BOISE, Idaho — Make shots, win basketball games.
For everything that goes into a team concept for success, it really is as simple as putting the ball through the hoop.
Photos: Montana Grizzlies top Northern Colorado in high-scoring Big Sky championship
No. 2 seed Montana did that at an incredible pace late Wednesday night — and so did top-seeded Northern Colorado. But the Grizzlies had just a little bit more than the Bears in a championship battle between the Big Sky’s two best teams.
Montana made 65.2% of its attempts and won the conference title with a 91-83 win over UNC at Idaho Central Arena for a berth in the NCAA tournament. It is Montana’s first Big Sky crown since winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
Afterward, Griz coach Travis DeCuire was less concerned with the numbers and more complimentary of the way his team came together down the stretch, a run that has now produced 14 wins in the past 15 games.
"I've got so many thoughts. I don't know where to begin or end," DeCuire said. "I'll start with this: the stat sheet doesn't tell the story about this team. I've had a lot of good teams, talent, toughness, skill. This team had a combination of everything, but what makes this team special is their commitment to one another in the sacrifices that they were all willing to make.
"I'm going to enjoy this trip to the NCAA tournament with these guys as much as any I've had."
The Grizzlies led by 10 points, 67-57, after a pair of Kai Johnson free throws with 11:23 to go. But UNC whittled that down to two points at 71-69 on a driving basket by Langston Reynolds with 5:01 left.
A big dunk by Joe Pridgen brought the Grizzlies’ fans to their feet and gave their team a 74-69 advantage with 4:16 left. Those were two big second-chance points, coming after Austin Patterson secured an offensive rebound on a missed free throw by Pridgen.
"Once you do something like that, your teammates, they feed off it," Pridgen said of his dunk. "Just kind of a full-circle moment, and it was a cool moment for me."
Two free throws by Isaiah Hawthorne pulled the Bears back within 74-73, but a Johnson three-point play gave the Griz a four-point lead again with 3:10 left. Johnson then hit a big step-back 3 at the 2:24 mark for an 80-73 advantage.
Brandon Whitney’s drive and layup kept the lead at seven points with 1:38 remaining, and the Griz iced it from the foul line in the final minute.
Johnson scored 23 points for Montana on 7-of-10 shooting. Whitney finished with 18, making 7 of 9 from the floor. Joe Pridgen had 17 points while shooting 7 for 11 and Malik Moore connected on 5 of 7 for 15 points.
The Griz hit 7 of 11 from 3-point range and went 24 for 28 from the foul line.
Whitney, in his fifth season with Montana, was named tournament MVP.
"Ever since our last game (last year) I wanted it," he said. "That's one of the reasons I came back, was to win the Big Sky championship and the Big Sky tournament. I just put everything I had into it."
Well into the second half, the Griz were shooting nearly 75% from the field. Between the 9:31 mark of the first half and 16:22 of the second, the Grizzlies made 14 shots in a row. They simply couldn’t miss.
It was a continuation of a game-long trend.
In the first half, neither team would cool off. Montana hit at a 74% clip while the Bears made 65%. But the Griz led 46-36 after a basket down low by Pridgen with 1:17 left in the first half and took a nine-point lead into the break.
The Grizzlies will take a 25-9 record into next week’s NCAA tournament. They will learn their seed and first-round matchup on Sunday.
Northern Colorado is also 25-9 and is a likely candidate for a berth in a separate postseason tournament. The Bears were denied their first trip to the NCAA tourney since 2011.
UNC was led by Jaron Rillie's 25 points. Reynolds contributed 18 points and Brock Wisne finished with 15. The Bears finished the game with a 58.8% shooting effort, but it wasn't enough.
"I try to avoid comparing teams and players, because I want to be completely respectful for the ones that I've coached in the past, but I'm going to say that this is my proudest moment as a coach, as a head coach, because of what this team has been through," DeCuire said.
"I can't speak to everything this team has been through, but the team knows. And I've never been around a basketball team that has had as much adversity as we have had, and to see these guys come together and support one another through it has been huge."
