. . . A&M men's basketball team watched a double-digit lead evaporate for the third straight game, but with their season hanging in the balance and a little experience under their belts, the Aggies responded this time. A&M lost an 18-point lead but came storming back for an 81-64 victory over Montana in the first round of the NIT at Reed Arena on Tuesday.
"I'm not ready to sit down and watch Netflix all day," A&M senior Jordan Green said. "I want to go to New York." The Aggies (21-11) have to win two more games to book their trip to New York's Madison Square Garden, site of the NIT's Final Four. Green did his part to keep the trip possible. He finished with 15 points and six assists and played the lead role in A&M's rally, running off nine straight points after the Grizzlies (20-13) took a 43-41 lead early in the second half. His three-point play gave the Aggies the lead for good at 50-49. "As a leader of the team you just want to do what you can do, and I guess we needed points at that time," Green said. "We were not going to let this one slip out of our hands. Not this one." A&M lost to Alabama at home to end the regular season then lost to Auburn in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament. In both games, the Aggies led by at least 10 points at halftime. After Green's run, Jalen Jones took over, scoring eight of the next 11 Aggie points including hitting a pair of 3-pointers. He finished with a game-high 25 after scoring just five against Auburn. "This feels great, especially after the week we had," Jones said. "Losing three straight and not making the NCAA tournament, we knew that we had to come out here and redeem ourselves. We didn't get in the tournament we wanted to, but we didn't let that get to us. We came out here and fought, and [Montana] fought and it was a grind. It's going to help us the rest of the tournament, and we are going to keep feeding off of this." Green and Jones had plenty of help, specifically from freshman point guard Alex Robinson, who scored a season-best 15 points to go with eight assists. All but one of the assists came in the second half. "In the second half in the past we missed shots and turned it over, and this time when Alex [Caruso] turned it over, I took him out, put Alex Robinson in and we settled down," A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. "That's just growing from the situation and adjusting to not playing Danuel House, not having him on the floor."
. . . "I told my team before we even practiced yesterday we were going to let the 3 ball fly tonight," first-year Montana coach Travis DeCuire said. "We knew the way they defend it was going to be hard to get shots in front of the basket." Montana put up 35 shots from 3-point range, making 13. Gfeller had the most luck, hitting 6 of 11 for all of his points, while Jordan Gregory hit 5 of 11 and led the Grizzlies with 20 points. Martin Bruenig was the lone Griz to score inside. He finished with 12.
2027 Montana Recruiting (14) Verbals & (34) Offers (2) 2028 Offers