Montana’s Williams named co-Big Sky Player of the Week

Montana guard Money Williams earned co-Big Sky Player of the Week honors for his efforts in the team’s victories over Eastern Washington and Idaho, the conference announced Tuesday.

“It’s always fun when winning is rewarded,” head coach Travis DeCuire said. “He picked a good time to catch fire. There was a stretch in the first half at Eastern where he just generated a bunch of baskets whether he was scoring or assisting. He’s not afraid of big moments.” 

Williams leads the Big Sky in scoring after the first week of league play, averaging 22.0 points per game in the two road victories. He also leads the conference in steals with seven total across the weekend. 

In Thursday’s win over Eastern Washington, Williams had 26 points and seven assists in an 11-point Griz victory. 

The sophomore took control late in a comeback win over Idaho on Saturday. Williams had 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, scoring the final six points of the game for the Griz in a 73-71 win. 

Williams leads Montana in scoring this season at 14.7 points per game. He’s second on the team with 43 assists and averages 3.2 rebounds per contest, starting all 15 for Montana.   

Sharing the award with Williams is Northern Colorado’s Langston Reynolds. The Bears guard averaged 20.5 points on 82.6 percent shooting in a 2-0 weekend for Northern Colorado. He also averaged 6.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. 

Montana (9-6 overall, 2-0 in Big Sky games) opens their home conference schedule against Northern Arizona (10-5, 1-1) Thursday at 7 p.m., before hosting the Bears (10-5, 2-0) Saturday at 4 p.m.