Jan. 26—MISSOULA — Kai Johnson, added to the starting lineup shortly before game time, scored 25 points to lead Montana over Montana State 77-70 in Big Sky Conference men’s basketball Saturday night.
Johnson, who supplanted Money Williams in the lineup, went 11 of 18 from the floor while the Grizzlies (12-8 overall, 5-2 in the Big Sky) beat MSU on Robin Selvig Court for the 14th time in 15 matchups.
Joe Pridgen added 14 points to go with six rebounds and Malik Moore had 13 points for the Grizzlies, who led 42-30 at halftime, and 48-31 on Johnson’s old-fashioned three-point play at 18:23 of the second half.
Montana State (8-12, 3-4 in the Big Sky) slowly chipped away at the lead, drawing to 69-64 with seven straight points, capped by Patrick McMahon’s three-point play with 3:56 left. The Grizzlies hit eight straight free throws from there, but that didn’t stop the Bobcats from closing to 73-70 on Bryce Zephir’s fast break bucket with 21 seconds left.
Moore was fouled and sank two free throws to give UM some breathing room. Williams, who scored eight points in 20 minutes off the bench, hit two free throws to cap the scoring with 6 seconds remaining.
Moore hit three 3-pointers; Pridgen was 6 of 10 from the floor. Te’Jon Sawer had six points in 12 foul-plagued minutes for UM.
McMahon led the Bobcats with 18 points, including two 3-pointers in four attempts. The visitors got off just 12 3-pointers, making four.
Zephir added 10 points and five rebounds. Brandon Walker had 11 points, and Max Agbonkpolo chipped in nine points and five rebounds for MSU.
