Griz beat Idaho State in N7 game for third straight win

Saturday, January 24

Missoula, Mont.

4:00 PM

Montana

12-9,6-2Big Sky

Idaho State

10-11,3-5Big Sky

Idaho St.

Montana

Photo by: Coral Scoles-Coburn/University of Montana

Griz beat Idaho State in N7 game for third straight win

1/24/2026 8:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana started strong and led nearly the entirety of the game on Saturday as they blew past Idaho State for a 69-60 win to extend their winning streak to three games. It is the fewest points allowed against a D-I team this season for Montana as they improved to 6-2 in Big Sky play.

The Grizzlies took the Bengals out of their comfort zone early and held them to just 36 percent shooting on the night. Montana also won a couple of key stat categories, committing fewer turnovers and outscoring the Bengals in the paint, while holding close with the Big Sky's best rebounding team on the glass.

It all added up to a 16^th straight home win for Montana in the series.

"36 percent from the floor and then we turned off the three-point line for them as well," DeCuire said of the keys to the win. "They hit four threes before the second media, but once we slowed that down and kept them from scoring in the paint, 36 percent should win most games."

The Bengals started the game hot from the three-point line but the Grizzly offense matched them in the early stages of the game. Montana led 12-8 in the first four minutes in a game that looked like it might turn into a shootout. From that point on, it was defense that told the story.

Idaho State started 4-of-8 from the three-point line. They would make just 4-of-17 from the arc the rest of the way as Montana limited them outside and inside. The Bengals had a size advantage, but the Grizzlies outscored them 34-22 in the painted area.

Montana had four players reach double figures and all eight Grizzlies that saw action scored. Money Williams led Montana in points (17), rebounds (6), and assists (5) in yet another complete performance.

Kenyon Aguino added 13 points, Grant Kepley had 12 points to go with 5 assists and 4 rebounds, and Te'Jon Saweyr scored 11 on 5-of-6 shooting.

Tyler Thompson, who led Montana in scoring on Thursday night with 21 points, had just two on Saturday. It's a testament to the depth of Montana and the number of options that they have on the offensive end.

"It's what we coach to and what we recruit to is balance," DeCuire said. "Multiple guys that can score double figures on any given night. I think if you rely too heavily on one or two people, any time they have a bad game you're going to struggle. The fact for us is that we have a lot of guys that have good feel offensively and we can play to those, especially if someone gets hot."

Montana trailed 3-2 in the opening minutes, but once they went ahead they did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way. The Grizzlies built the lead up to double digits on a 15-3 run in the first half that put them on top 24-14.

Idaho State fought back to cut the halftime lead to 35-30 and made things interesting to start the second half. The Bengals got back within a possession at 37-35 after starting the period on a 5-2 run.

The Grizzlies put the game to bed with a 15-0 run from that point, jumping out to a 52-35 lead behind threes from Aguino, Sawyer, and Williams. Thompson converted an athletic up-and-under finish on a fastbreak to cap the run and give the Grizzlies a 17-point lead.

The scoring was balanced and the defense was stout as the Bengals went scoreless for over five minutes of game action. A big key to that was the play of Tyler Isaak off the bench.

"It's a great unit right now. We're fighting to be consistent, and I think the guy that didn't show up on the stat sheet is Tyler Isaak defensively," DeCuire said. "He played a big role on a couple guys down there in minimizing threes and things like that. It was definitely a team effort."

Montana led by as many as 17 points in the final minutes of the game as a technical foul and free throws for the Bengals made things a bit closer at the final buzzer.

It's the third straight win for Montana. The game brings to a close the busiest stretch of the season as the Grizzlies played four games in the last eight days with two of them on the road at venues a mile high or more. They handled the elevation and the busy schedule and emerge from it well within the title hunt.

"Our guys did a good job on one-day preps twice, and that's huge," DeCuire said. "If you have a team that can lock in and mentally prepare for a team on one day of prep, then you have a good basketball team."

Montana shot 47 percent as a team and 32 percent from three-point range. They continued their impressive shooting at the free throw line by going 8-of-9 (.889). The Bengals are among the conference and nation's best at blocking shots, but Montana won that category 4-2.

The Grizzlies also held Idaho State's leading scorer and rebounder Caleb Van De Griend to just 2 points and 3 rebounds after he entered the game averaging over 13 points and 7 rebounds.

Montana sits in sole possession of third place in the Big Sky Conference with one game remaining in the first half of league play.

"If you get through the first half with only two losses and you did it on the back end, four losses would typically win you the conference in most seasons," DeCuire said. "You know you are in the mix. The key for us is to see how long we can string together wins and put some pressure on the guys above us or next to us in the standings."

They will have a huge test upcoming on Thursday night when they travel to the Rose City to take on league leaders Portland State. The Vikings are undefeated in Big Sky Conference play and have won 15 straight Big Sky games inside Viking Pavilion, a program record.

"They have three guys that are good on both sides of the ball and that makes for a really good team," DeCuire said. "They are great defensively and they are really hard to beat it home. It's going to be a tough matchup on Thursday, we need to be fresh, focused, and on the same page."