Preview: @UNCO_MBB Set to Play Final Game at the Bank Saturday

Saturday, February 17

Greeley, Colo.

7pm

University of Northern Colorado

Southern Utah University

2/16/2018 7:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

UNC Game Notes vs SUU SUU Notes For Print

Andre Spight, Anthony Johnson, Tanner Morgan and Tyler Loose to be honored before the game

By: Kurt Maddox, UNCBears.com

Greeley, Colo.—It has been a quick three and a half months since the Bears opened up play at home November 13. Northern Colorado (17-10, 8-6) will wrap up home play as they welcome the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (10-14, 4-9) to Bank of Colorado Arena.
Tipoff is set for 7pm and set to be broadcast on Pluto TV channel 241. Saturday's game marks the home finale for the Bears and will include Senior Recognition prior to tip-off. Fans can also enjoy $2 hot dogs (while supplies last). Troy Coverdale will call the action live on 1310 KFKA and the stats can be found at UNCBears.com. Senior night brought to you by Chick-fil-a.

Opening Tip
Southern Utah and Northern Colorado have only played 10 times with the Bears winning eight of those games. SUU did not join the Big Sky until 2012 when they departed from the Summit League. The Thunderbirds and Bears played once out of conference in 2009 when they played in the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. The Bears won 73-51. UNC and SUU split the season series last season with each squad winning on the opponent's home floor. The Bears have won seven of the last eight.

Record-Book Watch
JD moves into ninth all-time in UNC history for points. Davis now has 1,316 points in his career and trails John McFarland (1994-97) for eighth place by 10 points. Davis is now seventh for career assists with 306 and he needs 8 to pass Carlos Martinez (1996-00)(313)

Andre Spight has 562 points on the season which is now second all-time for points in a single season. Dre recently passed current teammate Jordan Davis who had 560 last season. Dre is tied for second with Devon Beitzel (2006-11) for 3-pointers made in a single season with 87. Spight needs six more to take first place from Tate Unruh. The redshirt senior is behind Jordan Davis 210 to 191 for most field goals made in a season.

Freshman Jalen Sanders is atop the list for most blocks in a season with 36. Connor Osborne (2009-14) held the previous record when had 29 rejections in the 2012-13 season.

Last Time Out
The Northern Colorado men did not overlook the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks as they used a 51-23 second half to pick up the win. UNC has now won four of the last five against NAU. Jalen Sanders picked up career bests in five different statistical categories. His 24 points beat his previous best of 21 earlier in the season vs OPSU. He shot 8-of-10 from the field and hit seven of his nine free throws which are both career highs. The freshman's four assists and four steals are also new collegiate records. Sanders also came one away from matching his career-high in blocks with four tonight.

Last Time vs Southern Utah
DJ Miles and Jordan Davis combined for 54 points as Northern Colorado blew by Southern Utah 89-71. Miles paced the Bears with 28 points, while Davis poured in 24 in the win that snapped UNC's five-game losing skid.

Last Game at the Bank

Andre Spight has been with UNC for two season but has only played in one. This season he received the starting job from the start and has started all 27 games in his senior season. The Arizona State transfer is averaging 20.8 points per game and is placing his name at the top of many records in UNC history. He currently holds the points in a game record with 41 which he set vs Montana State. Spight is tied with Jordan Davis for the most assists in a game with 10 against Wyoming. Dre is close to many season cumulative records with four games to go in the regular season and at least one in the Big Sky championship tourney. Dre played in 27 games and started eight of them, averaging 19.9 minutes of court time for ASU in 2015-16. He finished with seven games in double figures, including a career-high 21 points against UCLA. He also recorded 15 points against Belmont and 13 against Washington State.
Anthony Johnson will finish up his fifth year at Northern Colorado this year and has played in all 27 games this season with starting one. Johnson is averaging just under eight points per game. Ant sits second for points in a single contest with 37 and was only pass within the last month by Andre Spight. Johnson had a breakout year in his junior season leading the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game… He tallied 490 points on the season, the third most ever scored in UNC Division I program history… He also broke the DI UNC record for most points scored in a game with 37 which he did at Eastern Washington on 2/13/16… He dropped 30 points again against Portland State on 2/27/16… Johnson tied the single game record of consecutive free throws made going 16-16 against Eastern Washington… He recorded seven games of 20 points or more and finished with 28 games in double figures… He played in all 31 games for Northern Colorado and started 23 of them… He was named 2016 All-Big Sky Honorable Mention finished 12^th in the league in scoring, ninth in 3 point field goals made, fourth in free throw percentage, and 14^th in 3 point field goal percentage.
Tanner Morgan has started in all 27 games this season and is averaging 6.5 points per game. Morgan is the team's second leading rebounder with 5.8rpg and. The Salem, Oregon native has set career-highs this season in points (13), field goals made (5), 3-pointers made (1) and attempted (2), assists (2), steals (2) and blocks (2). He started in 19 games for UNC in his first season with the Bears after transferring from Casper College… played in all 31 games, finished second on the team in rebounding with a 4.3 rpg average… recorded a UNC DI single game record of 18 rebounds against Northern Arizona on 1/23/16… scored a UNC career-best 9 points in three different games and averaged 19.3 minutes of court time… played a season-high 31 minutes against Eastern Washington on 2/13/16.
Tyler Loose has played in 11 games in his senior campaign with playing the most minutes (12) vs Oklahoma Panhandle State where he scored two points and had one assist. Loose played in 28 games and was a key role player once again at the guard position for UNC... Dished out a season-best 5 assists twice throughout the year... Played a season-high 20 minutes against Northern Arizona on Jan. 7.... Ended the year with 27 assists and 21 rebounds. The Laramie, Wyoming native was a key role player at the guard position for Northern Colorado in his first season with the Bears… Played in 28 of the 31 games for UNC and started six of them, including five of the last six games of the season… his first start in a Northern Colorado uniform came against Colorado on 11/29/15… Played a season-high 22 minutes against Montana on 3/5/16… was good for 1.5 rebounds per game and 1.0 assists per game… averaged 12.0 minutes of court time throughout the year…Was also the only men's basketball player to be honored as an All-Big Sky Academic recipient.

Scouting Southern Utah

Todd Simon is in his second year at the helm of the Southern Utah University men's basketball team after being named the head coach on March 24, 2016. Simon led the Thunderbirds to a first-round win at the Big Sky Road to Reno Conference Tournament with a triple-overtime victory over Montana State. The Thunderbirds concluded the season with a 6-27 overall record and a 3-15 conference record.Simon was named interim head coach of the UNLV men's basketball program in January 2016 and immediately led them to three consecutive victories. During Simon's 17 games, the Runnin' Rebels ranked as the number one team in the nation in adjusted tempo, scoring more than 100 points in four games. UNLV finished with a 9-8 record, despite playing with as few as five scholarship players.
The Thunderbirds have a 10-14 record overall and are 4-9 in the Big Sky after their lose to North Dakota Thursday. SUU won their previous two games which were against Idaho State and Northern Arizona. Outside of the conference, the Bears and T-Birds have played two common opponents in Pepperdine and UNLV. Southern Utah beat the Waves and lost to the Runnin' Rebels which is what UNC did against those teams.
SUU does score 75 points per game but they do allow the other team to score over 81 points on average for the season.
The Thunderbirds are third best in the league by hitting 74.7% of their free throws and 76% during the conference season.
Southern Utah has four players who average just over 12 points per game so their scoring could come from anywhere. Two players average 12.8ppg (Jadon Cohee and Dwayne Morgan) and two average 12.5ppg (Brandon Better and Jamal Aytes). Aytes and Morgan each have two double-doubles.
Morgan leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game but the team has a -3.0 rebounding margin.
The Thunderbirds have been outscored in the first half on the season by 98 points but keeps it close in the second half. They trail their opponents by 35 points in the second half.

What's Next
The Bears will be on the road for the rest of the regular season as they only have one game next week at North Dakota. The game is set to start at 2 pm in Grand Forks and will be broadcast on Pluto TV. Northern Colorado's final two games of the regular season are out on the west coast. First up is Portland State Thursday, March 1^st at 7 pm and UNC's final game takes place in Sacramento when the Bears play the Hornets of Sacramento State Saturday, March 3^rd starting at 8:05 pm Mountain Time.
After that, the northern Colorado men will head to Reno for the Big Sky Conference Tournament March 6th through the 10^th.