University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Tuesday, March 8
Reno, NV
1:05 p.m.
University of Northern Colorado
10-21
67
vs
74
Portland State University
13-17
1
2
F
Northern Colorado
30
37
67
Portland State
36
38
74
Team Stats
UNCO
PSU
FG%
.406
.462
3FG%
.286
.200
FT%
.692
.742
RB
38
37
TO
15
14
STL
11
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball@unco_mbb Endures Season-Ending Loss to Portland State 74-67
3/8/2016 4:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bears fell in the opening round of the Big Sky Tournament on Tuesday Afternoon
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RENO, Nev. – Northern Colorado took an early exit at the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Tuesday. The Bears were hindered by missed opportunities in the post in the 74-67 loss to no. 8 Portland State.
UNC's big men finished the afternoon just 3-of-15 and had trouble containing PSU's Cameron Forte who finished with game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds.
"I don't know if it was the Big Sky Tournament or what, but we didn't look ready – we kind of had that deer in the headlights look," head coach B.J. Hill said after the loss. "I think that led to a lot of easy buckets missed on one end and as young people do, when it doesn't click on one end you struggle on the other. That got us frustrated defensively when we missed some easy ones that could have kept us in the game."
As they've done all season, junior guards, Anthony Johnson and Jordan Wilson paced the team. The pair combined for 37 of the team's 67 points. Wilson scored a team-high 20 points on 6-of-13 (46.2%) shooting, while Johnson added 17, going 8-of-17 (47.0%) from the field. Johnson also brought down a team-high eight rebounds.
Freshman guard, Jordan Davis was the third and final player in double figures. Davis pitched in with 13 points, ending his first season with the Bears 5-of-9 (55.5%) from the floor. Davis also snagged four rebounds and dished out three assists.
The only two leads of the game for UNC came in the opening seconds off a junior forward Tanner Morgan lay in, scoring his first and only points of the contest, and then at the 13:42 mark in the first half off a drive from Johnson to make it 9-8.
After the bucket by Johnson the Vikings outscored the Bears 11-2 and pushed the Northern Colorado deficit to eight (19-11) midway through the half.
Portland State built its lead to ten (32-22), but UNC chipped away at the score thanks to sophomore forward, Spencer Mathis who gave Northern Colorado a spark off the bench, scoring seven of his nine points in the first 20 minutes of regulation and got the Bears back within six, 36-30 at the break.
Only three PSU players scored in the entire first half with Forte pouring in 21 of the Vik's 36 points.
A slow start in the second half by the Bears allowed Portland State to go on a 14-4 run in the first five minutes, extending the margin to 16 (50-34).
Northern Colorado could have called it a day, but refused to go away, answering with a 15-2 rally over four minutes to cut it back to a three point game (54-51) with 9:32 to play.
"I have to give them credit, they fought back and made a game out of it and then we had a couple key possessions where we just didn't finish the defensive possession by getting rebounds," Hill added. "I have to give Portland State credit, they did a great job of crashing all day – we just didn't get a body on someone in a couple of crucial situations and that was the difference."
Unfortunately, UNC came no closer than three points the rest of the way, bringing their season to an end at 10-21.
Stats of the Game:
- Free throws played a key factor in the game. Portland State converted on 23-of-31 (74.0%), getting to the line 18 more times than the Bears. UNC finished 9-of-13 (69.0%) at the charity stripe on the afternoon.
- UNC committed 15 turnovers on the night leading to 17 points for the Vikings
- UNC inched out the rebound battle, 38-37 over PSU and had 35 of the team's 67 points come from the bench.
RENO, Nev. – Northern Colorado took an early exit at the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Tuesday. The Bears were hindered by missed opportunities in the post in the 74-67 loss to no. 8 Portland State.
UNC's big men finished the afternoon just 3-of-15 and had trouble containing PSU's Cameron Forte who finished with game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds.
"I don't know if it was the Big Sky Tournament or what, but we didn't look ready – we kind of had that deer in the headlights look," head coach B.J. Hill said after the loss. "I think that led to a lot of easy buckets missed on one end and as young people do, when it doesn't click on one end you struggle on the other. That got us frustrated defensively when we missed some easy ones that could have kept us in the game."
As they've done all season, junior guards, Anthony Johnson and Jordan Wilson paced the team. The pair combined for 37 of the team's 67 points. Wilson scored a team-high 20 points on 6-of-13 (46.2%) shooting, while Johnson added 17, going 8-of-17 (47.0%) from the field. Johnson also brought down a team-high eight rebounds.
Freshman guard, Jordan Davis was the third and final player in double figures. Davis pitched in with 13 points, ending his first season with the Bears 5-of-9 (55.5%) from the floor. Davis also snagged four rebounds and dished out three assists.
The only two leads of the game for UNC came in the opening seconds off a junior forward Tanner Morgan lay in, scoring his first and only points of the contest, and then at the 13:42 mark in the first half off a drive from Johnson to make it 9-8.
After the bucket by Johnson the Vikings outscored the Bears 11-2 and pushed the Northern Colorado deficit to eight (19-11) midway through the half.
Portland State built its lead to ten (32-22), but UNC chipped away at the score thanks to sophomore forward, Spencer Mathis who gave Northern Colorado a spark off the bench, scoring seven of his nine points in the first 20 minutes of regulation and got the Bears back within six, 36-30 at the break.
Only three PSU players scored in the entire first half with Forte pouring in 21 of the Vik's 36 points.
A slow start in the second half by the Bears allowed Portland State to go on a 14-4 run in the first five minutes, extending the margin to 16 (50-34).
Northern Colorado could have called it a day, but refused to go away, answering with a 15-2 rally over four minutes to cut it back to a three point game (54-51) with 9:32 to play.
"I have to give them credit, they fought back and made a game out of it and then we had a couple key possessions where we just didn't finish the defensive possession by getting rebounds," Hill added. "I have to give Portland State credit, they did a great job of crashing all day – we just didn't get a body on someone in a couple of crucial situations and that was the difference."
Unfortunately, UNC came no closer than three points the rest of the way, bringing their season to an end at 10-21.
Stats of the Game:
- Free throws played a key factor in the game. Portland State converted on 23-of-31 (74.0%), getting to the line 18 more times than the Bears. UNC finished 9-of-13 (69.0%) at the charity stripe on the afternoon.
- UNC committed 15 turnovers on the night leading to 17 points for the Vikings
- UNC inched out the rebound battle, 38-37 over PSU and had 35 of the team's 67 points come from the bench.
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