@unco_mbb Fall Down the Stretch to Bucknell

Friday, November 25

Las Vegas, NV

3:00 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

2-4

Bucknell University

5-2

Northern Colorado

Bucknell

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

11/25/2016 5:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Bison outscored the Bears 24-6 in the final 10 minutes of the game to hand UNC a 75-63 loss in the championship game of the Mid-Major bracket at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational

By: Kobee Stalder, UNCBears.com

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Northern Colorado (2-4, 0-0 Big Sky) held a lead midway through the second half, but a late surge by Bucknell (5-2, 0-0 Patriot) sent the Bears home from the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational with a 75-63 loss.

How It Happened:
It was an even opening act as the game saw five ties and three lead changes with the largest difference of the half being just six points.

The Bears opened the game with paint-points from redshirt sophomore forward, Ibrahim Sylla, for its first lead of the half.

Bucknell responded with a 12-4 run to take a 12-6 advantage just four minutes in to the contest.

UNC adventured on a 6-0 run of its own to tie up the game at 12 apiece, and used the next five minutes to build a 25-20 upper hand over the Bison at the 8:03 mark in the half.

From there, Bucknell and UNC tied the game up two more times, before a vital six-point swing from the Bison gave them the lead at halftime.

A foul on sophomore guard, Jordan Davis and then a technical foul on the UNC bench put Bucknell at the line for four free throw attempts, which they made three. Cue a three-ball from BU's Matt O'Reilly and in the matter of 90 seconds, the Bears found themselves behind by six.

Davis ended the half with back-to-back buckets, chipping the Bucknell lead down to four, 39-35.

Despite trailing, Northern Colorado outshot the Bison. The Bears were a solid 62.5% (15-of-24) from the floor, while Bucknell finished 50% (13-of-26) in the first half.

Davis picked up right where he left off at the end of the first half and scored 10 of UNC's first 15 points of the second half, giving the Bears a 50-47 lead with 14:04 remaining in the game.

A pair of free throws by junior guard, DJ Miles and five more points from Davis gave Northern Colorado its largest command of the game at 57-51 over the Bison with a little over 10 minutes to go.

Unfortunately, the Bears shooting began to cool down, opening the door for Bucknell. The Bison went on a quick 8-0 run and suddenly the guys from Greeley found themselves down by two, 59-57 just two minutes later.

Northern Colorado remained within one possession of Bucknell, until the Bison knocked downed their only two three-pointers of the half to push the Bears' deficit to 71-63 with 2:11 left to play, closing the door on any sort of comeback bid by UNC.

In the final 10:23 of the game, Bucknell outscored UNC 24-6, including a 16-4 run over the last six minutes.

Davis etched a new career-high in the loss, finishing with 28 points on 12-of-20 (60.0%) shooting. He also hauled in a team-best six rebounds.

Miles was the only other Bear in double figures, for the second time in as many games. The junior ended with 15 points, with nine of those coming from beyond the arc.

Zach Thomas led the way for the Bison, producing a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds.

Game Changer:
Bucknell only hit two three-pointers in the second half, but they game at key times in the game. The first three pushed the Bison lead to 68-62, while the second one all but sealed the win, making it a 71-63 game with 2:11 to play.

Key Stat:
After shooting 62.5% from the floor in the first half, UNC shot just 37.0% in the second half, including going 2-of-13 (15.4%) from three-point range.

In Their Words:
Head Coach Jeff Linder
"They do (make you feel uncomfortable) and that's the sign of a veteran, good team. That's the team that won the Patriot League regular season last year, and they'll probably be right there again this year. That last eight minutes, you know, the experience took over. I hate to keep saying learning experiences, but that's what this year is. Getting our guys to understand that last eight minutes was them (Bucknell) really working to get the ball down low to their two best players and they decided to get the ball inside and they scored easier baskets and put more foul pressure on us."

"This was a long trip with a young team and they could have responded a lot of different ways, but for the most part, other than hey, you don't want to lose, I think we're heading in the right direction and we're going to surprise a lot of teams moving forward with how good this team is getting."

Notables:
- Jordan Davis secured his sixth straight 20-point game on the year, finishing with a career-high 28 points.
- Bucknell outrebounded the Bears on the afternoon, 32-28, including a 14-6 difference in the final eight minutes of the game.
- DJ Miles earned his first career-start in place of an injured Chaz Glotta, who left Thursday's game due to an ankle injury. Miles finished with 15 points in the loss, tallying his second straight game in double figures. He had 17 in the win over Sacred Heart.
- UNC still finished the game just shy of 50.0% shooting, recording 49.0% on 25-of-51 attempts.
- The game featured eight different ties and five lead changes.
- Jordan Davis was named to the Mid-Major All-Las Vegas Invitational Team for his efforts. Davis averaged 26.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Up Next:
The men's hoops team will round out its five-game road swing with a trip to Norman, Oklahoma on Tuesday, Nov. 29. The Bears will take on the Oklahoma Sooners in a 6:00 p.m. (MT) tip. UNC finally returns home to Bank of Colorado Arena Saturday, Dec. 3, facing Northern New Mexico. Tickets are just $3 and can be purchased online here.