MISSOULA — From start to finish, the Montana Grizzlies were in complete control as UM blew out Sacramento State 87-59 in front of 3,344 fans at Dahlberg Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday's game served as UM's annual N7 game to honor Native American heritage as it was the men's turn to break out the turquoise jerseys.
The Griz quickly built a double-digit lead in the game's opening minutes and led 38-26 at halftime before blowing it open further in the second half. For the second time this week after a win over Portland State on Thursday, the Grizzlies' offense was scorching from the field as the free-flowing Griz shot 56.1% from the field and were 12 for 26 from deep with the team racking up 21 assists as well.
The two games this week have been two of the more complete games UM has put together so far this season with February now here.
"I think a lot of that has to do with the guys playing together on both sides of the ball," UM head coach Travis DeCuire said. "Selflessness, that's a major key for us. I don't think anyone took 10 shots tonight and our willingness to make the extra pass and get a better shot."
It was UM's third straight game shooting over 50% from the field as Montana's ball movement and rhythm again proved too much for its opponent to handle with everyone seemingly involved and uncluttered, while defensively the Griz held the Hornets to 37% shooting and a 5-for-23 mark from deep.
Kai Johnson led the way for the Griz with 15 points while Austin Patterson — who transferred to UM from Sac State — put up 11 including three 3-pointers. Joe Pridgen added 11 points as well while Malik Moore tallied nine points, six assists and six rebounds. Money Williams added nine points and Te'Jon Sawyer put up eight as well.
"(Ball movement) has definitely been an emphasis throughout the year and it's hard to do when you've got a lot of great players, a lot of guards that are ball dominant," Johnson said. "It's hard to do on a team like this and rare that teams find it so well like we have these last four games so we're just continuing that.
"You want to keep moving it because you know someone is going to get you back next time. It just gets you easy shots and if everyone is taking easy shots then everyone's stats are better, that's just how it is."
As the game was out of hand, UM's full bench got in the game, with Jeremiah Dargan knocking down a pair of 3-pointers back-to-back that sent the bench and crowd into a frenzy while DeCuire was laughing hard and celebrating from the coach's seat.
"I was trying to hold it in but he's going to find a way to have. The team enjoys him and they're going to celebrate him," DeCuire said. "It's good to see. And he's the biggest cheerleader for his teammates so I think guys like that you want to see have success when they have those opportunities."
The win was Montana's fourth in a row as the Griz improved to 15-8 overall and 8-2 in Big Sky Conference play to remain firmly in second place behind Northern Colorado. UM has now seen everyone in the league with eight games remaining.
"It's huge, I think we're playing really well," Patterson said. "We're sharing the ball really well and it's helping us a lot. We're scoring a lot of points and I think our defense is picking up too so we're on a good roll right now.
"I think we're just trusting each other a lot. Anybody can have a night. Like tonight, I had a night in the first half, then Kai comes out and has 15 points and Malik's diming and getting boards. Anybody can have a night and so I think that's what makes our team really good and really dangerous."
DeCuire is now just five wins away from tying the program's all-time wins record with 216 to his name. George Dahlberg's 221 is the mark he's aiming for.
Sac State was led by Leo Ricketts and Julian Vaughns who each scored 13 as the Hornets dropped to 6-16 and 2-7.
The Grizzlies are on the road next week in rematches with Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona. It's a big matchup between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Big Sky on Thursday as the Griz fell to the Bears 81-57 on Jan. 11 in Missoula while they beat the Lumberjacks 81-76 on Jan. 9.
