-2 this season in Montana's games.
UM is 8-3 when shooting a better percentage from 3-point range and also 8-3 when making more threes than their opponent.
The Griz are averaging 89.5 points per game in the 10 wins this year. In losses, they average just 70.2 points.
They have scored 50 points or more in a half for the 8^th time this season at Northern Arizona. They have done it five times vs. D-I opponents.
Coach DeCuire picked up his 20^th career win over Northern Arizona on Monday as he improved to 20-5 against the Lumberjacks. They are the 2^nd team that he has reached 20 wins against, going 20-2 vs. Idaho State.
Montana blew a 10-point lead at Montana State, the largest that they have given up this season.
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 19.7 points per game this season. It is the highest scoring average since Sayeed Pridgett averaged 19.8 as a senior in 2019-20.
Coach DeCuire is 144-63 (.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.

SCOUTING WEBER STATE (10-9, 4-2 BIG SKY)

The Wildcats enter Thursday's contest coming off a loss last Saturday at home to Idaho. They fell 75-67 to the Vandals in the Dee Events Center. They have played four of their first six Big Sky games at home.
Weber State is 3-5 on the road this year, but 2-0 in Big Sky play with wins at elevation over Northern Arizona and against Northern Colorado in Greeley.
Head coach Eric Duft is in his 4^th season as head coach after a long tenure as lead assistant under the legendary Randy Rahe. Duft has a 60-58 career record with winning seasons in two of his first three years.
WSU has one of the better offenses in the Big Sky, averaging 83.3 points per game to rank 2^nd in the league and 67^th nationally. They do a lot of their damage in transition, scoring 16.42 fastbreak points per game to lead the conference and rank 19^th nationally.
The Wildcats have been elite at guarding the three-point line this year. Opponents are shooting just 27.3 percent from the arc against them, the 5^th best defense in the country in that category.
Weber State and Montana have identical overall records, conference records, and they sit at 175 (UM) and 178 (WSU) in the NCAA Net Rankings.
Tijan Saine Jr. leads the Wildcats in scoring at 14.8 points per game. He has increased that number to 20.5 points during league play to rank 4^th in the Big Sky.
Saine Jr. is also averaging 4.5 assists per game against conference opponents, which is tied with Money Williams for 5^th in the league. He has a 2.58 assist/turnover ratio on the season to rank 3^rd in the league.
Malek Gomma averages 7.3 rebounds per game both on the season and in league play. He ranks 4^th in the conference and inside the top 150 nationally in rebounding.
Viljami Vartiainen has made a league-high 20 threes in Big Sky play and is also shooting the best percentage in the conference at .476. The Finland native has made a three in every game and has five league games with 3+ makes from the arc.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WILDCATS
Weber State leads the all-time series against Montana 76-68. The Grizzlies hold a 43-25 advantage in games played in Missoula.

Montana is on a three-game winning streak over the Wildcats and have won four of the last five. Coach DeCuire is 15-10 against Weber State, but has a 9-3 mark at home.