GAME DAY NOTES: at San Jose State

DETAILS
Date: Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008
Tip: 4 p.m. (MT)
Location: San Jose, Calif.
    Venue: San Jose Civic Aud.
    Capacity: 3,001
Promotions: None
Television: None
Radio: 1310 KFKA (Greeley)
   Talent: Troy Coverdale
Live stats: none
Web stream: 1310KFKA.com
Series: First meeting
    Last: N/A

SOME STORY LINES

• Northern Colorado, continuing a scheduling quirk that has the team playing games in and out of the Las Vegas Classic every other contest this week, will step back out of the Classic field Saturday afternoon to take on San Jose State.

• The Bears are continuing a stretch today that has them playing five games in seven days. Northern Colorado will not have a more condensed group of games for the rest of this season.

• The Spartans come into today’s game as one of the top defensive teams in the nation. San Jose State is ranked second in the NCAA in three-point FG defense, fourth in scoring defense and seventh in FG percentage defense.

• Today’s game will San Jose State’s first men’s basketball gaem in the San Jose Civic Auditorium since they defeated UC Irvine there on Jan. 22, 1995. Graduation is taking place in the Spartans’ usual facility, the Event Center.

SERIES HISTORY
First meeting

ABOUT THE SPARTANS

• The Spartans come into today’s game as one of the top defensive teams in the nation. San Jose State is ranked second in the NCAA in three-point FG defense, fourth in scoring defense and seventh in FG percentage defense.

• Tim Pierce, a senior from Oakland, Calif., is the only Spartan averaging double figures in scoring. He comes into today’s game scoring at a 17.2 clip. Chris Oakes, a junior also from Oakland, is second in scoring at 9.8. Oakes also leads in rebounds (9.8).

• San Jose State is coming off a victory against San Diego - a 2008 NCAA Tournament team. It was the first time in seven seasons the Spartans knocked off a team that appeared in the previous season’s Big Dance.