Griz sweep season series over Big Sky champ Portland State

Saturday, February 28

Missoula, Mont.

2:00 PM

Montana

16-14,10-7Big Sky

Portland State

18-10,12-5Big Sky

Portland St.

Montana

Photo by: Noah Epps/university of Montana

Griz sweep season series over Big Sky champ Portland State

2/28/2026 8:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's basketball team dominated league leaders and regular season champion Portland State on Saturday, sending the Grizzly senior out in style with a 74-68 win over the Vikings.

The Grizzlies (16-14, 10-7 Big Sky) celebrated seniors Te'Jon Sawyer and Trae Taylor before the game as Montana played its final contest inside Dahlberg Arena. They ended the home season with a win over the top team in the league.

It's the second straight win for Montana and it clinches a .500 or better record for the 18^th straight season. The Grizzlies also guaranteed a top six finish in the league standings and are now locked into the 4-6 seeds in Boise.

The Grizzlies survived a late run that made the final score closer than the game felt for most of the 40 minutes as they leaned on a second straight strong defensive performance. The Vikings were held to just 39.1 percent shooting from the floor and 26.5 percent from 3-point range.

"Defense. That's two consecutive games holding an opponent under 40 percent," DeCuire said of the key to the win. "When we defend and take away what it is that you're trying to get defensively, we're better offensively because we can get in transition and get high percentage shots. And then Money Williams showing up like that offensively doesn't hurt."

Williams got things going right from the start with the first five points of the game. He knocked down a triple, stole the ball on the other end, and scored in transition to start what would turn into a 9-0 run out of the gates for Montana.

The junior guard finished with 27 points and 7 assists, both game highs. In a battle between the two top scorers in the league coming in, Williams took control of the scoring title race with his performance combined with just two points from Portland State's Terri Miller Jr.

Williams has now scored 25+ points in nine games this season, but he was also engaged defensively with two steals.

"He was emotionally attached to the game," DeCuire said. "He had a spurt where he was talking to our bench, feeling good, calling things offensively out there. When he's locked in and the ball is going in the basket it is just really difficult to beat us."

Montana had the strong start to the game. Portland State answered back, going on a 28-13 run through the middle portion of the half to take a 28-22 lead in the final three minutes. But similar to the way the game started, Williams burst for five quick points and then found Tyler Isaak for a corner three and all of a sudden Montana was up 30-28 at the half following an 8-0 run.

They scored 11 of the first 12 points in the second half to extend the lead to double figures.

"We're trying to keep it simple and play to our strengths," DeCuire said. "We're trying to get the ball to the right people in the right spots rather than trick people, just play straight up. We're making fewer mistakes doing that."

The biggest play of the game came early in the second half when Miller Jr. was ejected from the game for elbowing Brooklyn Hicks during a dead ball. He was ejected in the first four minutes of the half with the score at 35-29. After Williams made the technical free throws and Hicks scored on the ensuing possession, the Griz were up 10.

The Grizzly defense had been slowing the Vikings down prior to the ejection and continued to do so following it. Portland State didn't make a field goal for the nearly nine minutes of game time from the 2:42 mark of the first half until nearly the 14-minute mark of the second.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, finished the game 11-of-17 (.647) over the final 13 minutes of the game. Montana took its largest lead of the game at 21 points with 5:30 to play in the game and seemingly put the Vikings away.

Portland State, which needs a win to clinch the outright Big Sky title, didn't give in down the stretch. They scored six straight points and then went on a 9-0 run in under a minute to get back within double figures at 66-58.

Jaylin Henderson scored five straight points after two Grizzly free throws and the Vikings were back within five with 90 seconds to play.

Montana went to its closer on the following possession and Money Williams delivered with a tough bucket that put the game out of reach, but not without a bit of a scare late.

"We just have to be more mature," DeCuire said of the end of game situation. "I tried to save our timeouts for that last minute as much as possible, but we just weren't on the same page and didn't have enough guys wanting the ball at the right time. We just have to clean that up."

DeCuire used the same starting lineup for the second straight game with Brooklyn Hicks in the opening five. It led to another win on a balanced night by the rest of the Grizzlies behind Williams.

Hicks, Tyler Thompson, Tyler Isaak, and Grant Kepley all finished with 9 points.

"They all have things that they provide for us offensively and defensively," DeCuire said. "Brooklyn's energy and athleticism, he just makes a lot of plays that you don't draw up. Whether it's a timely offensive rebound or block, a loose ball, things like that. You need that energy early in games."

Te'Jon Sawyer may not have had the Senior Day he dreamed of individually, but he did pull down nine rebounds and went out with a win in the final home game of his three-year Grizzly career. Sawyer went 39-10 (.796) at home in his career.

"It was great storybook ending for Te'Jon to get a win against a good team the last time that he will ever play on this floor," DeCuire said. "I spoke to it a lot, his commitment to winning is very obvious and it's contagious. We appreciate him and for him to walk out of here with a W is huge."

His fellow senior Trae Taylor had four points in his last game in Dahlberg Arena including a massive alley-oop slam.

Montana is now two games above .500 with just one regular season game remaining. They have guaranteed at least a .500 record for the 18^th straight season, making them one of just 13 programs in the country to boast such a streak.

In a year with two freshmen in the starting lineup and only two returners that have played significant minutes, Montana is still toward the top of the league and carrying on the proud tradition of the program.

"It means a lot. It means a lot to those before me and anyone that would follow me that is part of the tradition here is winning," DeCuire said. "It's hard to sustain nowadays with the way programs are built now. It's difficult so we appreciate it, but at the end of the day you need good players and a good staff to win games and I have that."

Montana won't have any time to rest as they fly to Greeley, Colo. for a matchup with Northern Colorado on Monday night. The Bears defeated Idaho in Moscow on Saturday and are just one game behind Montana in the league standings after winning eight of their previous nine.

"It's another hot team playing good basketball and an opportunity to go into the conference tournament with a sweep on a couple of teams that you potentially could see," DeCuire said. "It's another incredible opportunity for us on the road we just have to keep the streak going and keep playing well going into Boise."