Wisconsin Basketball March Madness Opponent Wants to Be “More Physical”

Denver, CO – Much has changed for Montana Grizzlies head coach Travis DeCuire since his alma mater last faced Wisconsin basketball. In 2012, Wisconsin and Montana met in the round of 64. With a 73-49 victory, four-seed UW advanced, eventually reaching the Sweet Sixteen, and sent The Griz back to Missoula.

At the time, DeCuire was also coaching in March Madness, but with a program a bit further west. An assistant for the Cal Golden Bears at the time, DeCuire was coaching under former University of Montana head coach Mike Montgomery.

Since then, the 54-year-old has returned to the program, where, as a player, he helped snap the longest NCAA Tournament drought in Grizzlies history. In 11 seasons at the helm, DeCuire has become the all-time coaching wins leader for Montana Grizzlies men’s basketball. Fittingly, he tied the previous program record with an 89-85 victory on the home court of his alma mater’s archrival, the Montana State Bobcats.

Now up to 226th wins, having surpassed George “Jiggs” Dahlberg’s 221 victories in 16 seasons, the Ws are starting to pile up for the Seattle native. DeCuire has amassed more 20-win seasons with six than any other coach in his program’s history.

This year, his program reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019, snapping Montana’s longest drought since DeCuire’s 1971 tournament appearance as a player.

The only win DeCuire’s resume still lacks? One in the tournament.

Montana Basketball Coach Previews Matchup with Wisconsin Badgers

“They don’t beat themselves,” DeCuire said multiple times of Wisconsin basketball in an interview on Wednesday. “They’re a pretty good shooting team and they shoot the ball well at the free-throw line.”

Shooting 82.3% from the line, the Big Ten Tournament runners-up are not just one of the country’s best free throw shooting teams. Wisconsin is among the best free-throw-shooting teams of all time. Only the 2020-21 Villanova Wildcats’ 83% shooting bests this year’s Badgers.

UW head coach Greg Gard’s squad maximizes its opportunities at the line and excels at drawing contact and getting to the charity stripe. Wisconsin attempts 16.5 free throws per game, the third-most of any Badgers team since 1975.

To beat a team unafraid to play through contact, DeCuire believes his team has “got to be a little more physical and just pick up our pace a little bit.”

John Tonje poses as much of a threat to the Grizzlies as anyone on the court will be on Thursday. The unanimous All-Big Ten First-Team honoree draws 6.4 fouls per 40 minutes, according to Kenpom, making him a top-40 player nationally in that metric and “a great player” in DeCuire’s eyes.

“We know it’s not an individual effort; it’s a team effort helping stop him,” the second-winningest coach in the history of the Big Sky Conference said. “Just not leaving our guys out on an island, whoever it may be guarding him. Just making it a team effort to stop him and stop his attacks at the rim.”

It will be the Grizzlies’ first game in eight days when DeCuire’s team lines up against Tonje and the Badgers. The two-time Big Sky coach of the year likes the feeling that his players “are on a normal schedule” of a typical Thursday game.

“Our preparation this week was just like a conference game. Monday we get after it pretty tough, Tuesday tone it up, Wednesday clean it up, go out and play.”

On the other hand, Wisconsin basketball last played Sunday just before the March Madness selection show. On the heels of four games in as many days, the Montana basketball head coach is not making any excuses for the Badgers.

“For them, I think you can flip it and say there’s an advantage. They’re fresh,” DeCuire said ahead of his third NCAA Tournament game as head coach of the Grizzlies. “They’re fresh in terms of they’ve been in combat mode. And they haven’t had a celebration and a relaxation, so maybe they kept their edge.

“We need to find it and make sure ours is still there from the time off.”