Men's Basketball starts second half of Big Sky play by hosting Bengals

Game 19: Idaho State (Greeley, Colo.)
Northern Colorado notes | Big Sky notes

GAME INFORMATION:

Game 19: Northern Colorado will begin the last half of conference play with a huge homestand starting with Idaho State.
When: 7:05 p.m. (MT) Thursday, Jan. 31
Where: Greeley, Colo. -- Butler-Hancock (2,992).
Live stats: uncbears.com
TV: americaonesports.com (Big Sky TV)
Radio: KFKA-AM 1310 (Troy Coverdale)
All-time series: Northern Colorado trails the all-time series 16-30 and will be looking to snap a three-game skid vs. the Bengals.

A LOOK AHEAD:

• At 7:05 p.m. (MT) on Thursday, Jan. 31, Northern Colorado will welcome Idaho State into Butler-Hancock looking for a little revenge and also looking to snap a two-game losing skid. The Bears enter the back half of the Big Sky schedule having won their last two games at home.
• Idaho State comes into Thursday's matchup with an identical 3-7 Big Sky record as the Bears. the Bengals are 4-15 overall and are in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Last week, the Bengals suffered back-to-back road losses at the hands of Montana and Montana State. The two-game road trip concluded with a heartbreaking 61-59 overtime loss to Montana State.
• These two teams have met up plenty of times in their history, as Thursday's contest will be the 47th in the all-time series. Idaho State holds the advantage 30-16 all-time. The Bears will also be looking to snap a recent three-game losing streak against the Bengals although the two teams have been pretty even with the Bears having won six of the past 11 matchups.
• The Bears will undoubtedly be looking for some revenge on Thursday as the Bengals came away with a win in Pocatello earlier this season. Idaho State rode some red-hot shooting from behind the arc to an 86-63 win as the Bengals hit 15 3-pointers on 54 percent shooting from outside.
• Idaho State is led by senior guard Melvin Morgan, who is averaging 11.9 points per contest. He scored 27 in the Bengals' win over the Bears earlier this season. Chris Hansen, a Fort Collins native, is second on the team with 11.3 points per game and leads the team with 49 made 3-pointers.

NORTHERN COLORADO NOTEWORTHY:

• Northern Colorado has picked up its three-point shooting as of late. Over the last five games, the Bears have shot an even 50 percent from behind the arc and it's not for a lack of shooting, as the Bears made 45 3-pointers during that stretch. Currently, the Bears rank fourth in the Big Sky in three-point percentage (.380), but rank 33rd in the country.
• Over that same five-game stretch, the Bears hit at least 10 threes in three of the five contests, with Tate Unruh responsible for 19 of those 45 made threes.
• Tevin Svihovec needs just six points to five him 500 for his career. He will be fourth active Northern Colorado player to score at least 500 career points, with Tate Unruh currently the Bears' active leader with 592.
• Svihovec enjoyed arguably his best two-game stretch of the season last week in road games against Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. He averaged 18.5 points, five assists and 4.5 rebounds per contest over the two games. Against Sacramento State, he scored 21 points while tying a career high with seven assists.