Bears on the Bayou: Men's basketball ready for Louisiana Monroe

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Northern Colorado notes | Big Sky Conference notes | In-game blog

MONROE, La. -- Northern Colorado men's basketball is hoping to find a little Christmas cheer in Louisiana on Wednesday night when it takes on Louisiana Monroe.

The Bears (4-6) took down the Warhawks (3-9) last season in Greeley, and hope to complete the double dip with their first road victory of the season and enter a short holiday break with some momentum before Big Sky Conference play begins next week.

Senior Taylor Montgomery scored a team-high 16 points in Northern Colorado's win against ULM last season, and Devon Beitzel, who scored 29 points Monday at Colorado State, added 15.

GAME DETAILS

• Game 11: Northern Colorado (4-6; 0-5 away) at Louisiana Monroe (3-9; 2-2 home)

• When: 7 p.m. (CT) Wednesday, Dec. 22   

• Where: Fant-Ewing Coliseum (7,085)

• Coaches: Northern Colorado's B.J. Hill (4-6 overall) takes on ULM's Keith Richard (3-9 at ULM; 153-126 overall)

• All-time series: This will be just the second meeting between the programs, with the Bears claiming a 95-84 home victory last season.

• TV: none  

• Radio: KFKA-AM 1310 (Troy Coverdale)  

• Live stats: ulmwarhawks.com

WITH A WIN ...

• Northern Colorado would end a three-game losing streak and claim its first "road" win of 2010 after losing it's previous five road games and winning a neutral-site contest (Las Vegas) against Bethune-Cookman.

• The Bears would knock off Louisiana Monroe for the second straight year and improve to 2-0 against the Warhawks in their all-time series.

• Northern Colorado would win its final game before beginning Big Sky Conference play for the third straight season, gaining some momentum in its quest to live up to its preseason billing.

• Northern Colorado would finish 1-1 this season against Sun Belt Conference teams (Denver) and improve its all-time mark against SBC teams to 49-77. Besides ULM, the Bears have only played Denver (45-75), Arkansas-Little Rock (2-1), Louisiana Monroe (1-0) and Western Kentucky (0-1).

• Head coach B.J. Hill would surpass the first-year win total of predecessor Tad Boyle, who finished 4-24 in his first year in Greeley.