Recap: @UNCO_MBB Drops Tough Road Conference Game to Montana State

Thursday, January 4

Bozeman, Mont.

7:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

2-111-5/ Big Sky

Montana State University

3-010-6/ Big Sky

Northern Colorado

Montana State

1/5/2018 9:08:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Northern Colorado dropped its first road contest of the year at Montana State Thursday night 76-64

By: By Kurt Maddox, UNCBears.com

Recap: UNC Goes Cold at the End of the Game to Fall at MSU
Bozeman, Mont.—Andre Spight and Jordan Davis tried to help Northern Colorado earn a comeback victory against on Thursday night at Montana State, but were unable to as the Bears fell 76-64. The loss is the first in the Big Sky season for UNC moving them to 2-1 and 11-5 overall, while Montana State continues to lead the conference with a 3-0 record and 10-6 overall.

The guard duo finished with 31 of the team's 64 points in the game.

How It Happened
This game started like the last game ended with lead change after lead change. Jalen Sanders ended up in foul trouble early as he picked up his second just three minutes into the game. Both teams struggled to score early, going on scoreless streaks and trading the lead nine times in the first ten minutes of the game.

Montana State took the lead and kept it for the rest of the half with around 10 minutes remaining. Northern Colorado's leading scorer Andre Spight struggled to find his shot in the first half, going 1-of-10 in the first with his only bucket was a 3-pointer. Jordan Davis led the Bears at the half with 11 points as the Bobcats held a 39-31 lead going into the locker room.

UNC came out of the half hot and pulled the deficit within two but Montana State quelled the runs by the Bears with 7-0 and 9-0 runs of their own. The Bobcats biggest run that put the game out of reach as they went on a 12-2 run with 13:26 to go in the game. Northern Colorado answered with a 7-0 spurt to cut the Bobcat's lead to five at 57-52 with around 10 minutes remaining, but could not gain any more ground on MSU.

A 4-point play by Tyler Hall sealed the deal for Montana State to start a 7-0 run and push the Montana State lead up to 11 before both teams struggled to buy a basket over the final eight minutes. UNC did not hit a basket from the 7:27 mark until Johnatan Reyes made a late layup with just 26 seconds remaining, allowing MSU to eat away at the clock and come away with the win.

Game Changer
Tyler Hall is as advertised as he led all scorers with 28 points and tied for the rebounding lead with eight. The junior guard shot 9-of-19 and 7-of-13 from beyond the arc. Hall hit all three of his freebies and had two assists in his 35 minutes of game time.

Key Stat
Montana State outrebounded Northern Colorado 44-28 and 34 of those were defensive boards for the Bobcats. The 10 MSU offensive boards resulted in 10 Bobcat points. Hall and Sam Neumann each rebounded the ball eight times while Zach Green had seven.

What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder

Opening Statement
"Give Montana State credit, they have some experienced guys and are coming off a road sweep. This is a tough place to play. That is the excuse everybody makes when you make this trip. It is a tough place to play but good teams find a way. That team I saw out there for us was not the team I have seen in a long time. I will always take the blame but at the same time, we had our guys prepared for what was going to happen and we knew what was going to happen. The first bullet point for the game was effort and energy and we talked about rebounding. You have (Konner) Frey and you have (Tyler) Hall on the offensive end but those other guys understand how to get the ball to those two is by going and rebounding it. Sometimes those smaller teams are harder to rebound against. They just chase the ball down and that is what happened tonight. They mad those 50/50 plays and those led to made 3s. The extra effort we talked about and hopefully, this was one of those deals where you come up to the tundra of Bozeman and you get kind of frozen out."

On the cold shooting
"It wasn't like anyone was trying to be selfish. They were running the matchup zone. In the first half, we were getting stops but then we couldn't make a layup. In the second half, you get it to a four-point game a couple of times and getting some good shots but you have to knock some of those down. It wasn't like we got a lot of bad shots but you have to make open shots and layups then you have to make free throws. It is one of those deals that you can't worry about it too long and you have to get back to the drawing board and get ready for a good Montana team."

Notable Stats
- UNC launched 26 treys but only hit seven of them. The Bears average 33% from deep but shot only shot 26.9 percent tonight,
- Four Northern Colorado starters had at least three fouls and Jalen Sanders was saddled with four so he only played 17 total minutes when has been averaging 28 minutes per game
- While the Bears were outrebounded, UNC did win the turnover battle forcing 18 Bobcat turnovers to just 10. Those extra possessions turned into 17 points for UNC.

What's Next
UNC heads northwest on I-90 to face Montana Saturday, January 6 at 7 pm to conclude its road swing.

The Bears are back home for a three-game stretch starting January 11th as the Weber State Wildcats come to town for a 7 pm tilt in Bank of Colorado Arena. Idaho State visits the 13th at 3 pm and the homestand concludes on the 20th with the Energy Proud Showdown as North Dakota makes its final trip to Greeley as a member of the Big Sky.

Tickets are available at UNCBears.com, at the UNC Box Office M-F from Noon-5pm and then 10am-5pm starting January 8th or at 970.351.1679 during business hours.