The 1974–75 Montana Grizzlies basketball team represented the University of Montana during the 1974–75 NCAA Division I basketball season. Charter members of the Big Sky Conference, the Grizzlies were led by fourth-year head coach

Jud Heathcote George Melvin "Jud" Heathcote (May 27, 1927 – August 28, 2017) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at the University of Montana and nineteen at Michigan State University H ...

and played their home games on campus at Adams Fieldhouse in Missoula, Montana. They finished the regular season at 20–6, with a record in conference to win the title (by four games) and earned a berth in the expanded 32-team NCAA tournament. This season was the last for the Big Sky without a conference tournament; Montana's sole conference loss was on the road to defending champion

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

. In the opening round of the NCAA tournament at

Pullman, Washington Pullman () is the largest city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 29,799 at the 2010 census, and estimated to be 34,506 in 2019. Originally founded as Thr ...

, Montana surprised

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

and won by six points. It was a homecoming for Heathcote, an alumnus of Washington State and former assistant coach, so the Griz had plenty of support in the arena among the locals and traveling Montana supporters. With the win, Montana advanced to the Sweet Sixteen at the West Regional in Portland, Oregon, and met second-ranked UCLA. In a game that went down to the last seconds, the Bruins won by just three points; they went on to win the national championship in

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...

's final season as head coach. Montana lost the third-place game to UNLV by eight points to finish the season at . Two seniors were on the all-conference team, center Ken McKenzie and

swingman A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport. Basketball In basketball, the term “swingman” (a.k.a. “wing” or “guard-forward”) denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forwa ...

Eric Hays Eric Hays is a former University of Montana basketball player who served as head basketball coach of at Hellgate High School in Missoula, Mont., for 25 years. He was a mathematics teacher there until his retirement in 2009. Hays is best remembe ...

; freshman guard Micheal Ray Richardson was honorable mention. Richardson was all-conference the next three years, the fourth overall selection of the 1978 NBA draft, and a four-time NBA All-Star.

Postseason results

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References

External links

Sports Reference
– Montana Grizzlies: 1974–75 basketball season {{DEFAULTSORT:1974-75 Montana Grizzlies basketball team Montana Grizzlies basketball seasons Montana Montana