Carter shines, Griz fall short at San Francisco - University of Montana Athletics

Tuesday, November 10

San Francisco, Calif.

8:00 PM (MT)

Montana

1-2,0-0Big Sky

San Francisco

3-0,0-0WCC

Team	1	2	F
Montana	28	30	58
San Francisco	26	37	63

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

11/11/2026 12:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana led for over 32 minutes on Tuesday night in San Francisco behind a strong performance from freshman Semaj Carter, but the Dons were able to rally late to knock off the Griz 63-58.

The defense led the way for Montana (1-2), holding San Francisco (3-0) to 41 percent shooting and just 26 first half points. The Griz forced 16 turnovers and had the rebounding advantage for much of the game. It gave Montana chances to win, but the hosts did just enough for the comeback win.

"I always talk about how good teams don't beat themselves and we haven't become that yet," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "We made too many mistakes, 69 percent from the free throw line, we haven't been great there. Any area where we typically would be good - paint points, free throws - could have won that game for us even though we shot 36 percent. But we didn't do those things and if you keep a team in the game too long they will find ways to win."

Montana's offense had cold stretches, but it received a big boost from freshman Semaj Carter. He came off then bench for a game-high 16 points while also pulling down seven rebounds.

It was Carter's play that helped Montana build its lead in the first half. He scored nine straight points on his own during an extended 12-0 run for Montana that put them ahead 14-6 with 12 minutes to play in the first.

He ended the night 2-of-3 from three-point range and also got to the free throw line nine times with his aggressive play on offense.

"He's got a lot of confidence. He lives in the gym, and it's rare these days to come across 17, 18-year olds that live for basketball," DeCuire said of Carter. "Most are motivated by what they can make and what they can get going on social media. He lives in the gym, so he has a ton of confidence and belief in what he can do, which is why we tried to give him the ball down the stretch holding on to a lead. He's a good player now, he's going to be a great one before it's all said and done."

Hand down. Man down. The freshman with a deep triple to force a USF timeout. https://t.co/coRXQiTrbm
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 11, 2026

The lead never reached double digits for the Grizzlies, but they did maintain control for much of the first half. After a jumper from Garret Dutro with just under five minutes to play, the Grizzly lead was 26-19.

San Francisco switched to a full court pressure defense and caused some problems for Montana. They went cold for the final five minutes, going scoreless over the stretch to allow the Dons to tie the game at 26-all with 19 seconds to play in the half.

LoLo Rudolph gave Montana the lead at the break by connecting on a floater with just four seconds to go.

Montana held San Francisco to 36.4 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes and outrebounded them 17-14. The Griz also caused 11 turnovers and outscored USF 6-0 in fast breaks in the opening half. The deficit could have been much larger at the break.

"I'd say we were out of character, but it's too early for me to even know what our character is. We defended well enough to win this game," DeCuire said. "When you hold a team under 30 points in a half, we should have had a 10-15 point lead at the half and we just kept them in the game."

Clayton Mpiana started both the first and second halves with huge slam dunks to give the Grizzlies earlier momentum in both periods. The post had four dunks on the night, including a massive flush following an offensive rebound with eight minutes to go that gave Montana a five-point lead.

The big man had 10 points and three rebounds, but foul trouble limited his time on the floor yet again as he only played 17 minutes on the night.

MPIANA THROWS IT DOWN 😳😳😳 https://t.co/HVIoQPVpJ9
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) November 11, 2026

San Francisco took its first lead since 6-5 in the first half after six straight points put them on top 49-48 with under five minutes to play.

The Griz went to the freshman Carter several times down the stretch as they looked to hold on for the upset victory. He put them back in front with free throws, and after the Griz fell behind Carter knocked down a jumper to make it 52-51 Montana with three minutes left.

Mpiana connected on free throws at the 2:30 mark to once again give Montana a one-point lead as the teams traded points back and forth, but it would be the final lead for Montana. San Francisco closed the game on a 7-2 run to improve to 3-0 on the season.

"We've got some grit on the defensive side. We need that same grit on offense when it isn't necessarily easy and we aren't getting the looks we would want to get," DeCuire said. "The pressure, the denial takes us out of our flow offense so now we need to be playmakers. That's an area of growth for us."

It was a cold night for Montana's backcourt as the three starting guards combined to shoot just 5-of-25 (.200) from the floor. The Grizzlies also had an uncharacteristic night at the free throw line by going 17-of-26 (.650).

Despite the cold night offensively, DeCuire is pleased with where his team is at just three weeks into the season with 10 newcomers.

"We put ourselves in position to win the game and that's really what you ask for from a group. Then you have to find a way to close it," DeCuire said. "I'm proud of where we're at in terms of our growth over the last couple of weeks. There are some detail areas that I haven't been able to spend time on because I'm coaching other stuff, so that's why my teams grow late a little bit.

"We spend a lot of time on the thought process and things like that," DeCuire continued. "Right now, we haven't even got to some of that stuff because we've put so many things in and really just trying to get a consistent defense. Our offense will catch up to our defense soon."

The difficult start to the season will continue this week for Montana as they hit the road yet again to face North Dakota and Kansas State. The trip starts in Grand Forks on Saturday where the Griz and Fighting Hawks face off in a morning game that tips at 11:00 a.m. (MT).

"We want to be a little better between the ears, we want to be a lot better at the free throw line, and with some other situations, but if we continue to work the way we have the last couple of weeks we should come home with at least one win," DeCuire said. "We have work to do, we have to get better if that's going to happen, and we have to get healthy at some point."