NCAAB

Montana Grizzlies at Wisconsin Badgers

· Men's Basketball Championship - East Region - 1st Round
25-10, 7-8 Away
Final
66 - 85
27-9, 14-3 Home

Wisconsin back in March Madness win column, 85-66 over Montana

Xavier Amos elevates for the two-handed Wisconsin dunk

Back on defense, he took a charge from one Montana player, then altered another’s shot. By the time Gilmore’s flurry was over Thursday, the game pretty much was, too. The Badgers pulled away for their first March Madness win in three years, 85-66 over the Grizzlies.

“He's a major key to our team,” said John Blackwell, who finished with 19 points and was one of five Badgers in double digits. “He's a spark plug off the bench, a guy who's always going to give us energy whether he gets 15 points or zero points.”

Gilmore finished with eight points, and Wisconsin set aside the bad vibes from its first-round loss last year to James Madison. Next, coach Greg Gard’s team will try to make the Sweet 16 for the first time in eight years with a game against BYU, which defeated VCU 80-71.

Gilmore's burst came after the 14th-seeded Grizzlies cut their deficit to 51-47 with a poke-away steal, then an easy layup by Money Williams, Gilmore came back with a quick 3 that he punctuated by turning to the growingly rowdy Montana crowd and sticking up three fingers, with his index finger over his mouth.

He drew the charge on Montana’s next possession, then altered Te'Jon Sawyer's shot on the next, part of an 8-0 run that gave Wisconsin its biggest lead of the game to that point — one that would expand to 21 points.

“It was huge, and that's what good players do in those moments,” Montana coach Travis DeCuire said.

Sawyer and Kai Johnson led the Grizzlies (25-10) with 15 points each.

Crowl leads the other Wisconsin double-digit scorers The other Wisconsin double-digit scorers were Steven Crowl (18 points on 8 for 10 from the floor), John Tonje (15), Xavier Amos (11) and Nolan Winter (10). Tonje, the second-team All-American who played his first four years of college up the road at Colorado State, made all nine of his free throws.

“It’s huge," Tonje said of the scoring coming from every area. “Especially down the line in March when you’ve got tired legs or whatever, you can really rely on a deep roster full of talented guys.”

Cold shooting, cold Money for Montana Montana, champion of the Big Sky Conference, came in as the nation’s second-best shooting team (50.2%) but made only 39% in the program’s first March Madness game since 2019.

Williams, the Grizzlies’ leading scorer this season, was blanketed by Blackwell most of the game and finished with eight points on 2-for-8 shooting.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin shot 55% from the field.

Looking to cover The commotion rippling through Ball Arena over a couple of late garbage-time possessions for Montana likely had to do with the 16 1/2-point spread on this game.

Adam Shoff and Jeremiah Dargan each had relatively open 3-point looks in the last minute, but neither hit the rim and the Badgers covered.

How can I watch Montana vs. Wisconsin?

  • TV Channel: Montana at Wisconsin 2021 College Basketball, week 1, is broadcasted on TNT.
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Recent Plays

2nd 0:00 End of Game 66 - 85
2nd 0:00 End of 2nd half 66 - 85
2nd 0:10 Wisconsin Defensive Rebound. 66 - 85
2nd 0:12 Jeremiah Dargan missed Three Point Jumper. 66 - 85
2nd 0:23 Zack Davidson Steal. 66 - 85

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/149.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMONT https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/275.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWIS
25-63 FG 31-56
39.7 Field Goal % 55.4
7-24 3PT 7-23
29.2 Three Point % 30.4
9-12 FT 16-20
75.0 Free Throw % 80.0
29 Rebounds 40
9 Offensive Rebounds 8
20 Defensive Rebounds 32
13 Assists 14
6 Steals 5
1 Blocks 6
8 Turnovers 11
0 Team Turnovers 0
8 Total Turnovers 11
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
9 Points Off Turnovers 9
5 Fast Break Points 4
34 Points in Paint 38
17 Fouls 13
1 Largest Lead 21

Game Information

Venue: Ball Arena

Location: Denver, CO
Capacity:

2024-25 Big Sky Conference Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Montana 15-3 - 25-10
Northern Colorado 15-3 - 25-10
Portland State 11-7 4 19-13
Idaho State 10-8 5 15-15
Montana State 9-9 6 15-18
Northern Arizona 8-10 7 18-16
Idaho 8-10 7 14-19
Eastern Washington 6-12 9 10-22
Weber State 5-13 10 12-22
Sacramento State 3-15 12 7-25

2024-25 Big Ten Conference Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Michigan State 17-3 - 30-7
Maryland 14-6 3 27-9
Michigan 14-6 3 27-10
Wisconsin 13-7 4 27-10
UCLA 13-7 4 23-11
Purdue 13-7 4 24-12
Oregon 12-8 5 25-10
Illinois 12-8 5 22-13
Indiana 10-10 7 19-13
Ohio State 9-11 8 17-15
Rutgers 8-12 9 15-17
Nebraska 7-13 10 19-14
Northwestern 7-13 10 17-16
Iowa 7-13 10 17-16
USC 7-13 10 17-17
Minnesota 7-13 10 15-17
Penn State 6-14 11 16-15
Washington 4-16 13 13-18
Full Standings