KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Money Williams scored a career high 30 points on Wednesday night to become the first non-SEC player to reach the mark in a decade against the No. 11 Volunteers. It wasn’t enough as Montana fell 92-57 to undefeated Tennessee.
It was the Money show for Montana as the sophomore guard scored over half of his team’s total points. He kept Montana in it through the first half and did his best to help his team stick around late.
Williams had 16 points in the opening 20 minutes as the Griz were competitive with the 11th ranked team in the country. Montana missed a late chance to score that would have cut it to just five points and Tennessee scored on the other end to take a 40-31 lead into halftime.
The Volunteers flexed their muscles in the second half, outscoring Montana 52-26 in the final 20 minutes for the 35-point win.
“We had a little more fun in the first half than in the second, obviously,” head coach Travis DeCuire said. “I thought we did a good job defensively in the first half taking away some of the rhythm and the shots they were trying to get. Obviously some fouls got some of their better players out for stretches which allowed us to make some runs.”
Williams is just the fourth underclassmen to score 30 points in a game at Montana since at least 2000. He’s just the 11th player to ever score 30 points against a Rick Barnes coached Tennessee team, and only the third to ever do it in a road game.
After experiencing unimaginable tragedy this offseason with the loss of his mother, Williams felt the presence of his parents on Wednesday night.
“My mom and dad, I felt their strength today. I picked up the Bible, read some scriptures, and that pretty much sums it up. I put faith in God and put faith in my parents,” Williams said. “It was the mindset coming to this big arena against the No. 11 team, you want to put on a show and put your talent out there with these big games so that’s what I did.”
The Volunteers started the game off hot, making their first six shots from the floor to go ahead by double digits early on in the game. Enter Money.
He made his first three attempts from beyond the arc and added a lay-up for 11 early points. Te’Jon Sawyer, who was Montana’s second-leading scorer with six points, added a lay-up and Montana had cut the lead all the way down to 19-18.
The defense for Montana played a big role in the early comeback as well, as they forced five turnovers in the first 12 minutes of the game. They held the Vols scoreless for over three minutes to go on the run that cut the deficit to one. The turnovers were huge, as Montana struggled against the size of Tennessee down low.
“Our biggest thing was beat screens. Coach Barnes plays a style of basketball that I believe in, some call it old school, where you set a lot of screens away from the ball for shooters,” DeCuire said. “From watching them in film, we saw that they read screens very well, so our goal was to beat the screens, to get through them, and not require help. I thought we did a good job in the first half, but as fatigue and fouls set in I just thought we didn’t execute as well in the second.”
Montana would end the night with just 17 rebounds. Tennessee had a huge advantage, grabbing 38 of them. Montana didn’t let that be the difference maker as they gave up just five second chance points, but nearly every drive was one and done for Montana.
Williams got aggressive attacking the rim, and kept Montana close by getting to the line for five straight free throws that cut the Tennessee lead to 31-29. The Volunteers then showed their ability, scoring seven points in less than a minute and closing the half on a 9-2 run for the halftime lead.
Tennessee found another level in the second half, racing ahead to lead by as many as 38. They gained separation early, but a 13-0 run during the final three minutes of the game made the final score worse than what Montana deserved for the level they played.
After a hot start from three-point range, making four of their first seven, the Grizzlies cooled off significantly down the stretch of the first and into the second. They missed 14 straight before Austin Patterson ended the drought, but at that point Tennessee had already built the lead to 28.
Williams scored 14 of Montana’s 26 points in the second half, including personally pouring in eight straight Griz points. He ended the night with his new career high of 30 points on 8-of-15 shooting and a career-high four made threes.
It’s his ninth game in double figures in 16 career games, and the third time he’s scored at least 20 points.
“Money is good at making plays, whether it’s in a ball screen or in space,” DeCuire said. “I think he generates offense for us in a lot of ways. Tonight, he scored the ball and made shots, but there’s times where he’s creating shots for others as well. We just didn’t have a great shooting night, so felt he needed to score more for us to stay in the game, which was true.”
Williams joins Brandon Whitney, Andrew Strait, and Jordan Hasquet as the only underclassmen to score 30 points for Montana in the last 25 years.
This is the fourth time in as many games for Montana this season that the final margin has been greater than 30. It’s the longest such streak to start a season in program history.
It’s the 18th straight loss to a ranked opponent for Montana. The Griz also fall to 0-11 all-time against the SEC.
The Griz return to action on Monday, Nov. 18 at Utah State.
