Montana closes non-conference home schedule, pulls away from Montana Tech in second half

MISSOULA Early in the second half of Tuesday night's non-conference home finale for the Griz, Montana Tech brought the Oredigger faithful in attendance to their feet.

Ifeanyi Okeke, a 6-foot-7-inch forward, threw down a thunderous slam dunk over Griz senior Te'Jon Sawyer that earned an and-one opportunity.

The score brought Tech within 12.

The play was a testament to the intensity of the outing from the Orediggers, many of whom are Montana natives and likely grew up watching Griz basketball.

"I feel like they're probably excited, you know, to be able to play in front of some of their fas as well as some people in the community," Griz graduate guard Joe Pridgen said.

"They showed up, they gave us a fight, and we had to work for the win." Graduate Montana guard Joe Pridgen fights through contact against the Montana Tech Orediggers Tuesday, Dec.

10 at Robin Selvig Court in Missoula.

Two minutes later, Pridgen soared for a dunk of his own, standing up the Montana bench and returning momentum to the Grizzlies.

UM (7-4) outscored Montana Tech (10-0) 33-18 from there, polishing off a 89-60 win over the No.

5 NAIA program in the nation.

The Orediggers considered the contest an exhibition, so they remain officially undefeated.

The win keeps Montana perfect at home, now 7-0, as the team hits the road for a pair of non-conference games before Big Sky play in 2025.

"It was physical for 40 minutes," sophomore Griz guard Money Williams said.

"They brought it to us.

We played lackadaisical for the first five minutes, but we came out in the second half." The Griz, who fell at home to Tech in 2019, the first loss in the series since 1950, opened the contest with a plethora of turnovers.

Nine first-half turnovers was the fourth-most in a half this season from Montana, and the visitors from Butte capitalized early.

After five minutes of play, Tech led the Griz 7-2.

Montana head coach Travis DeCuire attributed the early stumbles to a less-than-complete preparation from his players.

"They weren't trapping or pressing or anything like that," DeCuire said of Montana Tech's defensive performance.

"They were just playing normal defense, we were lazy and not playing full strength." Pridgen scored five straight for the Griz to help kickstart the offense, and the team found its footing from there.

By the end of the first half, Montana led by 10.

The team slowly grew its lead after halftime, and the dunk from Pridgen helped open the floodgates entirely.

Williams said the moment shifted the game's momentum.

"(Pridgen) dunking on somebody, I feel like I have to piggy-back on that," Williams said.

"I felt good, my teammates started trusting me, (Brandon Whitney) started being more aggressive, Malik (Moore) started passing more, I felt like we just started playing together in the second half." Williams, who finished the game with 20 points, knocked down a trio of three-balls as time winded down in the game.

It's the highest point total he's tallied at home this season, his 30- and 25-point bursts coming on the road at Tennessee and Utah State, respectively.

Pridgen said the output from Williams helps stretch out opposing defenses, making life in the paint all the more easier.

"It gives us confidence to be able to throw it back out there and know we got one-to-six guys who have already knocked a shot down," Pridgen said.

Pridgen finished the game with 21 points and 13 rebounds, both team-highs.

Tuesday night was the Northeastern transfer's second double-double performance as a Grizzly.

"Attacking the rim is huge," DeCuire said of Pridgen's night.

"We weren't getting enough shots at the rim, so we spread the floor with four guards and gave him a little more room to operate." Junior guard Malik Moore tallied a team-high seven assists along with 13 points.

Five different Griz reached double-digit points against Tech Williams, Pridgen, Moore, Whitney (12) and senior guard Kai Johnson (10).

"From the people that's been watching us, they know we're a good team," Williams said, " I feel like we're gelling really good, really fast." As Big Sky play looms, DeCuire said his biggest focus is getting his rotation fully healthy.

"We're not necessarily where we want to be right now, but we've gotten better each outing," DeCuire said.

"We still gotta grow more if we want to compete for a championship in our conference." Montana closes out non-conference play next week, facing Northern Iowa and San Francisco on the road.

The Griz open Big Sky play with two road games, too, facing Eastern Washington and Idaho before returning to Robin Selvig Court to face Northern Arizona Jan.

9.

"Any given night, anybody can beat anybody," Pridgen said.

"But I think we're the team to beat, and that's the goal for us." Carson Cashion is a sports writer for 406 MT Sports, primarily covering the Bitterroot Valley.

Follow him on X @CarsonCashion or contact him at [email protected] .

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