Williams erupts again, Griz get clutch win on the road

Thursday, January 8

Moscow, Idaho

7:00 PM (MT)

Montana

9-7,3-0Big Sky

Idaho

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Montana

Idaho

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

Williams erupts again, Griz get clutch win on the road

1/8/2026 11:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Money Williams show travels, it would seem. The junior guard followed up a 31-point performance in a win over Northern Colorado last Saturday with another massive effort on the road at Idaho on Thursday night. Williams scored 35 points in a 79-73 win in Moscow to help Montana improve to 3-0 in league play for the second straight season.

It was an impressive individual performance from Williams, but the win came behind a complete team effort on both ends of the floor. Montana's defense has been drastically improved through the first three games of league play and it was on display again in a tough road environment.

"This is always a tough place to play. There is a lot of fight in the dog here and the crowd got into it," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "We knew that they would fight back and we talked about details and being smarter and a little more crisp on offense and we just weren't that for stretches and they fought back in. It was a great environment and a great win."

Idaho entered the game having made a three in 60 straight games and ranked 7^th in the NCAA with nearly 12 makes from the arc per game. Montana held them to just 4-of-23 (.174) from the arc to snap the streak. They also held the Vandals nearly 10 points under their season scoring average.

Montana jumped out to a 17-2 lead early behind hot shooting but had to hold on late after a rally from the host Vandals. It was an intense, physical game that felt more like one that would be played in March as opposed to the start of January.

The Grizzlies led for over 35 minutes in the contest, but the 54 seconds that they trailed felt like an eternity. An 18-point first half lead for Montana was erased and with under three minutes left the Vandals took their first lead of the game.

When everything was going against the Grizzlies, Williams took over. He scored eight straight points for Montana, converting a pair of three-point plays, down the stretch to put them back on top.

Idaho took a 73-71 lead with 90 second to play, but Williams tied the game with a pair of free throws. After a big defensive stop for Montana, DeCuire put the ball back in his star guards hands.

Williams delivered with a pull-up jumper to give Montana the lead with 24 seconds to play. Idaho guard Kolton Mitchell attempted a contested jumper on the other end, and Williams pulled down a rebound to clinch the victory.

He scored 30-plus points for the second consecutive game and the fifth time this season. The effort moved him past Hall of Famer Larry Krystkowiak for the second most 30-point games in both a season (5) and a career (7) in Montana program history.

"There aren't a lot of guys at 19 or 20 years old that can slow the game down like him," DeCuire said. "He can get people where he wants them, but he can be aggressive and play at his own pace. They did some things to try to speed him up, but he found ways to still be successful on the offensive side of the ball. He also got a game-winning rebound for us."

The Vandals entered the game 9-5 overall and 1-0 in Big Sky play. They reached the Big Sky semifinal game last year, where they fell to Montana, but returned several key contributors from that team and are expected to compete or a title in 2025-26.

It made the start of the game a bit shocking as Montana flew out of the gates to a huge lead. Kenyon Aguino made an early three and Tyler Thompson followed it up a few possessions later. After four more Grizzly points, Aguino connected from the arc on back-to-back possessions.

The true freshman had nine early points and Montana had opened up a 17-2 lead within the first five minutes of action. The Grizzlies held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half, but early foul trouble for Aguino and several others loosened Montana's grip on the game.

"We got up 18 but all of a sudden I have three of the hot hands on the bench next to me and now we're holding on for dear life with 6 or 7 minutes to go," DeCuire said. "Our momentum was cut a little bit by the fouls. I thought we played a lot smarter down the stretch."

Idaho started the second half strongly and got back within single digits. They went on a 12-2 run over a five-minute stretch to cut the Grizzly lead down to just one at 53-52. Williams had one of several three-point plays to push the lead back out.

The Vandals used another big run, this time 12-3, to take their first lead of the game at 69-67 with 3:01 to play. After the scorching start, Montana cooled down offensively as the Vandals clawed their way back in.

"We're really good when we are moving the ball and the ball is flying around," associate head coach Chris Cobb said. "I think there's a lot of times in the second half where the ball got more sticky and we got stagnant. But good teams find a way to finish it off."

Montana did just that behind the play of Williams. He scored 19 points in the second half alone and closed things out at the free throw line, going 11-of-12 in the final 20 minutes.

Tyler Thompson added a pair of clutch free throws with 12 seconds to go that extended a two-point lead for Montana into a two-possession game. Montana as a team went 19-of-22 (.864) from the free throw line.

Montana shot 50.0 percent as a team from the field while holding the Vandals to just 39.1 percent shooting. An Idaho team that came into the game making 38.0 percent from three with nearly 12 makes per game was held to just 4-of-23 (.174) from the arc.

"I think that's why we won the game, we didn't give up very man threes," DeCuire said.

The Grizzlies are 3-0 in Big Sky play for the second straight season and the 6^th time in 12 years under DeCuire. They have now won rematches of last year's title game over Northern Colorado and semifinal over Idaho.

Montana had four players reach double figures in the win. Williams went for 35 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Te'Jon Sawyer was next in scoring with 16 points on 70 percent shooting.

Tyler Thompson reached double figures for the 6^th straight game, scoring 10 points and adding a team high five rebounds. Aguino scored 13 points in just 19 minutes as he was limited because of foul trouble.

The fifth starter, Tyler Isaak, was held scoreless but made a huge impact in his 23 minutes. He celebrated his birthday with a big win and Montana went +17 with Isaak on the floor as he provided stout defense on Idaho's star guard Kolton Mitchell.

They will look to make it a perfect 4-0 start on Saturday when they travel to Eastern Washington to face off with the Eagles.

"It's game after game. It's not going to be perfect. We've had some good success and finished these ones off early and this is a big one on the road to get some belief. But it's what we do," Cobb said. "We tell our guys when we recruit them. You are Montana. This is what we do. There are going to be some blips on the radar, but if you show up ready, locked in, and play hard, that's half the battle for this team."