MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies men's basketball team took care of business in its final home game of the season on Monday evening by beating Idaho State 79-65 in front of 3,085 fans at Dahlberg Arena.
With the win, Montana (21-10, 12-6 Big Sky) secured the No. 3 seed heading into the Big Sky tournament in Boise, Idaho, and UM will next play No. 6 Portland State at 8 p.m. next Monday in the quarterfinal round.
In their final game in Dahlberg Arena, it was again the Griz seniors leading the way in the win.
Aanen Moody scored 22 points and dished out five assists. Brandon Whitney and Josh Vazquez each scored 14 points and each passed out four assists, while Dischon Thomas added 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds and two steals, and Laolu Oke added six points and nine boards.
Montana also saw the return of standout freshman guard Money Williams. Williams was on fire to start his college basketball career at Montana but a lower leg injury at UC Davis on Dec. 19 has had him sidelined for most of the season. He played five minutes on Monday and scored four points.
The Griz went back-and-forth with ISU in the first half and led 31-27 at the break. The offense began to catch fire in the second half as the Griz opened the lead up, as Moody scored 20 of his points in the second half while Vazquez added nine. The Griz shot the ball at a 60.4% clip from the field and went 5 for 19 from deep. They held ISU to 42.1% shooting on the night.
