Griz wrap regular season at Northern Colorado

Monday, March 2

Greeley, Colo.

6:00 PM

Montana

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

3/1/2026 12:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (16-14, 10-7 BIG SKY) at NORTHERN COLORADO (19-11, 9-8 BIG SKY)
Monday, March 2 / 6:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats

Montana men's basketball is heating up at the right time and will look to stay hot this Monday in Greeley, Colo. when they take on Northern Colorado in the regular season finale. Both teams will be playing their third game in five days to close things out.

The Grizzlies have had ups-and-downs this year, but just completed an impressive home weekend at home to get things back on track before heading to the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise next weekend.

Montana went 2-0 against Sacramento State and Portland State at home, completing the season sweep of the regular season champion Vikings and getting some revenge on the Hornets.

The Grizzlies honored seniors Te'Jon Sawyer and Trae Taylor before the game on Saturday and delivered with a big win over the Vikings. Montana led by as many as 21 points and held on down the stretch as Portland State made a late run to pick up the 74-68 win.

Montana's defense returned to the form it showed when the Grizzlies went on a four-game winning streak earlier in the season over the weekend. After allowing 80+ points in four out of six games during their recent slide, Montana held its two opponents to just 71.5 points per game over the weekend. They also held both teams under 41 percent from the floor.

Money Williams erupted for 27 points while dishing out 7 assists in the win. He's now the leading scorer in the Big Sky Conference this year at 19.7 points per game and could become the first Grizzly since Anthony Johnson in 2010 to lead the league in scoring.

Head coach Travis DeCuire changed up the starting five for the final two home games and the move paid off with the Griz starting both games well with Brooklyn Hicks in the opening lineup.

The wins guarantee Montana a spot in the top six of a very tight Big Sky Conference this year. The Grizzlies could still finish tied for as high as second or as low as sixth in the final league standings, but they are locked into seeds 4-6 at the tournament.

Northern Colorado comes into the final game one of the hottest teams in the league having won eight of its previous nine games. They have climbed from the basement of the league to now sit in 6^th place alone with a chance to go even higher on Monday.

The game will feature the league's two leading scorers in Williams (19.7) and UNC's Quinn Denker (19.0). Williams and Denker are the only two players in the country averaging at least 19.0 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game.

The two teams met in the second league game of the season all the way back on January 3. In a rematch of last year's Big Sky Conference Championship game, Montana won 88-79. Williams had 31 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds in that win.

POSTSEASON PICTURE
Portland State will have one final chance to clinch an outright Big Sky title on Monday when they host Weber State. The Vikings are alone in first place at 12-5 in league play. Montana State and Eastern Washington sit just one game behind the Vikings and could clinch a share of the title with wins and a PSU loss.

Montana and Weber State are tied for 4^th place in the league standings. If Montana wins and Portland State beats the Wildcats, the Grizzlies would be the 4-seed in Boise. The Grizzlies could also lose and still be the 4-seed if Portland State wins by way of the tiebreaker having swept

A loss by Portland State would open up plenty of other possibilities for seeding in the entire league as Montana State and/or Eastern Washington could share the regular season title and change up the seeding at the top.

DECUIRE WINS 150 LEAGUE GAMES
Head coach Travis DeCuire won his 150^th Big Sky Conference game on Saturday. The 12^th year head coach is just the second person to reach the milestone, joining Weber State's Randy Rahe.

DeCuire is Montana's winningest coach, 2^nd in Big Sky league wins, and 3^rd in the conference in overall wins at 242. He needs five more wins to pass Montana State's Mick Durham for second in league history.

THE .500 STREAK STAYS ALIVE
Montana has been .500 or better every single season since 2007-08 and have once again clinched a .500 or better record after Saturday's win. 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. Baylor (15-14) and Memphis (12-16) are all in danger of losing their streaks this year.

ENTERING RARE AIR
Money Williams has cracked the single season top 10 in program history in both scoring and assists this year. Williams has scored 591 points (9th) and has 153 assists (6th). Williams is also climbing the program ranks for career assists and scoring.

He's currently 16th in assists with 302, passing former player and head coach Blaine Taylor on Saturday. He's 21st in points but could climb as high as 17th on Monday.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana is now 9-2 when holding opponents under 70 points. They held Portland State under 70 in both games this season.
Coach DeCuire won his 150^th Big Sky game on Feb. 28 against Portland State. He's just the second person in league history with 150 conference wins, joining Weber State's Randy Rahe.
Money Williams now has 153 assists this season. It's the most in a single year since J.R. Camel had 170 in 1997-98.
Williams has scored 591 total points this season, the 9^th most in a single year in program history.
When scoring 10+ points in the fast break, Montana is 10-2.
The team leading at halftime is 23-5 this year. The Grizzlies are 12-2 when up at the break and 3-11 when trailing. They are 1-1 when the score is tied.
Allowed 90+ points for the fifth time this season and second time in conference play. The Griz are now 2-10 when allowing 80-or-more points, including a 1-4 record when allowing 90+.
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 is 7-1 when they commit the same or fewer turnovers than their opponent.
The Griz are 12-2 when they have a scoring run of 10-or-more.
The Griz are 15-5 when they hold a lead of 9+ points at any point during the game. All five losses have come in Big Sky play, blowing two 9-point leads to Eastern Washington and leads of 9 and 10 to Montana State. They blew a 10-point lead to Idaho State on Saturday.
Entering the first Eastern Washington game on Jan. 10, Montana was 54-3 when leading by 9 or more over the previous three seasons. They went just 5-5 over the next 10 games with 9-point leads.
Montana's 6 losses at home this year were the most by the program since going 7-6 in 2007-08.
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 eight times this season and are 0-8 in those games. They are 16-6 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 2-0 in Monday games this year.
Shooting 52.8 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.
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 10 times this year and are 9-1 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 12 games this year, going 9-3 when doing so.
UM is 12-4 when shooting a better percentage from 3-point range and 10-4 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 has 20+ wins against two Big Sky opponents. He's 20-5 against Northern Arizona and 21-3 vs. Idaho State.
Montana blew a 10-point lead at Idaho State, tied for the largest that they have given up this season. They overcame a 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 150-68 (.689) 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 5-4 in games decided by 6-or-fewer points.
Money Williams has 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.
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 18 total games decided by single digits.
Money Williams has led Montana in points, rebounds, and assists in the same game eight times this season.
Coach DeCuire is typically quick to pull players as they enter foul trouble. Montana's two-foul participation is just 9.7%, which is a bottom 30 mark in the country. The NCAA average is 24.5%.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO (19-11, 9-8 BIG SKY)

Northern Colorado is the 2^nd hottest team in the Big Sky Conference at the moment having won eight of the previous nine games. Their only loss is to Eastern Washington, which is on an 8-game winning streak.
The Bears started 1-7 in league but have pulled themselves back above .500. The Griz and Bears split the regular season title in 2024-25 and met in the Big Sky Championship game.
Steve Smiley is in his 6^th season as head coach at Northern Colorado and has a 108-82 overall record.
UNC is 10-3 at home this season and has won five straight inside Bank of Colorado Arena.
The Bears have one of the most efficient offenses in the country. They rank 55^th in scoring at 82.2 points per game and are inside the top 60 in the country in field goal percentage (.492), three-point percentage (.363), and free throw percentage (.759).
Quinn Denker is averaging 19.0 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game this season. He and Montana's Money Williams are the only two players averaging at least 19, 5, and 4.
Brock Wisne is averaging 16.7 points per game and 6.3 rebounds to lead the Bears. He's shooting 57.7 percent from the floor this season.
Zach Bloch is one of the top defenders in the league, averaging 1.4 steals per game. He's also scoring 11.5 points per game and shooting 43.1 percent from 3-point range.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BEARS
Montana leads the all-time series 31-17 and are currently on a three-game winning streak against UNC. Montana is 12-8 in Greeley. The Griz won 86-78 there last season. Coach DeCuire is 14-10 vs. Northern Colorado.