Montana Grizzlies End Season with Loss to Wisconsin Badgers at NCAA Tournament

DENVER — Money Williams’ fast break layup following Kai Johnson’s 3-pointer got Montana’s fans on their feet as the Grizzlies pulled within 51-47 of Wisconsin five minutes into the second half Thursday.

The Wisconsin faithful responded with an even bigger ovation as Carter Gilmore knocked down a 3-pointer just a few seconds later at Ball Arena. The reinvigoration of hope Montana had gained quickly disappeared as the Badgers went on an 8-0 run that grew to 21-7 over the next seven minutes.

The 14th-seeded Griz never got the deficit closer than nine points and fell down as much as 21 points in a season-ending 85-66 loss to third-seeded Wisconsin in the first round of the East Region at the NCAA Tournament.

Montana shot just 39.7 percent from the field compared to Wisconsin’s 55.4 percent. It was the Grizzlies’ worst shooting percentage since 39.3 percent on Jan. 18 in a loss at Idaho State, which was followed by a 10-game winning streak. They came into the game ranked second in the nation at 50.2 percent.

Johnson and Te’Jon Sawyer scored 15 points apiece to lead Montana, while Sawyer grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Joe Pridgen added 12 points. Williams chipped in eight points and a team-best four assists. Montana shot just 7 of 24 (29.2 percent) on 3-pointers.

John Blackwell had 19 points to pace Wisconsin, which had five scorers in double figures. Steven Crowl added 18, John Tonje had 15. 

Montana was trying to pull off the first major upset of the tournament while playing in the the first game at the Denver site and the third game of the first round. As the Griz game was going on, No. 9 seed Creighton picked off No. 8 Louisville and No. 13 High Point put a scare into No. 4 Purdue before falling.

Montana finished the year with a 25-10 record, tallying its most wins since the 2018 and 2019 teams won 26 games while making back-to-back NCAA Tournament trips. The Griz dropped to 2-14 in NCAA tournament games, keeping 2006 as the most recent win for UM and the Big Sky Conference.

UM, wearing all-marron uniforms with block “Montana” across the front of the jersey and script “Griz” on the right leg of the shorts, stuck with the same starting five for the 15th consecutive game and 15th time this season. That group had posted a 13-1 record in the previous season-altering 14 games.

The Griz came out looking comfortable on offense and getting good looks in taking a 3-2 lead, tying the game at 5 and staying within 15-13 despite a couple early turnovers. Keeping the game close brought cheers from a solid UM contigent and fans of teams that play later in the day.

Montana started to lose control when it fell down 27-18, but a Pridgen dunk, a forced turnover and a Johnson layup after on offensive rebound pulled the Griz within 27-22 and started to get the crowd back into it.

They faced another double-digit deficit at 38-27 but closed the half with a 5-2 burst to pull within 40-32 at the intermission. The effort and fight drew a standing ovation from Griz fans as the team went to the locker room.

Pridgen’s back-to-back layups to start the second half pulled Montana within 40-36 on a 6-0 run dating back to the first half before Wisconsin lengthened the lead to nine three times.

Johnson’s 3-pointer and Williams’ fast break layup drew UM within 51-47 and elicited a standing ovation from the Griz faithful. However, Montana let up an 8-0 run and fell down 59-47 before Johnson nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing to pull Montana within 59-50.

That was the last time Montana trailed by single digits.