BOISE, Idaho — Montana is now one win from ending its five-year NCAA tournament drought.
The second-seeded Grizzlies broke out fast en route to a 78-55 semifinal win over No. 3 Idaho late Tuesday night at Idaho Central Arena to set up a 1 vs. 2 matchup with Northern Colorado in Wednesday night’s championship game.
The Griz (24-9) are back in the title contest for the second straight year looking to get back to the Big Dance for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Montana and UNC split their two regular-season meetings, which each team winning on the other’s home floor.
"I think we both are going to go to this game confident," Griz coach Travis DeCuire said. "We both have had our night against one another. So I expect them to show up with a lot of confidence and mojo, as we've used as a term here lately.
"But I think the most important thing for us is to remember the best defensive team is going to win that game. Whoever shows up and executes their plan the best is going to be the team that wins."
The Grizzlies clearly executed their plan Tuesday night.
Austin Patterson scored a season-high 20 points for UM against Idaho, making five 3-pointers. Money Williams and Kai Johnson each added 13. Joe Pridgen hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.
Montana, bolstered by baskets from Williams, busted out for a 26-8 run in the first half to forge an 18-point lead with 5:23 left before intermission.
Idaho pared its deficit down to 11 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Jack Payne, but the Grizzlies twice took a 21-point advantage early in the second half on hoops by Johnson and Brandon Whitney.
A pair of 3s by Patterson and a layup by Johnson gave Montana a 62-41 lead with 10:37 remaining. The advantage ballooned to 31 points later in the second half on corner 3-pointers by Malik Moore and Johnson.
Patterson made 6 of 11 from the floor to lead a Griz shooting effort that operated at a 45.9% clip. As a team, Montana had 19 assists on 28 field goals.
"My teammates were just sharing the ball," Patterson said. "You know, we're a pretty dangerous team. We've got seven guys that can score 20 at night. So I think we're really dangerous, but we just share the ball a lot.
"I think that's what's really good about us. Obviously, our defense as well. I think our defense fuels our offense, and that was what got us going in the beginning of the first half."
The Grizzlies enter the championship game having won 13 of their past 14 games.
Payne had 18 points to lead Idaho. Billings Skyview graduate Julius Mims finished with six points with a pair of dunks. He grabbed seven rebounds.
Said Montana's Johnson afterward: "This is the reason why I came here. I wanted to win games and eventually make it to the March Madness tournament. We've got one more to go, so it's good to be on the doorstep. But we've got one more to go, so that's all we're focused on right now, and I'll be happy if we win that game."
