For the 4th straight year, a Montana team has won the Big Sky Tournament. This time, though, it was Montana basketball.
General Information:
Team: Montana
Location: Missoula, Montana
Record: 25-9 (15-3)
Head Coach: Travis DeCuire (11th season, all at Montana D1*)
What to know about Montana basketball:
In the past three seasons, Montana basketball has been forced to watch their in-state rivals Montana State win the Big Sky tournament. This included a loss to them in the final last year, and Montana’s mind has been on revenge since. They got it this year, defeating 1 seed Northern Colorado in the championship game to advance to the tournament for the 1st time since going back to back in 2018 and 2019.
There wasn’t much of a threat in the tournament. They won all games by 8+ points, including a 78-55 win in the semifinals. The Tournament MVP was a bit of a surprise, but well deserved in Brandon Whitney. Whitney averaged just under 10 points a game this season but came up big in this tournament, scoring 24 points in the quarterfinal game, then added 18 more in the final. He shot an insane 15-18 from the field in those two games.
This Montana basketball team is dangerous because they don’t rely on a single player. In the three games, they had three different leading scorers, and all of them scored 20 in their best games. Neither of those was Money Williams, the team’s leading scorer. Since a 4-2 start to conference play, Montana has gone 14-1, with their only loss being a road overtime loss.
Montana finished first in the country in luck rating. Everyone needs a little luck to be successful, and Montana embodied that. Will the luck continue into the NCAA Tournament, or have they used it all up? One thing that isn’t luck is their shooting efficiency. They shot 49.6% from the field this season, which is the third best in the country, and finished just outside the top 50 in three-point shooting percent.
They don’t rebound well at all, ranking 342nd in the country, and don’t force many turnovers. So, if they want to win, they’ll need to score on their first possession and not rely on getting those second possessions.
NCAA Tournament prediction for Montana basketball: Round of 64 Exit
Actual seed: 14
Montana has made the tournament a fair amount of time, making it eight times this century, but have only won a game once, back in 2006. They faced three tournament teams this season, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah State. They went 0-3, with losses of 48-79, 57-92, and 83-95. This was back in November, and this team is very different now, so don’t count them out.
The last time the Big Sky conference won a tournament game was, well, 2006. This Montana team is good, but probably not good enough to beat a talented Wisconsin team who also has one of the top offenses in the country and showed their defensive capabilities in the Big Ten Tournament.
Please read Money Williams’ story and consider donating if you are able. https://www.gofundme.com/f/xb3cs-support-the-williams-family-after-tragic-loss