Louisville vs. Montana preview

Louisville Cardinals (9-2) vs. Montana Grizzlies(6-6)

Game Time: Noon

Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.

Television: ACC Network Extra

Announcers: Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Emeka Okafor (analysis)

Favorite: Louisville by 30.5

Series: First Meeting

Projected Starting Lineups:

Louisville

• G Adrian Wooley (6-4, 200, So.)
• G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
• G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
• F J’Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, Sr.)
• C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)

Montana

• G Money Williams (6-4, 211, Jr.)
• G Brooklyn Hicks (6-3, 186, Jr.)
• G Tyler Isaak (6-4, 190, Jr.)
• F Amari Jedkins (6-7, 197, R-Jr.)
• F Kenyon Aguino (6-7, 222, Fr.)

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

Montana’s Season to Date:

About Montana:

The Montana Grizzlies have made six NCAA Tournament appearances since 2012 and 10 since the turn of the century. This has created something of an issue for the program.

“What a lot of people don’t understand about the University of Montana scheduling is that the first answer is no,” Grizzlies head coach Travis DeCuire said before the start of the eason. “Whether it’s high majors for guarantee games, high mids for guarantees or home-and-homes, the answer is no. They don’t want to play us.”

Louisville wanted to play the Grizz, and on Saturday the two programs will square off for the first time.

Montana arrives in the Derby City coming off of one of the more embarrassing losses in the program’s recent history: An 82-75 home loss at the hands of NAIA Montana Tech on Wednesday night. That was easily the low point of a non-conference run that has seen them pull of an impressive road victory over UNLV and nearly stun Texas A&M in College Station, but also score just three total wins over D-I opponents.

The Grizz have been erratic throughout the first seven weeks of the season, but one thing has been consistent: Money Williams is a walking bucket. The 6’4 junior averaged double figures for Montana in each of the past two seasons, but has taken his game to another level in 2025-26. Williams enters the weekend averaging 19.4 points and 6.1 assists per game, and has scored 30 or more points on three separate occasions. He’s been especially good on the road, where he’s averaging 25.3 points per game on 59.0 percent shooting over four contests.

Te’Jon Sawyer and UNLV transfer Brooklyn Hicks also average double figures in scoring, but the Grizz typically go as Williams does.

Montana is actually one of the better shooting teams in the country, knocking down the three at a 38.2 percent clip (29th in the country) and shooting 56.1 percent from the arc. The problem is they’re turning the ball over on an absurd 20.3 percent of their offensive possessions.

Defensively, the Grizzlies have struggled in virtually every area outside of perimeter defense, which is interesting considering the style of the team they’ll be facing on Saturday. They are wildly undersized compared to Louisville, which means there’s excuse for the Cards not to control the glass and the offensive action in the paint.

Montana won’t try to slow the pace too much, which figures to play into the Cardinals hands. So long as U of L locates and adequately defends the Grizzlies’ perimeter threats and knocks down the open looks they didn’t hit on Tuesday night, they should be fine in this one.

Notable:

—Louisville is 252-83 all-time when facing a first-time opponent.

—Louisville has a 267-86 record against non-conference opponents over the last 24 seasons (includes postseason).

—Montana is 5-48 all-time in games against ranked opponents.

—The Grizzlies have lost 19 straight road games against top 25 opponents, with their last win in such a game coming in 2002 when they beat No. 19 Stanford.

—Montana is 1-6 all-time vs. the ACC. They have played five regular season games against teams from the conference and two NCAA Tournament games, most recently playing Boston College in the Second Round in 2006.

—Louisville is 284-0 all-time when scoring 90+ points in a home game.

—Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 0-0 in games against Montana.

—Louisville has hit the 100-point mark four times in a season for the first time since 1989-90.

—Louisville is 35-0 under head coach Pat Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.

—In four road games, Montana is shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from three-point range.

—Montana is 2-0 this season when it commits fewer turnovers than its opponent.

—Montana head coach Travis DeCuire is 0-11 all-time in games against ranked teams.

—Louisville has a 195-27 record in home regular season non-conference games over the last 24 seasons. The Cardinals are 119-18 at home in regular season non-conference games over the last 15 seasons.

—Inside the KFC Yum Center, Louisville has a 115-18 record in non-conference games.

—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.

—Louisville is 120-0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.

—Louisville has won 167 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 96, Montana 71