The Montana Grizzlies continued their winning ways and beat Idaho State 81-68 on Thursday evening in front of 2,804 fans at Dahlberg Arena.
The win was Montana's seventh in a row as the Grizzlies improved to 18-8 overall and 11-2 in Big Sky Conference play and remained tied for first place with Northern Colorado.
ISU was the last team to beat Montana, and on Thursday the Grizzlies found their revenge as Money Williams scored 17 points and went 3 for 3 from deep and added six rebounds. Joe Pridgen tallied 12 points and six boards, while Kai Johnson, Malik Moore and Brandon Whitney each added 10 and Te'Jon Sawyer scored eight points.
The win also moves head coach Travis DeCuire up to victory No. 219, just two away from tying the program's all-time wins mark of 221.
The Grizzlies led 37-28 at halftime as the game went back-and-forth early before a pair of 3s from Williams gave Montana the advantage.
A dunk and 3-pointer from Moore in the second half gave Montana its largest lead, a 46-31 advantage with 16:57 to go. Idaho State chipped away as Dylan Darling scored 33 points — including a 13-for-16 performance from the free throw line — and the Bengals got within two at 63-61 with 7:29 to go.
But Pridgen responded with a tough layup and the Grizzlies took control from there as they cruised down the stretch and sealed the win.
UM shot 56.1% from the field and went 6 for 13 from deep. UM also out-rebounded ISU 38 to 35, a category the Bengals won in the first match 39 to 26 as the Bengals beat the Griz back on Jan. 18. The Grizzlies also racked up 44 points in the paint.
ISU shot 34.8% from the field as they fell to 11-12 overall and 6-6 in league play.
UM is back at home on Saturday as the Grizzlies host Weber State at 7 p.m.
