Griz rout Bison to start home schedule with a win - University of Montana Athletics

Wednesday, November 4

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

1-1,0-0Big Sky

105

Salish Kootenai

0-1

Team	1	2	F
Salish-Kootenai	19	21	40
Montana	61	44	105

Photo by: Cassi Evans/University of Montana

11/4/2026 10:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana rolled to an impressive 105-40 victory on Wednesday night over Salish Kootenai to improve to 1-1 on the young season. The Grizzlies got points from all 11 players that saw the floor and shot 63.2 percent as a team in the win.

The result was never in doubt on the night as Montana put together a 21-0 run in the first half to pull away early and kept the pressure up the rest of the night, forcing the Bison into 22 turnovers and converting those into 35 points.

It's one of two home games for Montana in the month of November, which made it important for head coach Travis DeCuire to get off to a good start in front of the home crowd.

"Nights like tonight are important for us when we're going to hit the road here for a one-game trip, then a two game-trip, then a three-game trip," DeCuire said. "When you travel so much, you have to get what you can at home when you can so this was a big one for us."

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It's the third time in the last four seasons that Montana has scored at least 105 points in a game and it came on a balanced effort. Sophomore Noah Bendinger led the way for the Griz with 22 off the bench, shooting 9-of-11 overall and 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Freshman Semaj Carter, who started his first career game on Wednesday night, added 17 points and also went 4-of-6 from three-point range. Carter now has seven made threes through Montana's first two contests.

Clayton Mpiana nearly recorded a double-double with 14 points and seven rebounds, finding his way onto the highlight reel several times throughout the night with big slams.

Josiah Sanders had 12 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting night and Garret Dutro also reached double figures with 11 points. Dutro made two of his three attempts from the arc.

The offense got Montana going, particularly early on with the play from the freshman Carter.

"Semaj Carter in his first start was phenomenal, he got us off to a good start in the first half," DeCuire said. "Noah Bendinger was 5-for-5 in the first half and then Garret Dutro as well. All three shot the ball well and that's what they do, so we know we have good offense off the bench. As those guys get more and more experience hopefully they can give us more on the other side of the ball and in other areas, but we do feel like we have a lot of offense off the bench."

The Grizzlies showed great improvement on the defensive side of the ball from Monday's opener at Oregon. They held the Bison to just 25 percent from the floor and only three makes from beyond the arc.

The Grizzlies also recorded 15 steals in the game. Jordan Clark led the team with four and Tyler Thompson and LoLo Rudolph each added three. It's the first time since 2012 that Montana had at least 15 in a game.

"For us it's about defensive chemistry. Understanding concepts and executing them," DeCuire said. "There's a huge difference between what your structure is defensively and how you play scout defense, and that's one of the things we're learning right now is those game-to-game adjustments. I thought our guys did a good job coming out of our exhibition into Oregon so we'll see if we can do it again next week."

Tyler Thompson just missed out on a double-double with 8 points and 8 assists. It's a new career high in assists for Thompson, doubling his previous high. He also had 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots.

LoLo Rudolph led the team with 9 assists. It's the most by a Grizzly since Money Williams recorded 11 last year against Salish Kootenai. The 29 team assists are also the most since last year's game against the Bison.

"We're growing. The chemistry is great right now. I think the biggest thing for us is the way we're sharing the ball," DeCuire said. "16 assists at Oregon, 29 assists tonight, so there's been a willingness to play together."

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The Grizzlies shot the ball well with five different streaks throughout the night of at least five made baskets in a row. They shot 43-of-68 (.632) from the floor and 12-of-28 (.429) from three-point range. Montana shot over 60 percent from the floor twice last season.

Montana had three scoring runs of at least 10 points as they held Salish Kootenai without a basket for long stretches at a time.

The fans were treated to a show as Montana had 15 dunks on the night, including several alley-oops and a reverse flush from Bendinger. Just seven of Montana's 105 points were scored at the free throw line.

The Griz outscored the Bison 59-0 in bench points and 28-0 in fast break points.

Montana will return to the road for the next three contests starting with a single-game trip to the Golden State next week. Montana plays at San Francisco on Nov. 10. They will then return home before a Midwest trip with games against North Dakota and Kansas State on Nov. 14 and 16, respectively.

"There's a lot of potential. I think the ceiling is high," DeCuire said. "The question for us is how quickly can we reach that ceiling and what we need on the interior to do that. That's where the mental and physical toughness comes in to win a game when it counts the most. We will see how tough this team is, there's a long ways to go and a lot of work to do, but we're excited by it and up for the challenge."