@unco_mbb Surge Past Colorado Christian 94-73

Wednesday, November 16

Greeley, CO

7:00 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

1-1, 0-0

Colorado Christian University

2-0, 0-0

Colorado Christian

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

11/16/2016 10:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Kobee Stalder, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Everybody got a taste of the action on Wednesday night as Northern Colorado (1-1, 0-0 Big Sky) cruised to a 94-73 win over Colorado Christian (2-0, 0-0).

How It Happened:
The Bears took their time to get things going on both ends of the court in the opening minutes of the game.

Just six minutes deep into the first period, the Cougars rattled off a 10-0 run and went from down to two, to up eight (18-10) with 12:05 to play.

Freshman guard, Mike Ranson knocked down a three in transition to halt the rally, but the Cougars clung to the lead through the midway point in the half.

Cue sophomore guard, Jordan Davis, who, up until that point had been relatively quiet. Davis single handedly took the Bears on a 7-0 run, to claw UNC back within one, 21-20 with 8:59 to play.

From there, everything clicked. Shots, shots and more shots fell as UNC outscored CCU 37-8 in the remaining nine minutes of the half to take a 50-29 heading into the locker room.

The Bears shot a solid 45.5% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc in the first half, while limiting Colorado Christian to 33.3% from the floor and 10.0% on three-point field goals.

The first 14 minutes of the second half was more of the same. UNC moved the ball well, especially in transition, and pushed its lead to as many as 36, putting the game well out of reach.

Northern Colorado had five players finish in double figures with Davis leading the charge with 22 points, adding in seven assists, six boards and three steals.

Redshirt sophomore guard, Chaz Glotta also put on a display, finishing with 18 points, going 4-of-7 from three-point land.

Sophomore forward, Ibrahim Sylla (12 points), Ranson (11 points) and redshirt freshman, Jonah Radebaugh (10 points) rounded out the double-digit scorers.

Radebaugh produced his first-career double-double, as he hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds to compliment his 10 points.

CCU's Dimitri Saliba led the Cougars in scoring with 14 points.

Game Changer:
It all started with the spark of Jordan Davis. Davis' seven straight points helped the Bears turn the corner in the first half, sparking a nine-minute, 37-8 run for the team.

Key Stat:
UNC wiped the glass clean, outrebounding Colorado Christian 55-40.

In Their Words:
Redshirt Freshman Jonah Radebaugh
"Tonight went a lot smoother because playing against a team like Butler, it's obviously a lot tougher, so then coming back to our house we got a lot of good practices in, so it was much more comfortable. We have a lot of set plays on free throws for me to go get rebounds and my role is to go play defense and get rebounds, so I was just trying to do my job."

Sophomore Jordan Davis
"Coach made it a big emphasis that we had to start locking up (on defense) and we just rallied together and became that player-led team that constantly got stops. I want to say we had about nine stops in a row in the first half and that helped us open up the game."

Redshirt Sophomore Ibrahim Sylla
"I feel like I'm much more mature now than I was last year, I went through last season and took my lumps and gained that experience. I've also put on a little more weight and I feel that has helped me be a little more physical underneath."

Head Coach Jeff Linder
"In the first four minutes I'm not quite sure what team showed up, but we corrected ourselves and from about the fifteen-minute mark of the first half up until the last six minutes of the game, I thought we did a great job of focusing in on what we've been trying to teach these guys from day one. I thought we competed on the defensive end – we didn't make a lot of mistakes against a team regardless of what level they're on, they're a tough team to guard."

"I thought we did a good job of minimizing their three-point attempts because we felt they were a team that could come in and make a bunch of threes and that's how they could stay in the game. Our main goal going in was to make sure we found Brett Brady, Andre Lane and minimize the attempts they took, not just the makes, but the attempts and I thought we did that pretty well."

Notables
- Northern Colorado made good on its second chance points on the evening, scoring 23 points on second opportunities, while limiting CCU to just two second chance points.
- Limiting CCU's three-point attempts was the game plan and UNC followed it to a T. The Bears held the Cougars to just 28.6% (6-of-21) shooting from beyond the arc.
- UNC finished the night 28-of-63 from the field, good for 44.4% and hit a season-high 14 three-pointers, shooting 43.8% from downtown.
- The Bears have now won five straight games against Colorado Christian in the all-time series.
- Ibrahim Sylla was just one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine boards.

Up Next:
Northern Colorado is now on the road for its next five games, beginning with Santa Clara, this Saturday, Nov. 19. Tipoff is set for 8:05 p.m. (MT).