MISSOULA — The Montana State men's basketball team put the finishing touches on a Brawl of the Wild triple-double Saturday at Dahlberg Arena.
The Bobcat men overcame a hot Montana start to pull away from the Grizzlies for an 82-71 victory, becoming the third MSU team to notch two head-to-head wins over the rival Grizzlies during the 2025-26 academic year, following the precedent set by the MSU football and women's basketball teams.
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Montana State's cross country teams also got two wins over Montana to give the Bobcats a 9-1 lead in the Brawl of the Wild standings.
"This is a special place at a special time with special people," MSU men's basketball coach Matt Logie said. "When I got here three years ago, you could see the trajectory. ... I think one of the things I appreciate the most about our athletic department is how everybody is rowing in the same direction. Everybody wants each other to succeed. We all recognize how hard it is to do this at an excellent level, and we've got great support from our administration and our fan base.
"And so, it makes you really proud to wear the blue and gold and to fight through some of the valleys that this group and our program has fought through over the last couple of years."
On the hardwood Saturday, Montana seemed poised to run away with the game early. The Grizzlies came out red hot from the floor, especially 3-point range, and built a 19-10 lead less than eight minutes into the game. Montana made seven 3s — three from Te'Jon Sawyer, two from Money Williams and one each for Tyler Thompson and Brooklyn Hicks — in the first 10 minutes of the game.
But Montana State was nearly as hot, and Jaden Steppe did his part to keep the Bobcats within reach. The sophomore reserve scored 11 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting and was part of a 10-2 Cats run that brought them from down 31-25 to leading 35-33.
The teams traded points over the final few minutes of the half, and MSU took a 38-37 lead into the break — an advantage preserved by guard Jeremiah Davis blocking a Sawyer dunk attempt at the first-half buzzer.
The Bobcats then scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 45-37 lead and force a Montana timeout. The Griz wouldn't get closer than four — 56-52 — the rest of the way.
Montana State stretched the lead to its largest margin of 13 points with just over four minutes to play thanks to a 6-0 spurt from Patrick McMahon, Seth Amunrud and Christian King. Montana's Money Williams did his best to keep the Griz in it, relentlessly attacking the basket in the second half and scoring 15 consecutive UM points — nine of those coming at the free throw line.
But the heroics of Williams and Sawyer, who combined for 47 points, weren't enough for Montana, as Montana State had six players score in double figures. Jed Miller, who has put together an all-conference type season, scored 19 points to lead the Bobcats. Steppe finished with 15 points to match his career high, King and McMahon each added 12 points and Davis and Chris Hodges scored 10 apiece. King also had 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
"There's no better feeling (than) having a group of guys behind you that just love you and you love them back just as much and they care for you," Miller said. "This team's been thrown in the fire. We've had a lot of injuries and we've gone through so much adversity this year, and this team is still getting better every game, and I'm excited for the future."
Montana State (15-11 overall, 9-4 Big Sky) now has sole possession of second place in the Big Sky Conference standings and trails league-leading Portland State by two games. The Bobcats are on the road next week at Weber State on Thursday and at Idaho State on Saturday before hosting Portland State in Bozeman on Feb. 26.
For the Grizzlies, Williams scored a game-high 25 points, including an 11-of-13 effort at the free throw line, and Sawyer had 22. Kenyon Aguino added 10.
Montana started the game making 7 of its first 10 3-point attempts but made just 1 of 16 the rest of the way. The Griz (14-12, 8-5) next play at Idaho State on Thursday.
"Just find a way to be more consistent, see if we can find a way to put two halves together," Montana coach Travis DeCuire said of what he wants to see from his team over the remainder of the regular season. "Really, I think once we do that the first time in terms of both sides of the ball, we'll remember what it felt like."
