Griz hit the road to start final stretch of the season

Thursday, February 19

Pocatello, Idaho

7:00 PM

Montana

Idaho State

Photo by: Coral Scoles-Coburn / University of Montana

Griz hit the road to start final stretch of the season

2/17/2026 4:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (14-12, 8-5 Big Sky) at IDAHO STATE (10-17, 3-11 Big Sky)
Thursday, Feb. 19 / 7:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA at WEBER STATE (13-14, 7-7 Big Sky)
Saturday, Feb. 21 / 7:30 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats

PREVIEW
The Montana men's basketball team hits the home stretch of the season this week, traveling to Idaho State and Weber State. It starts a stretch of five games in 11 days to finish the regular season.

The Grizzlies are right in the thick of things in the Big Sky Conference, sitting alone in third place with five games to go. They face off with last-place Idaho State on Thursday and then head to Ogden for a big one against a Wildcat team that is just a game-and-a-half back in the standings.

Montana handled its business at home against both teams in late January. The Grizzlies beat Weber State 81-65 and Idaho State 69-60. The Griz were red-hot against the Wildcats, shooting 62.0 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from three-point range to overcome a 7-point halftime deficit.

Against Idaho State, Montana led for nearly 39 minutes and by as many as 17 points in a big win, coasting down the stretch for a 9-point victory.

They will hope to recreate that success this weekend on the road and get back to their winning ways to close out the regular season.

The Grizzlies have been very good on the road in the month of February under Coach DeCuire. Montana is 26-16 away from Missoula in the penultimate month of the season. The .619 winning percentage ranks 25^th in the entire country over the previous 12 years.

Portland State continues to lead the league at 11-2 in conference play while Montana State is in second at 9-4. The Grizzlies, at 8-5, are still alive in the title hunt, and still have a chance to earn a top-two seed and an extra day's rest.

They will need a strong finish to the season, and that starts on Thursday night in Pocatello. Montana will look to complete the season sweep over the Bengals for the 13^th time since 2010.

THE .500 SEASON STREAK
Montana has been .500 or better every single season since 2007-08. They are one of 14 schools nationally with 17 straight seasons at .500 or better, joining Arizona, Baylor, Belmont, Cincinnati, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Memphis, Michigan State, Montana, Saint Mary's, San Diego State, Vermont, VCU.

Head coach Travis DeCuire has never had a losing season at Montana. The Grizzlies need two more wins to guarantee a .500 or better record this season. Baylor (13-11), Cincinnati (13-12), and Memphis (12-11) are all hovering near the .500 mark.

HIGH HIGHS
Montana has some of the best wins in the entire Big Sky Conference this season with a pair of Quad 2 victories in the NCAA Net Rankings, as of Feb. 16. The Grizzlies are the only Big Sky team with multiple Quad 1 or Quad 2 wins.

Montana defeated Portland State and UNLV on the road this season, both wins that fall into Q2. The Grizzlies, however, are just 2-5 in Q3 games this year.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana lost while going on a scoring run of 10+ points for just the second time this season on Saturday. The Griz are 11-2 when they have a scoring run of 10-or-more.
The Griz are 13-4 when they hold a lead of 9+ points at any point during the game. All four losses have come in Big Sky play, blowing two 9-point leads to Eastern Washington and leads of 9 and 10 to Montana State.
- Entering the first Eastern Washington game this season, Montana was 54-3 when leading by 9 or more over the previous three seasons. Since then, they are just 5-4.
UM is 2-9 when allowing over 80 points.
Montana's 6 losses at home are the most by the program since going 7-6 in 2007-08. That year was also the last time that Montana had a losing record, going 14-16. The last time the Grizzlies lost 7 games at home was in 2003-04.
The Grizzlies scored 19 straight points in the win over Idaho, fueling a big second half comeback. It's the longest scoring run for the Grizzlies since scoring 23 straight against Northwest Indian in the first game of the 2023-24 season.
The Grizzlies have been outshot seven times this season and are 0-7 in those games. They are 14-5 when shooting a better field goal percentage than their opponent.
They are 5-1 when making 11+ 3-pointers in a game.
The Griz are 6-0 when committing the same or fewer turnovers than their opponent. They have more turnovers in 20 of 26 games this season.
In the first half against Idaho, Montana scored a season-low 19 points. They followed it with 54 points, their 2nd highest scoring half of the season.
The Griz are 4-1 in Thursday games this season. When playing on Saturday, Montana is 4-6.
Shooting 53.2 percent in wins and just 45.5 percent in losses.
In the last two Big Sky Conference seasons, Montana has shot better than 62 percent five times. They had done so just five times total from 2003-2024.
Montana won while scoring fewer than 70 points for the second straight game at Portland State on Jan. 29. The Grizzlies were 0-5 previously. They are now 2-5 this season when held under 70 points.
The Griz held Idaho State to 60 points, the fewest by a D-1 opponent against Montana this year. The Bengals shot just 36.2 percent, also a season low. The Grizzlies then matched it by holding PSU to 60 points on 38.3 percent shooting.
They have held opponents under 40 percent from the field nine times this year and are 8-1 in those games.
UM has scored 90+ five times this season and has won all five games.
They have shot better than 50 percent in 11 games this year, going 8-3 when doing so.
The halftime leader is 19-5 this season in Montana's games. Last weekend, the halftime leader lost both games in Missoula. The Grizzlies blew a halftime lead for just the second time this year in the EWU loss, but overcame a halftime deficit for the third time in the Idaho win. They have been tied at the half twice.
UM is 10-3 when shooting a better percentage from 3-point range and 9-3 when making more threes than their opponent.
They have scored 50 points or more in a half nine times this season. They have done it six times vs. D-I opponents.
Coach DeCuire picked up his 20th career win over Northern Arizona earlier this season as he improved to 20-5 against the Lumberjacks. They are the 2nd team that he has reached 20 wins against, going 21-2 vs. Idaho State.
Montana blew a 10-point lead at Montana State, the largest that they have given up this season. They overcame an 13-point deficit to defeat Idaho, the largest come from behind win this year.
Tyler Thompson and Kenyon Aguino 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.
Coach DeCuire is 148-66 (.694) in Big Sky Conference play.
The Grizzlies have scored 100+ points in three games 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 8th best shooting percentage in the NCAA this year.
Montana is 0-1 in one-possession games and 4-3 in games decided by 6-or-fewer points.
Money Williams has now scored 30+ points in five games this season and seven games in his career. He passed Hall of Famer Larry Krystkowiak for second in program history in both season and career 30-point games. He now trails only former NBA first round draft pick Michael Ray Richardson, who had eight 30-point games as a senior and 11 in his career.
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 only time this year they've done it against a D-I team.
The 26-point win at Northern Arizona (1/19) was the largest this season against a D-I opponent.
The Griz played in seven straight games decided by single digits from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6. They have played in 17 total games decided by single digits.
Money Williams has led Montana in points, rebounds, and assists in the same game five times this season.
DeCuire typically is quick to pull players as they enter foul trouble. Montana's two-foul participation is just 10.7%, one of the bottom 50 teams in the country. The NCAA average is 24.3%.

SCOUTING IDAHO STATE (10-17, 3-11 Big Sky)

The Bengals enter the week on a nine-game losing streak with the last win coming on Jan. 15 against Idaho. They were swept by Eastern Washington and Idaho on the road last weekend.
Idaho State is 6-5 at home this year but have lost three straight inside Reed Gym. They are 2-4 in league play at home and will play three straight in Pocatello.
Head coach Ryan Looney is in his 7^th season at Idaho State. He has a 78-129 overall record with the Bengals.
Idaho State ranks 9^th in the Big Sky in both scoring offense (73.1 PPG) and scoring defense (81.4 PPG) during league play this season. The -8.36 scoring margin is worst in the league. They are 9^th in field goal percentage and rank last in three-point shooting in the Big Sky.
The Bengals lead the Big Sky in bench points this season, averaging 29.3 points per game from the reserve unit, led by Caleb Van de Griend's 12.3.
Idaho State also leads the league in blocks with 4.1 per game. Evan Otten is a huge reason for that as he averages 1.70 per game himself. Otten leads the league and is in the top 50 nationally in blocks.
Connor Hollenbeck leads the Bengals in scoring (13.6 points) this year. He's 12^th in the Big Sky Conference. Hollenbeck leads the team with 30.6 minutes per game and 25 total steals.
Jamison Guerra averages 4.2 assists per game, which ranks 6^th in the Big Sky Conference. Guerra's 2.59 assist/turnover ratio ranks 2^nd in the league and 70^th in the country.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BENGALS
Montana has dominated the series against Idaho State historically, leading 117-46. The Grizzlies are 42-31 all-time in Pocatello, but did lose inside Reed Gym 86-61 last season.

Montana has won seven of the last eight over the Bengals and 29 of the last 31. The Grizzlies have lost to the Bengals just twice since 2010. Coach DeCuire is 21-2 against ISU in his career.

SCOUTING WEBER STATE (13-14, 7-7 Big Sky)

The Wildcats split last weekend on the road at Idaho and Eastern Washington, winning by 11 over the Vandals but falling by 18 in Cheney. They have won two of the last three.
Weber State is 9-5 at home this season and 4-3 in Big Sky play inside the Dee Events Center.
Head coach Eric Duft is in his 4^th season in charge of the Wildcats and has a 63-63 career record.
In league play, Weber State is averaging 79.7 points per game, which ranks 2^nd. They allow 80.0 points per game, which ranks 8^th out of 10 teams in the conference.
The Wildcats are shooting just 45.2 percent from the floor during conference play to rank 8^th in the league, despite their impressive scoring numbers.
Tijan Saine Jr. leads the Big Sky during league play in scoring at 21.8 points per game. He is the only player in league play to reach 300 points. Saine Jr. is also 3^rd in the Big Sky in assists with 4.4 per game.
Saine Jr. is shooting 92.0 percent from the free throw line during league play and has attempted 112 free throws, 16 more than any other player in the conference.
Malek Gomma is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game to rank 4^th in the Big Sky during league play. He grabs nearly 3 rebounds on the offensive end every game, the 2^nd best mark in the league.
Viljami Vartiainen has made 39 threes in league play and ranks second in the conference by shooting 43.8 percent from the arc.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WILDCATS
The two premier programs in the history of the Big Sky Conference are meeting for the 146^th time on Saturday. Weber State leads the all-time series over Montana 76-68. They are one of just two teams in the league that leads Montana all-time.

The Wildcats lead 48-19 all-time in Ogden, and are 5-4 against Coach DeCuire in Ogden. Montana is currently on a four-game winning streak in the series and have won five of the last six. The Grizzlies are 6-4 in the last 10 and 14-6 in the last 20 against WSU.