Griz back home to start second half of league play

Thursday, February 5

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

Eastern Washington

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Photo by: Jackson Wagner

2/3/2026 4:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (13-10, 7-3 Big Sky) vs. EASTERN WASHINGTON (5-17, 3-6 Big Sky)
Thursday, Feb. 5 / 7:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

MONTANA vs. IDAHO (13-9, 5-4 Big Sky)
Saturday, Feb. 7 / 4:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

Montana is officially on the final stretch of the conference season as they return home to host Eastern Washington and Idaho this weekend. The Grizzlies (13-10, 7-3 Big Sky) have just eight games remaining this year and five of them will be at home.

They start the conference rematches against an Eastern Washington team that stunned the Grizzlies in the first meeting, scoring nine straight points over the final four minutes to win 66-65.

Montana will look for revenge against the Eagles on Thursday night in a game that will be televised locally on SWX and streamed live on ESPN+.

The Grizzlies picked up a huge win in the hunt for a second straight Big Sky title last Thursday in Portland, handing the PSU Vikings their first loss of the conference season. There was a small let down on Saturday as the Grizzlies lost to Sacramento State, but they remain in the thick of the championship chase.

Montana is tied for second in the league, trailing Portland State by two games. But they hold the tiebreaker over the Vikings and get them in Missoula in the final home game of the regular season.

In order to keep pace, the Grizzlies will need to defend their home court starting on Thursday night. Montana is 4-0 inside Dahlberg Arena in league play this season with every win coming by nine points or more.

The Grizzlies have won 11 straight Big Sky games inside Dahlberg Arena, the longest home winning streak in the league.

Montana will face off against Idaho on Saturday. The Vandals are currently in 4^th place in the league standings at 5-4. Saturday's game will be televised locally on Scripps Sports with Tom Wylie calling the game and Krista Redpath providing analysis.

UM EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION GAME
Thursday will be the annual Employee Appreciation Game at Montana with all UM employees able to receive a free ticket to the game. Employees can check their email or call the box office to receive the free ticket.

The University's Might of Montana award winners will be honored during a timeout break during the game.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE EAGLES
Montana led Eastern Washington 65-57 with just under four minutes to play. The Grizzlies then turned the ball over three times, went 0-for-3 from the floor, and missed the front end of a one-and-one.

The Eagles closed the game on a 9-0 run to win 66-65. Defense was the key to the win for EWU. They have a bottom 10 three-point defense in the league (.369), but held Montana to just 2-of-14 (.140) from the arc. It's also the fewest points allowed in a game this year by Eastern Washington, nearly 17 points below their season average.

Money Williams led Montana with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.

VANDALIZATION
Montana went to Moscow in early January and won 79-73, leading by as many as 18 points and holding the lead for over 35 minutes of game time. Money Williams scored 35 points in the win with Te'Jon Sawyer adding 16, Kenyon Aguino 13, and Tyler Thompson 10.

The Grizzlies have won eight straight games over Idaho, sweeping the regular season series three straight times. They have been victorious in 14 of the last 15 games against Idaho and haven't lost at home since 2017.

FLIPPING THE PAGE TO FEBRUARY
Montana enters the month of February, which has been a very good month for head coach Travis DeCuire in his 12 seasons at Montana. The Grizzlies are 58-23 (.716) in February under DeCuire, which is the best winning percentage in the Big Sky and 18^th best nationally.

FEBRUARY HOME RECORD
The Grizzlies have been nearly unbeatable at home in the month of February, going 32-7 inside Dahlberg Arena in the month of February under Coach DeCuire. The .821 winning percentage is tied for 23^rd nationally and shares the Big Sky lead with Eastern Washington.

Montana has won 12 of its last 13 home games in the month of February dating all the way back to 2022. The only team to beat Montana on its home floor in the last three seasons was Eastern Washington in 2024. The Eagles beat the Grizzlies 78-65 that year.

HOME CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK
Montana has won 11 straight Big Sky Conference games inside Dahlberg Arena dating back to Jan. 11, 2025. It's the longest home winning streak in the Big Sky. They have wins over all nine Big Sky opponents during the time with two wins over Weber State and Idaho State.

FREE THROW SHOOTING SUCCESS
Montana has been tremendous at the free throw line over the previous six seasons. The Grizzlies are shooting 78.0 percent from the stripe this season, which is the 5^th best single season percentage in program history.

All of the top five marks have come in the previous six years. The record is 79.2 percent, set in 2023-24.

GRIZ NOTES

Allowed 80+ points in a Big Sky game for the first time this season at Sacramento State. The Hornets shot season-best number for a Griz opponent from the field (.492) and from three-point range (.458).
Eastern Washington is the only Big Sky team that DeCuire doesn't have a winning record against. He is 12-13 vs. the Eagles with a 5-6 record at home.
All 10 of Montana's losses have come when the Grizzlies commit more turnovers than their opponent. They are 6-0 when committing the same or fewer turnovers.
Montana is 4-0 when playing on Thursday. They are 3-5 in Saturday games.
Shooting 53.5 percent in wins and just 45.2 percent in losses.
Montana is 7-3 or better for the 8^th time in 12 years under DeCuire. They have improved to 8-3 all seven times previously.
Random fact: Montana is 11-1 in the 11^th game of the Big Sky Conference season under Coach DeCuire. The only time they have lost game #11 in Big Sky play was in 2022 on the road at Weber State.
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.
The Grizzlies have outshot their opponent from the field in 18 of 23 games this season. They are 13-5 with a better field goal percentage.
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.
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 eight times this year and are 7-1 in those games.
They have scored 90+ five times this season and have won all five games.
Montana is 9-1 when going on a 10-point scoring run during the game.
They have shot better than 50 percent in nine games this year, going 7-2 when doing so.
The halftime leader is 18-3 this season in Montana's games. The Grizzlies are 10-1 when going into the locker rooms with the lead. They have been tied twice, going 1-1.
UM is 9-3 when shooting a better percentage from 3-point range and also 9-3 when making more threes than their opponent.
They have scored 50 points or more in a half eight times this season. They have done it five 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 11-point deficit to defeat Weber State, 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 147-64 (.698) in Big Sky Conference play.
The Grizzlies have scored 100+ points in three games already 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 3-3 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 15 total games decided by single digits.
Money Williams has led Montana in points, rebounds, and assists in the same game five times this season.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON (5-17, 3-6 BIG SKY)

The Eagles are in the midst of a four-game road stretch. They lost at Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado last weekend to fall to 3-6 in league play.
Eastern Washington is 1-13 on the road this year. The lone win came at Idaho State on Jan. 17.
EWU is currently in 7^th place in the Big Sky Conference and 1.5 games back from 6^th place. The top six teams all receive a bye at the Big Sky Tournament in Boise.
Head coach Dan Monson is 15-39 (.278) in two seasons at Eastern Washington. The veteran head coach has a career record of 460-435 (.514).
The Eagles average 76.3 points per game while allowing 81.7. The -5.4 scoring margin ranks 314^th in the NCAA this season.
The Eagles have allowed opponents to shoot 36.9 percent from three-point range, which is a bottom 15 defense in the country.
EWU ranks 264^th in Tuesday's NET Rankings and 232^nd in the KenPom Ratings.
Isaiah Moses leads the Eagles and ranks 4^th in the Big Sky in scoring with 18.0 points per game. Moses also leads the team in assists and is in the top 10 in the league with 3.7 per game.
Alton Hamilton IV is the leading rebounder on EWU at 6.0 per game. He also scores in double figures at 11.9 per game.
Kiree Huie, a Big Sky veteran with a previous stop at Idaho State, averages 12.6 points per game for the Eagles and is 2^nd in the Big Sky with 26 blocks.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE EAGLES
Montana leads the all-time series 73-54 over the Eagles and has a 39-21 record in games played in Missoula. EWU has won five of the last seven games in the series and is the only program in the Big Sky with a winning record over DeCuire.

DeCuire is 12-13 against Eastern Washington and just 5-6 at home against the Eagles.