Griz take 2-0 Big Sky start on the road

Thursday, January 8

Moscow, Idaho

7:00 PM (MT)

Montana

Idaho

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

1/6/2026 12:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (8-7, 2-0 BIG SKY) at IDAHO (9-5, 1-0 Big Sky)
Jan. 8 / 7:00 p.m. (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA at EASTERN WASHINGTON (2-12, 0-1 Big Sky)
Jan. 10 / 3:00 p.m. (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

The beginning of Big Sky play always promises a new start for the 10 teams in the league. The non-conference is just a warmup as every team started 2026 at 0-0. It was a much needed reset for Montana, and the Grizzlies took advantage with a big opening weekend sweep.

The Grizzlies will now have to hit the road to face off with an up-and-coming Idaho team and Eastern Washington. Head coach Travis DeCuire and his team will be seeking a 3-0 start to Big Sky play for the second straight season.

It was a dream opening weekend for the Grizzlies with wins over Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado at home. Montana dispatched the Lumberjacks 78-64 and then won a rematch of last year's Big Sky title game over the Bears 88-79.

The two wins were both complete team efforts with five players reaching double figures for the Grizzlies in both contests. Montana took care of the ball better than they have all season, averaging just 12.0 turnovers, and greatly improved defensively in the wins.

Northern Colorado entered the game shooting better than 50 percent on the season, ranking 25^th in the NCAA in field goal percentage. Montana held them to just 36.6 percent shooting. Their previous season low was 42.2 percent.

The Grizzlies got another signature performance from Money Williams with 31 points in the second half of the win over the Bears. But outside of the Preseason Big Sky MVP, the rest of the Grizzlies also stepped up.

Grant Kepley had a huge week. He entered it having played in just seven of the 13 non-conference games, but saw big minutes in both contests and made winning plays in both by averaging 9.0 points and 4.0 assists.

Te'Jon Sawyer averaged 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in the first two league games, Kenyon Aguino had a 14-point performance vs. NAU, Tyler Thompson extended his double-digit scoring streak to five games, and Tyler Isaak found his stroke from deep again.

Now, DeCuire and his staff will hope that the improved defense and the balanced scoring will travel. The Grizzlies have four straight road contests, following up this weekend's set with games at Montana State and Northern Arizona.

It's a tough early test as Montana looks to go back-to-back in the Big Sky Conference.

MONEY'S 30-POINT GAMES
Money Williams reached the 30-point mark for the fourth time this season in Saturday's win over Northern Colorado. It's the most 30-point games in a season by a Grizzly player since Larry Krystkowiak had four during his MVP season in 1985-86. It's tied for the second most in a season in program history, trailing only Michael Ray Richardson's eight 30-point games in 1977-78.

Williams is also now tied with Krystkowiak for the second most 30-point games in a career with six. Krystkowiak reached 30 points once as a sophomore, once as a junior, and four times as a senior.

Money has now done it twice as a sophomore (30 at Tennessee, 36 at Portland State) and four times this season (30 at UNLV, 31 vs. Cal Poly, 30 at North Dakota, 31 vs. Northern Colorado).

He trails only Richardson for the most 30-point games in a career. The legendary MRR scored 30+ points 11 times in his career.

BEST BIG SKY STARTS
Montana has started 4-0 under head coach Travis DeCuire two times in his previous 11 seasons, most recently in 2017-18. The Grizzlies started that year 13-0 in league play and went on to win the regular season and tournament championships.

This is the 7^th time in 12 years that Montana has opened league play 2-0. They are looking to improve to 3-0 for the second straight season and 6^th time overall under DeCuire.

HISTORIC DAY AT THE FREE THROW LINE
Money Williams set a program record for the most made free throws without a miss in the win over Northern Colorado on Jan. 3. Williams went 17-of-17 at the free throw line, scoring all 31 of his points in the second half.

He was just three makes away from the program's all-time record for free throws made in a game. Ron Moore made 20 free throws against Gonzaga in 1968.

Williams is just the second player in the NCAA this season to make at least 17 free throws without a miss. Rowan Brumbaugh of Tulane went 19-of-19 against Texas State in November. Since 2000, only 36 players have gone 100 percent from the line on 17-or-more attempts.

SECOND HALF SCORING EXTRAVAGANZA
Money Williams put together one of the best halves of basketball that you will ever see in the win over Northern Colorado on Jan. 3. The junior guard entered the halftime break scoreless. He finished the game with 31 points in a big Grizzly win.

Williams went 7-of-10 from the floor over the final 20 minutes and shot a perfect 17-of-17 from the free throw line. It's the most points in a half by a Grizzly since Anthony Johnson scored 34 in a legendary title game win over Weber State in 2010.

FRESHMEN PHENOMS
The Grizzlies are a young team, starting a pair of freshmen in Tyler Thompson and Kenyon Aguino that have had a huge impact already this season and continue to gain more experience.

Thompson is averaging 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a redshirt-freshman. He's made 35 threes on 42.2 percent shooting from deep. Aguino is averaging 8.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in his true freshman season.

They 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.

Thompson's 9.5 points per game are the 8^th most by a freshman in program history. Aguino ranks 12, but is 9^th amongst true freshmen.

FINDING THE ROTATION
The Grizzly rotation saw a significant change in the first week of Big Sky play and it led to a successful opening weekend. Coach DeCuire typically likes to employ a 7-8 player rotation in his system.

The starting five has remained the same for all but one game this season, and joining them first off the bench nearly every time has been Brooklyn Hicks. Over the weekend, it was Grant Kepley and Trae Taylor that emerged as the next two in the rotation.

Kepley averaged 23 minutes, 9.0 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game to start league play. Taylor played 22 minutes and went perfect from the floor as a rotation big man.

SCOUTING IDAHO (9-5, 1-0 BIG SKY)

The Vandals are coming off an 84-81 win at home over Eastern Washington last Saturday. They played just one game during the opening weekend of Big Sky play.
Head coach Alex Pribble is in his third season at Idaho. The Vandals have improved each year, going from 11 wins to 14 last year. They are on pace to greatly exceed that in 2025-26.
Pribble is 34-45 (.430) at Idaho. He spent four seasons as the head coach at D-II Saint Martin's from 2015-19, going 83-41. He has a career record of 117-86 (.576).
Idaho is 5-0 at home this season. They have three wins over non-D-I opponents.
They average 81.4 points per game to rank 101^st in the NCAA this season. The key to their offense has been the three-point line. The Vandals make 11.5 threes per game (7^th in the NCAA) on 38.0 percent shooting (27^th in the NCAA).
The Vandals allow 72.0 points per game. They record 6.2 steals per game to rank in the bottom third nationally and block just 2.1 shots (330^th nationally).
Kolton Mitchell leads the Vandals with 14.9 points and 3.9 assists per game. Mitchell scored 32 points in the Big Sky opener against Eastern Washington and has reached the 30-point mark twice in the last three games. He had 31 at Cal Poly on Dec. 21.
True freshman Jackson Rasmussen averages 13.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Rasmussen has started all 14 games for the Vandals.
Jack Payne was picked to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference team by the league's head coaches and media. Payne has started 12 games and is averaging 6.9 points and 4.8 rebounds. He has missed the previous two games.
Kristian Gonzalez scored 18 points in 18 minutes in the season opener against Washington State but left the game with an injury and has not played since.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE VANDALS
Idaho leads the all-time series 112-97 with a dominant 75-25 record against the Grizzlies in Moscow. The series has been all Montana as of late, however. The Grizzlies are currently on a 7-game winning streak against the Vandals and have won 13 of the last 14.

The Grizzlies have won three straight in Moscow with the last loss coming in the 2021-22 season. Last year, Montana went 3-0 against Idaho, ending the Vandals' season in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament.

Coach DeCuire is 16-6 vs. Idaho, including a 6-3 record in Moscow.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON (2-12, 0-1 BIG SKY)

The Eagles dropped their Big Sky opener 84-81 at Idaho last Saturday. It was the only game they played in the opening week of Big Sky play.
Head coach Dan Monson is in his second season with the Eagles. He has a 12-34 (.261) record at Eastern. Monson is a veteran coach with 29 total years as a head coach at the D-I level. He has a career record of 457-430 (.515) with stops at Gonzaga, Long Beach State, and Minnesota.
Eastern Washington is 2-1 at home this year and have played 11 of the first 14 games away from Reese Court. They defeated non-D-I Eastern Oregon and then got a home win over Kansas City in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
They are currently on a five-game losing streak.
The Eagles allow 86.4 points per game to rank 351^st out of 361 teams in the NCAA. They have a scoring margin of -8.4 to rank 334^th. They are last place out of all qualified teams by allowing opponents to shoot 39.6 from three-point range.
Isaiah Moses leads Eastern Washington with 16.9 points and 3.9 assists per game. The UC Riverside transfer has played in 81 games in his career, starting 63 of them.
Kiree Huie, who played at Idaho State in 2023-24 before transferring to Miami (FL) last year, is back in the Big Sky with the Eagles. He has started 13 games, averaging 12.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE EAGLES
Montana leads the all-time series with Eastern Washington 73-53. The Eagles hold a slim 30-29 advantage in Cheney. Montana has won two straight in the series and the teams have split the previous eight matchups.

Coach DeCuire is 12-12 against Eastern Washington. It is his worst record against a Big Sky opponent. He is 5-5 in Cheney.

GRIZ NOTES

The Grizzlies have started 3-0 in Big Sky play five times previously under Coach DeCuire, including last season. They have started 4-0 under DeCuire just twice, most recently in 2018.
Including postseason games, Montana has now won 16 of the last 17 contests against Big Sky Conference opponents. The only loss in that time came in overtime at Portland State on March 1, 2025.
Coach DeCuire is .500 or better against every team in the Big Sky Conference. His worst record is against Eastern Washington. DeCuire is 12-12 vs. the Eagles in his 12 seasons at Montana. A win on Saturday, and DeCuire would have a winning record against every team in the league.
Money Williams is averaging 18.6 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 first 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 5-2 when shooting over 50 percent in a game this season.
Five different players have led Montana in scoring in the last six games.
Coach DeCuire is 142-61 (.700) in Big Sky Conference play.
The Griz have more turnovers than their opponent in 12 of 15 games. They are 3-0 when committing the same or fewer turnovers, but 5-7 when committing more.
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 7-1 when going on a 10-point scoring run during the game.
In eight wins, Montana is averaging 89.8 points per game. In the seven losses, they are averaging just 71.4 points per game.
Montana overcame a halftime deficit for the first time this season at North Dakota (12/6). The halftime leader has gone on to win in 13 games this season. They have been tied at the half twice, going 1-1.
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 10 games this season.
The Griz are 4-1 when finishing with more rebounds but have been outrebounded in 10 games.
The 40-point loss at Louisville was the first for Montana since falling by 40 on the road to Oregon in November of 2021.
The Griz played in seven straight games decided by single digits from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6. They have played in nine total games decided by single digits.
The Grizzlies have allowed 80+ points in eight games this year. They have allowed the opponent to reach 90 points four times.