Williams' historic night lifts Griz to Big Sky semifinal

Monday, March 9

Boise, Idaho

5:30 PM

Montana

17-15,10-8Big Sky

No. 5 Northern Colorado

20-12,10-8Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Montana

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke / University of Montana

Williams' historic night lifts Griz to Big Sky semifinal

3/9/2026 11:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

There are few things that Money Williams hasn't accomplished in his three years at Montana, but on Monday night in Boise in the Big Sky Quarterfinal Williams did something that few players in the history of the conference have achieved.

Williams poured in a new career high 40 points, the 4^th most ever scored in a Big Sky Tournament game and just two off the Montana program record, to lead the Grizzlies to a 95-89 win over Northern Colorado.

It's the first time since Anthony Johnson's 42-point performance in the 2010 title game that a Grizzly has reached the mark.

"I know what I'm capable of and I know what I bring to the team," Williams said. "I knew it was do-or-die and I don't want to go home. Last year we won it all, and I want to do it again."

Montana lost to Northern Colorado exactly one week ago by 28 points, closing out the regular season in disappointing fashion. Williams and the Grizzlies exacted revenge in Boise.

Williams finished his night 10-of-21 from the floor with a pair of made 3-pointers. He also went 18-of-19 from the free throw line and pulled down seven rebounds in the win. Montana needed just about every point as they built a big first half lead and held on late in a rematch of the 2025 championship game.

The Grizzlies built a 17-point lead at halftime behind a big first half from Williams and strong defense on the Bears. They held Northern Colorado to just 38.7 percent shooting in the first half and led 49-32 at the break.

Williams was the star of the night and got going early, but the play of freshman Kenyon Aguino helped the Grizzlies to a fast start in the game. Aguino had four points and five rebounds by the first media timeout, including three offensive boards.

The Grizzlies had an early 9-2 run, breaking a tie and taking the lead for good on a jumper by Tyler Thompson. The offense was on fire in the first half, shooting 54 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range with six makes. Williams and Tyler Thompson each hit multiple threes in the first half as the Grizzlies had all the momentum going into the break up 49-32.

It was the second most first half points against a D-I opponent all season. The Bears had a fast start out of the break and the game turned into a shootout in the final 20 minutes with both offenses finding a rhythm.

"They are a good team. Smiley is a great coach," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "They made some adjustments and started attacking the rim. They found some things in the ball screen that kind of got them in the paint. We were in the no three-point shot mode on defense and it kind of opened up the penetration. But we were holding them high 30s, low 40s percentage-wise for most of the game."

Montana led by 13 with 6:40 to go before a 9-0 run by Northern Colorado cut the lead all the way down to four points. The Grizzly offense had slowed down during the stretch, going nearly three minutes without a point.

Grant Kepley ended that drought with a huge three-pointer at the end of the shot clock that made it 79-72 Grizzlies with four minutes to play.

Williams continued to add to his scoring total down the stretch from the free throw line, keeping the Bears at an arm's length. A Northern Colorado three with 1:33 to go made it a two-point game. Montana pushed it back out to six points.

The Bears didn't go away. Quinn Denker made a lay-up with 21 seconds left to make it 90-87, but the Griz got a free throw from Thompson. Another UNC lay-up, this time from Brock Wisne, made it a two-point game with 12 seconds to play.

Aguino slammed home an exclamation point to the game as the Grizzlies broke the press deep and he had a wide-open lane on the breakaway. The dunk from Aguino gave him 12 points to go with his 8 rebounds on the night.

Williams was fouled in the final seconds, knocking down his 17^th and 18^th free throws to reach the 40-point mark for the first time in his career.

Montana reaches the semifinals for the 4^th straight season and the 9^th time in 11 years under head coach Travis DeCuire.

"We have a lot of guys that believe in themselves and their teammates," DeCuire said. "It's one of the things that we've been a little bit up and down with because we have a lot of guys going to war together for the first time so it's just having confidence in your teammates and allowing them to help you or making them better. When we've done that, we've been extremely good."

Williams made history with his 40-point single game performance, but he also rose in the record book for single season scoring. He now has 648 points this season, the 4^th most in program history.

He passed Sayeed Pridgett, Anthony Johnson, Martin Breunig, and Larry Krystkowiak on Monday night. He needs just six more points to pass Michael Ray Richardson for 3^rd and is 61 away from Krystkowiak's program record of 709.

After scoring 17 points against Northern Colorado last Monday in the regular season finale, he exploded in the tournament and credited the coaching staff and scout team for his performance.

"I knew they were going to face guard me so I had to be ultra aggressive with the ball," Williams said. "We practiced all week, shoutout to Connor Dick he did an excellent job on scout, and it prepared me."

It's the 6^th 30-point game of the season for Williams, which trails only Richardson's eight in 1977-78 in Grizzly history.

"He could have done that a lot this year," DeCuire said. "There are a lot of guys out there that are taking 20 shots a game, Money Williams is only averaging 12 or 13 a game. To average what he does on that, you have to be pretty efficient, but we needed 40 points from him tonight, he knew it, and he made it happen. A lot of respect for him as a player."

His performance helped lead Montana to its second-best scoring game in Big Sky Tournament history. The only time the Grizzlies scored more was in a 109-97 win over Idaho State in the 1991 semifinals.

Two of the four highest scoring games in tournament history for Montana have come in their last two games in Boise, both against Northern Colorado. The Grizzlies beat the Bears 91-83 in last year's championship game.

Williams, who is now averaging 20.2 points per game this season, was the star but it was a complete team effort in the win as four other Grizzly players reached double figures. Redshirt-freshman Tyler Thompson had 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc in his first Big Sky Tournament game.

Te'Jon Sawyer scored 11 points and Grant Kepley had 11 points on perfect shooting off the bench. Aguino joined them with his dozen. Montana shot 53 percent from the floor as a team and committed fewer than 10 turnovers for just the third time this season.

The Grizzlies outrebounded the Bears 36-34 and outscored them 15-11 in second chance points.

Montana will now face the No. 1seeded Portland State Vikings on Tuesday night in a semifinal. The game will tip off at 7:00 p.m. and be televised nationally on ESPN U.

The Grizzlies swept the season series over the Vikings, winning 64-60 in Portland and 74-68 in Missoula on Feb. 28.

"We need to be physical and we need to defend the paint," DeCuire said. "Miller has to be contained. He has big games no matter how many guys you are putting on him but we just have to minimize his field goal percentage. If we can do that and we are good offensively, we will be fine."