Griz use huge second half to beat Idaho for 9th straight time

Saturday, February 7

Missoula, Mont.

4:00 PM

Montana

14-11,8-4Big Sky

Idaho

13-11,5-6Big Sky

Idaho

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

Griz use huge second half to beat Idaho for 9th straight time

2/7/2026 7:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

There are two halves of basketball for a reason. Montana scored just 19 points in the first half against Idaho on Saturday evening inside Dahlberg Arena, but erupted after the break for 54 points to come from behind and pick up a 73-68 win over the Vandals.

It's the 9^th straight win in the series for Montana, which hasn't lost to Idaho at home since 2017. The Grizzlies improve to 14-11 and 8-4 in Big Sky Conference play with the bounce back win.

It was an uncharacteristic first 20 minutes for the Grizzly offense as they had a season-low 19 points and shot just 25 percent from the floor. They remained in the game behind a strong defensive performance as Idaho shot just 36 percent. The Grizzly defense held in the second half and was supported by a hot shooting half.

"We defended well enough in the first half to be winning, it's just our offense was our Achilles' heel because we weren't getting shots and taking bad shots," head coach Travis DeCuire said of the first half. "We cleaned up our offensive execution when we got the offense in front of our bench and continued to defend."

The start of the second half completely turned the game on its head as Montana's offense found a rhythm. The Vandals led for the entirety of the first half after scoring on the first possession of the game.

The teams traded baskets out of the break, and Idaho still led by double figures at 34-24. Then everything came together for the Grizzlies.

Tyler Thompson connected on a triple and Te'Jon Sawyer provided the highlight of the game on Montana's next possession, flying through the air to throw back a tip-slam that brought the Dahlberg Arena crowd to its feet.

That was just the beginning. Money Williams hit a three to cut the lead to two points. Thompson buried another triple in front of his own bench, and suddenly a 10-point deficit became Montana's first lead of the game at 35-34.

Sawyer scored again, Thompson stayed hot with yet another three, and Kenyon Aguino banked one in from the top of the key to cap off a 19-0 Grizzly run. They trailed by 10 with 18 minutes to play in the game. By the time the teams reached the 12-minute media, it was Montana's game to lose as they led 43-34.

It's the longest scoring run by a Montana team since the season opener in 2023 against Northwest Indian. Thompson sparked the run with four made 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the half after a cold stretch over the previous four games.

"He needed good shots and he wasn't getting good looks. They were all contested, they were quick, they were deep," DeCuire said. "We have to do a better job as a group creating better shots for him, and we did that in the second half."

Montana held a double figure lead for most of the game from that point on, going up by as many as 14 with just 90 seconds to play.

Idaho made things interesting late with nine straight points in 46 seconds to get back within five at 70-65, but Money Williams connected on late free throws and the Grizzlies held on for the win.

Montana shot 67.9 percent from the field in the second half and went 9-of-15 (.600) from 3-point range over the final 20 minutes. Thompson got hot, but it was a balanced overall night for the Grizzly offense.

Williams had a team high 14 points, but all five of the top scorers for Montana were between 12 and 14 points. Te'Jon Sawyer had 13 to go with 8 rebounds. Thompson, Brooklyn Hicks, and Grant Kepley scored 12 points apiece.

"Everybody played to their strengths," DeCuire said of the balance. "Brooklyn was slashing and cutting to the rim. Money drawing two and three defenders and getting rid of the ball led a lot of second and third penetrations and that's where Grant was at his best. They just really played well together."

The start of the game couldn't have been much worse for Montana. Idaho went on an 8-0 run out of the gates with Montana missing its first four shots and turning it over three times in the first four minutes.

DeCuire didn't wait around. He made nearly a full rotation switch inside of the opening two minutes, going to his bench to try to keep Montana in it. When the Grizzlies went into the locker room, they didn't need much more of a message than that.

"The entire first 10 minutes of the game they got my opinion on why they sat and watched," DeCuire said. "They knew how I felt, so we made a couple of adjustments on both sides of the ball, mostly on offense, to get better spacing and better execution and the guys came out and took care of the ball."

Montana made its final eight field goal attempts of the game, closing out a red-hot shooting half in impressive fashion. It's the 6^th time this season that Montana has scored 50+ points in the second half as they continue to make winning adjustments out of the locker rooms.

It's an impressive response for a Grizzly team that needed a win after two straight defeats. The Grizzlies are still in third place in the Big Sky, but a loss on Saturday would have dropped them into a tight grouping of teams.

The win now puts them three games clear of fourth place in the win column and gives them a chance to pull back into a tie for second depending on results later on Saturday. A win was exactly what the Grizzlies needed after Thursday night's disappointing result.

"We practiced, we got after it, we had a film session, we talked about things we could do better, talked about some personnel things," DeCuire said. "The key was to just be a unit and play together on both sides, talk to each other and help each other out. I thought our mojo was better. We didn't get out to a very good start but we stuck together and didn't fall apart."

Montana will have just a single game next week, but it's a big one as they welcome Montana State to town for the second Brawl of the Wild contest of the season. It's been an up and down year, but the Grizzlies are hoping things are trending in the right direction with just six regular season games remaining.

"We have been on a hell of a rollercoaster ride all season," DeCuire said. "I feel like there was growth from Thursday night to today. We have a week to prove it. We have to prove it in practice and the way we handle ourselves day to day, and then see if we can put together a better performance on the floor Saturday."