Shooting Woes Costly as @unco_mbb Stumbles at Montana State

Saturday, January 14

Bozeman, MT

2:00 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

7-10, 3-3Big Sy

Montana State University

2-47-12/ Big Sky

Northern Colorado

Montana State

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

1/14/2017 5:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Kobee Stalder, UNCBears.com

Box Score

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Despite a 19-point effort from junior guard, DJ Miles, Montana State (7-12, 2-4 Big Sky) contained Northern Colorado's (7-10, 3-3 Big Sky) offense to just 34.6% shooting on Saturday, handing the Bears their second straight loss 68-53.

How It Happened:
UNC had some open looks from three-point range for the majority of the first half, but unfortunately nothing was falling for the Bears as they scored just 20 points, the lowest margin they've totaled in a half all season.

Montana State took the upper-hand during Northern Colorado's shooting woes and built a 12-4 lead six minutes in.

The Bears battled back on an 11-2 run as Miles began to heat up. The junior knocked down back-to-back threes during the rally, giving UNC its first lead of the game at 15-14 with 11:02 remaining until the break.

The advantage was short lived as Northern Colorado mustered just five points for the remainder of the half, while MSU went on two runs of 7-0 and 9-0 to send the Bears into halftime with a 33-20 deficit.

Northern Colorado shot just 25% from the field in the first half and 13% from three, going 2-of-15 from beyond the arc.

With a lead in hand, Montana State controlled the second half, never allowing the Bears' to get back within single digits.

UNC chipped the Bobcats' advantage down to 11 (45-34) after 6-0 spurt, but could never get any closer.

Miles had a solid offensive night, going 5-of-10 (50%) from downtown and 6-of-12 (50%) from the floor. His 19 points tied as the game-high.

Sophomore guard, Jordan Davis was the only other Bear in double figures, finishing with 14 points and five assists.

Harald Frey led Montana State with 19 points.

Game Changer:
The Bears did a good job of containing Tyler Hall, the Big Sky leading scorer to just 13 points in the game, but that left the door open for Harald Frey. Frey produced 19 points to lead Montana State, shooting 50% (5-of-10) on the afternoon.

Key Stat:
Northern Colorado committed 21 turnovers on the afternoon which led to 23 MSU points.

In Their Words:
Head Coach, Jeff Linder

"I thought the effort level was great. When you hold a team like them on their home court to 40% shooting and the number two scorer in the country to 13 points - it wasn't about us not having the energy. We had the energy, but at the end of the day it's the team with the most points that wins. When you turn the ball over 21 times and go 9-of-20 from the foul line and 18-of-52 from the field, you're going to have a hard time winning on the road."

"We just have to learn from this trip, that's all you can do. We're the fifth youngest team in the country and young teams are going to have moments like this - we're not going to beat them down, we're going to try to build them up and keep trying to learn from our mistakes and we'll be ready to go on Thursday against a dangerous Idaho State team."

Notables:
- UNC maintained toughness on the defensive end tonight, holding the Bobcats to 40% shooting.
- The Bears struggled at the free throw line, converting just 9-of-20 (45%) at the stripe.
- Jordan Davis now holds the Division I program record for consecutive games in double figures with 22, breaking the previous record of 21 set by Jordan Wilson in 2015-16.
- Northern Colorado finished the game 18-of-52 (34.6%) from the field and 8-of-25 (32%) from three-point land.
- Jonah Radebaugh grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in the loss, but his most impressive stat on the day was limiting the Big Sky leading scorer, Tyler Hall to just 13 points, 11 points below his season average.

Up Next:
Men's hoops returns home for another tough test as Idaho State (Jan. 19) and Weber State (Jan. 21) travel to Bank of Colorado for the fourth week of league play.