Recap: Rebels Barely Outpace @UNCO_MBB in Vegas, 94-91

Friday, December 22

Las Vegas, Nev.

8 pm

University of Northern Colorado

9-4

University of Nevada - Las Vegas

11-2

Nothern Colorado

UNLV

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

12/23/2017 12:38:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Kurt Maddox, UNCBears.com

Las Vegas—Northern Colorado fought until the bitter end against their second-straight Mountain West opponent but fell just short of victory versus UNLV, 94-91. UNC (9-4) led by as many as eight in the second half as Jordan Davis enjoyed the hometown feel, dropping 28 to lead the Bears in the loss. UNC now looks to rebound from the loss in the start of the Big Sky conference season.

How It Happened
The Bears used their hot shooting from 3 in previous games as an advantage early, making UNLV guard the 3-point line. This allowed UNC to drive the lane multiple times for layups to start the game. Northern Colorado's first four buckets made were inside the paint, giving the Bears had the early lead at 11-7. However, once again, UNC was in foul trouble early - with 10 minutes left in the first, the foul count was UNC-8 and UNLV-4.

The Bears were up 23-19 and UNLV then proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to retake the lead 28-23. The score went back and forth for the rest of the first half with the Rebels leading by as much as nine. UNC looked to go into the half trailing only by five but let up a three at the buzzer. Bears were behind 46-38 going into the locker room.

Jordan Davis took over at the beginning of the second half, scoring nine points in 4:35, almost doubling his first half production. This run by Davis brought the Bears within two at 49-47. The rest of the Bears then got involved and UNC re-captured the lead with the help of Roberto Vercellino, Anthony Johnson and Andre Spight as they combined for a 7-0 run.

The Bears led by two and the two squads traded possessions for a few minutes until Spight scored seven of the Bears' nine straight points. This spurt handed the Bears their largest lead of the game, 80-72 with 6:19 left in the game. Jovan Mooring and Shakur Juiston then willed the Runnin' Rebels back in the game with UNLV's last 16 points of the game. Spight did have five of his 21 points in the last 30 seconds but it wasn't enough as the Bears' four-game winning streak came to an end. Jordan Davis almost had a career night with 28 points, 8 rebounds and two assists. Jalen Sanders also continued his breakout year with 15 points and nine boards in the loss.

Game Changer
Jordan Davis' home cooking worked - he needs to play in Vegas or have his family flown in for every game. JD went 15 for 25 from the field for 28 points; two away from his career high of 30 against North Dakota on February 25, 2017.

Key Stat

UNC came into the game the smaller team by the size of players and school. This didn't stop the Bears from outrebounding the Rebels, 43-40. What is more impressive is UNC BEARed down and went after the offensive boards. Of Northern Colorado's 43 rebounds, 21 of those were on the offensive side which led to 28 second-chance points for the Bears.

In Their Words

Head Coach Jeff Linder
Opening Statement

"As I told the guys in there, I was so proud of the effort. In order to come into this building, you have to be together for one because if you are not together, this building will splinter you apart and the fight they showed was impressive. In the two years coach Menzies has been here, he took them from a talented team to a talented tough team and that's what we faced. They faced a team in the UNC Bears team that was tough too. Our resiliency gave us a shot to win that game. To play a guy in McCoy who is a first-round NBA pick and to play Juiston, he is as good as any power forward in college basketball. For our guys to scratch and claw to get 21 offensive rebounds and get 21 extra possessions, it just shows you the attention to detail and that our guys are bought in. Hopefully, we can use this to springboard us into conference play."

On the Offensive Board Advantage
"They don't care who they play and they aren't scared by UNLV. As I told them today, you aren't playing those guys in the rafters up there so when you walk out there on that floor, know that you belong. I would tell you if you didn't belong but you guys belong. You guys have shown up to every Mountain West school and given yourself a chance to win. I just feel bad for our guys because they scratched and clawed but give credit to UNLV. They could've folded when they were down eight but they just stuck it out and grinded it out. It was those little possessions against good teams as I told the team the little things we do in practice that you might think is mundane and boring. Those are the things that ultimately allow you to win."

Notable Stats

The Runnin' Rebels lived up to their name and it was an up and down game. The Bears had to take 82 shots to keep up with the fast-paced UNLV squad. UNC averages almost 61 shots attempted per game and they had to chuck up 21 more attempts than usual.
The Bears hot 3-point shooting of late cooled off in the heat of the desert. Of their 82 shots total, 29 of them were 3's but they only hit eight for a percentage of 27.6%. The Bears had been shooting around 40% over the last four games.
As of late, the Bears 3-point defense has been remarkable. The UNC men make sure the other team has to earn the win with twos and not threes. UNLV had been averaging 16 3-point attempts per game but Northern Colorado held them to only eight.

What's Next
The Bears round out 2017 by opening Big Sky Conference play at home with a 7 pm tip December 29 versus Eastern Washington and an afternoon tip of 2 pm New Year's Eve against Idaho. Tickets are available at UNCBears.com, at the UNC Box Office M-F from Noon-5pm or at 970.351.1679 during those same business hours.

Holiday Break
The University of Northern Colorado, including the Ticket Office, will be closed the week of December 29.