A Look Back At The Time Montana Played Wisconsin In The Tournament

Before we dive into the 2012 game between the Montana Grizzlies and Wisconsin Badgers, I just have to say this is awesome.

I grew up in Wisconsin rooting for the Badgers - all the way back to the Alando Tucker days in the early-mid 2000s. When Montana flashed across the screen as the 14 seed locked up with Wisconsin in the quarter round I literally let out an audible roar.

It's my childhood team against my current team (and employer). Let's go.

Montana vs Wisconsin 2012 NCAA Tournament

Wisconsin knocked Montana out of the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship East Region 2nd round 73-49. The game took place in Albuquerque, New NM at the Pit.

Art Steward was the Griz' leading scorer in the loss dropping 18 points on 6-10 shooting.  The rest of the starting five featured Kareem Jamar, Will Cherry, Derek Selvig and Mathias Ward. 

The top producer off the bench was Shawn Stockton, nephew of John.

Wayne Tinkle led the Griz in his 6th season. It was his 2nd of three NCAA Tournament appearances before taking the job at Oregon State.

Speaking of Wayne, scroll to the bottom for a gallery of the top 10 winningest head coaches in Griz Men's Basketball history.

READ MORE: Help Jeff Ament In His Annual Basketball Donation Campaign

I'm not sure if anybody cares about the Badgers' side of things, but here we go. Led by Bo Ryan, Wisconsin marched to the Sweet 16 that year with wins over the Griz and #5-seeded Vanderbilt. Fun fact, Vanderbilt had some good NBA Talent on that team in John Jenkins, Festus Ezeli and Jeffrey Taylor. 

Wisconsin's leading scorer against the Griz was Ryan Evans with 18 pts. Fun fact x2, Ryan Evans struggled shooting free throws so he changed to a jump shot at the stripe. NBA talent Jordan Taylor finished with 17.

The Badgers also featured a very young Frank Kaminsky before he reached National Player of the Year status.

With 2:00 left in the opening half, Montana trailed by just 5 points and were hanging around.

Until Wisconsin went on a 40-21 run to end the game.

Badgers-Grizzlies 2012 highlights

My favorite part of the highlight video is the baggy shorts back in 2012. It's not a good look.

Kentucky won the NCAA Tournament that season. Anthony Davis went off.

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Here are a few other pictures from Montana's matchup with Wisconsin.