University of Northern Colorado Athletics
University of Northern Colorado
8-14 (5-5BSC)
Weber State University
16-6 (8-1BSC)
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
@unco_mbb Win Streak Snapped By Weber State
2/4/2016 10:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bears fell 64-54 to the Wildcats on Thursday night.
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GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado (8-14, 5-5 Big Sky) had its four-game win streak snapped on Thursday night falling to Weber State (16-6, 8-1 Big Sky) 64-54.
Despite the ten-point differential, the 64 points was the second lowest total any team has held the Wildcats to on the season.
"They're a good team – they're leading the league in defense and they're leading the league in offense, so there's very little room for error," head coach B.J. Hill said. "In the first half I thought we were extremely soft offensively, but I was very proud of the way we defended. We showed a lot of growth in that area and I'm pretty hard on these guys about that, so I was very happy that we were really, really good defensively."
Junior guard, Anthony Johnson scored a team-high 14 points in the defeat. Johnson finished 50.0% from the field (6-of-12) and 66.6% (2-of-3) from beyond the arc.
Freshman guard, Jordan Davis was the only other Bear to reach double figures on the night, chipping in 12 points, three steals and two rebounds.
Jordan Wilson also had his 21 game double figures scoring streak snapped in the loss. The junior guard ended with 7 points and three rebounds and one steal.
UNC was held in check most of the night on the offensive end, shooting just 39.6% (21-of-53) as a team and 30.0% (3-of-10) from long range.
Despite a sluggish night on offense, the team's defense stepped up and kept WSU in check for most of the night.
"I thought we ran out of gas a little bit – I thought we looked tired, so we need to look at that as a staff," Hill added. "I didn't think we went too hard or too long in terms of practice and took away their legs – we looked a little beat up, but a lot of that is Weber State. They're extremely strong and physical."
The Bears found themselves down early (12-3), but a 7-2 run midway through the first half capped off by a junior forward, Tanner Morgan jumper in the paint, put Northern Colorado right back into contention, down just four, 14-10 with 8:15 left to play.
UNC knotted the game up at 17-17 just four minutes later and took its first lead of the game (20-19) off a Johnson layup, but the one-point advantage would be the only one of the game for the Bears.
Despite shooting 29.0% (9-of-31) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, Northern Colorado trailed by just three (26-23) heading into the locker room.
Weber State's offense began to click in the second half, knocking down six three-balls at key moments, stifling any momentum UNC had going.
The Bears deficit increased to ten (39-29) off a WSU Jeremy Senglin make from beyond the arc with 14:42 left in the game.
UNC climbed right back into the game after the three pointer from Senglin, capitalizing on a 6-0 run to make it a, 39-35 ball game with plenty of time left, but back-to-back treys from Weber State pushed the advantage up to eight (49-41), putting the game out of reach for the Bears.
"They (Weber State) had some timely shots – they hit them when they needed them. They did a good job of rising to the occasion in the second half," Hill closed with. "There was some timely shots and that's what champions do. I feel like we played better tonight than we did last time we played them. We played with confidence and felt like we could compete – we just didn't do it for forty minutes."
Northern Colorado finishes out its three-game home stretch with Idaho State (10-11, 5-4 Big Sky) on Saturday. The Bengals are coming off a 76-60 loss at North Dakota. Tip inside Bank of Colorado Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.
Stats of the Game:
- The Bears dished out just six assists on the night, the second lowest total for the team all season.
- UNC finished 60.0% (9-of-15) from the free throw line as a team, the second lowest percentage they've had this year.
