University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Thursday, November 24
Las Vegas, NV
3:00 p.m.
University of Northern Colorado
vs
Sacred Heart University
@unco_mbb Spends Thanksgiving in Sin City at Las Vegas Invitational
11/23/2016 1:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GREELEY, Colo. – Its Thanksgiving in Las Vegas for the Northern Colorado (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky) men's basketball team. The Bears are competing in the Continental Las Vegas Invitational on Thursday, Nov. 24 and Friday, Nov. 25.
UNC will square off against Sacred Heart (1-3, 0-0 NEC) in the opening round with a 3:00 p.m. (MT) tip. The winner and loser will play the winner and loser of the Bucknell (3-2, 0-0 Patriot) and Norfolk State (2-3, 0-0 MEAC) matchup, the following day. Game time is TBD, depending on the outcomes of the games.
Las Vegas Invitational Links: GameDay Central | Listen | Live Stats | @unco_mbb
Scouting Northern Colorado (Game Notes)
- UNC has dropped its last two contests at Santa Clara (88-72) and a Monday night loss at No. 8 Arizona (71-55).
- Sophomore guard, Jordan Davis sealed his fourth straight 20-point game against the Wildcats, finishing with 20 points. He also led the team in assists with five.
- The Bears are currently shooting 42.7% from the field and 36.0% on three point field goals.
- Jordan Davis and redshirt sophomore guard, Chaz Glotta are putting up some impressive numbers early on. Davis currently ranks third in the Big Sky and 29th in the country in points per game, averaging 22.8.
- Glotta's three-point shooting is making opponents take notice. Glotta ranks fifth in conference and 71st in the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 48.3% beyond the arc.
Scouting Sacred Heart
- The Pioneers enter Thanksgiving Day with an identical record as the Bears at 1-3. It's lone win on the year came against Hofstra 90-86.
- Sacred Heart has played two common opponents as UNC in, Arizona and Santa Clara. SHU dropped both games, 95-65 and 84-74.
- SHU's top returning scorer is sophomore guard Quincy McKnight, who averaged 11.4 points per game last season on his way to a spot on the NEC All-Rookie Team. He was also third on the team in rebounding at 5.3 per game. McKnight scored in double figures in nine of his first 10 games, and in 21 of 27 games overall.
- The Pioneers were picked to finish eighth in this season's Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches. SHU outplayed its projection last season, being picked seventh and finishing in a three-way tie for second.
Scouting Bucknell (Game Notes)
- The Bison are coming off a 75-72 victory over Vanderbilt on Monday in one of the Las Vegas Invitational campus-site games. It was Bucknell's first win over a Southeastern Conference team since 2006, when it took down Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Bucknell has alternated wins and losses thus far. The Bison have home wins over Manhattan and Robert Morris and a road victory at Vanderbilt, along with road losses to Wake Forest and Butler.
- Bucknell returns two starters from last season in Nena Foulland and Stephen Brown. Foulland was a Second Team All-Patriot League pick a year ago after posting 11.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Brown was a Third Team All-PL selection, recording 9.2 points and 5.3 assists per game.
- The Bison are currently being paced by Quincy McKnight. McKnight leads the team in scoring and assists, averaging 20.0 ppg and 3.5 apg.
Scouting Norfolk State
- The Spartans head into the Las Vegas Invitational with a 2-3 overall record. All three losses have come against perennial NCAA Tournament teams in Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Butler. NSU's wins came over Shenandoah, 78-58 and Elizabeth City State, 91-55.
- The Spartans have finished no worse than tied for third each of the last five years in the MEAC, the only program in the league to do so. NSU has also finished fourth or better in the MEAC in nine of the last 10 seasons.
- Norfolk State returned three of its starters from the 2015-16 season in Zaynah Robinson, Jonathan Wade and Jordan Butler. Robinson currently leads the team in points and assists, averaging 20.0 points a game and 3.0 assists.
- NSU is coming of a 91-55 loss at Butler. Senior, Jonathan Wade and junior, Micah Goss were Norfolk State's leading scorers with 13 points each. Goss hit 5-of-8 from the floor, while Wade tied for the team lead with five rebounds and shot 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
Bears Last Time Out
- UNC went toe-to-toe with No. 8 ranked Arizona on Monday night, falling 71-55. The score was not indicative of the game as the Bears only trailed by six points with four minutes remaining in the game.
- Jordan Davis once again led the team in scoring, recording his fourth-straight 20-point game, finishing with 20 points.
- Northern Colorado was able to hang around due to excellent three-point shooting, especially from redshirt sophomore guard, Chaz Glotta. Glotta finished with 15 points, all coming from beyond the arc, finishing 5-of-11 on the night.
- Northern Colorado outrebounded the Wildcats in the loss, 35-34.
- Arizona made UNC fouls count, going 19-of-23 (83%) from the free throw line, while the Bears were just 6-of-14 (43%) from the charity stripe.
Continental Las Vegas Invitational
- UNC's games against Butler, Santa Clara and Arizona have all been park of the Continental Las Vegas Invitational home-site games. UNC will head to Las Vegas and compete in the "mid-major" pod and will open with Sacred Heart on Nov. 24 at 3:00 p.m. Depending on the outcome of the game, the Bears will either play Norfolk State or Bucknell.
- This is the second time in the program's Division I history that the team has competed in the Invite, with the other coming in the 2010-11 season, where UNC went 1-4, falling to Arizona, Santa Clara and Valpo. It's lone win came over Bethune-Cookman, 69-45.
Turkey Day/Black Friday
- Since the program began in 1901, this is the first time in school history that Northern Colorado will play a game on Thanksgiving.
- The Bears have played their fair share of games on Black Friday though, boasting a 11-9 overall record. The team's most recent Black Friday game came in the 2014-15 season, defeating Stetson, 82-62.
UNC will square off against Sacred Heart (1-3, 0-0 NEC) in the opening round with a 3:00 p.m. (MT) tip. The winner and loser will play the winner and loser of the Bucknell (3-2, 0-0 Patriot) and Norfolk State (2-3, 0-0 MEAC) matchup, the following day. Game time is TBD, depending on the outcomes of the games.
Las Vegas Invitational Links: GameDay Central | Listen | Live Stats | @unco_mbb
Scouting Northern Colorado (Game Notes)
- UNC has dropped its last two contests at Santa Clara (88-72) and a Monday night loss at No. 8 Arizona (71-55).
- Sophomore guard, Jordan Davis sealed his fourth straight 20-point game against the Wildcats, finishing with 20 points. He also led the team in assists with five.
- The Bears are currently shooting 42.7% from the field and 36.0% on three point field goals.
- Jordan Davis and redshirt sophomore guard, Chaz Glotta are putting up some impressive numbers early on. Davis currently ranks third in the Big Sky and 29th in the country in points per game, averaging 22.8.
- Glotta's three-point shooting is making opponents take notice. Glotta ranks fifth in conference and 71st in the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 48.3% beyond the arc.
Scouting Sacred Heart
- The Pioneers enter Thanksgiving Day with an identical record as the Bears at 1-3. It's lone win on the year came against Hofstra 90-86.
- Sacred Heart has played two common opponents as UNC in, Arizona and Santa Clara. SHU dropped both games, 95-65 and 84-74.
- SHU's top returning scorer is sophomore guard Quincy McKnight, who averaged 11.4 points per game last season on his way to a spot on the NEC All-Rookie Team. He was also third on the team in rebounding at 5.3 per game. McKnight scored in double figures in nine of his first 10 games, and in 21 of 27 games overall.
- The Pioneers were picked to finish eighth in this season's Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches. SHU outplayed its projection last season, being picked seventh and finishing in a three-way tie for second.
Scouting Bucknell (Game Notes)
- The Bison are coming off a 75-72 victory over Vanderbilt on Monday in one of the Las Vegas Invitational campus-site games. It was Bucknell's first win over a Southeastern Conference team since 2006, when it took down Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Bucknell has alternated wins and losses thus far. The Bison have home wins over Manhattan and Robert Morris and a road victory at Vanderbilt, along with road losses to Wake Forest and Butler.
- Bucknell returns two starters from last season in Nena Foulland and Stephen Brown. Foulland was a Second Team All-Patriot League pick a year ago after posting 11.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Brown was a Third Team All-PL selection, recording 9.2 points and 5.3 assists per game.
- The Bison are currently being paced by Quincy McKnight. McKnight leads the team in scoring and assists, averaging 20.0 ppg and 3.5 apg.
Scouting Norfolk State
- The Spartans head into the Las Vegas Invitational with a 2-3 overall record. All three losses have come against perennial NCAA Tournament teams in Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Butler. NSU's wins came over Shenandoah, 78-58 and Elizabeth City State, 91-55.
- The Spartans have finished no worse than tied for third each of the last five years in the MEAC, the only program in the league to do so. NSU has also finished fourth or better in the MEAC in nine of the last 10 seasons.
- Norfolk State returned three of its starters from the 2015-16 season in Zaynah Robinson, Jonathan Wade and Jordan Butler. Robinson currently leads the team in points and assists, averaging 20.0 points a game and 3.0 assists.
- NSU is coming of a 91-55 loss at Butler. Senior, Jonathan Wade and junior, Micah Goss were Norfolk State's leading scorers with 13 points each. Goss hit 5-of-8 from the floor, while Wade tied for the team lead with five rebounds and shot 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
Bears Last Time Out
- UNC went toe-to-toe with No. 8 ranked Arizona on Monday night, falling 71-55. The score was not indicative of the game as the Bears only trailed by six points with four minutes remaining in the game.
- Jordan Davis once again led the team in scoring, recording his fourth-straight 20-point game, finishing with 20 points.
- Northern Colorado was able to hang around due to excellent three-point shooting, especially from redshirt sophomore guard, Chaz Glotta. Glotta finished with 15 points, all coming from beyond the arc, finishing 5-of-11 on the night.
- Northern Colorado outrebounded the Wildcats in the loss, 35-34.
- Arizona made UNC fouls count, going 19-of-23 (83%) from the free throw line, while the Bears were just 6-of-14 (43%) from the charity stripe.
Continental Las Vegas Invitational
- UNC's games against Butler, Santa Clara and Arizona have all been park of the Continental Las Vegas Invitational home-site games. UNC will head to Las Vegas and compete in the "mid-major" pod and will open with Sacred Heart on Nov. 24 at 3:00 p.m. Depending on the outcome of the game, the Bears will either play Norfolk State or Bucknell.
- This is the second time in the program's Division I history that the team has competed in the Invite, with the other coming in the 2010-11 season, where UNC went 1-4, falling to Arizona, Santa Clara and Valpo. It's lone win came over Bethune-Cookman, 69-45.
Turkey Day/Black Friday
- Since the program began in 1901, this is the first time in school history that Northern Colorado will play a game on Thanksgiving.
- The Bears have played their fair share of games on Black Friday though, boasting a 11-9 overall record. The team's most recent Black Friday game came in the 2014-15 season, defeating Stetson, 82-62.
Players Mentioned
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