University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, February 24
Grand Forks, N.D.
2 pm
University of Northern Colorado
19-10 (10-6BSC)
79
at
66
University of North Dakota
10-18 (5-11BSC)
1st half1
2nd half2
FinalF
Northern Colorado
45
34
79
North Dakota
34
32
66
Photo by: Russ Hons/UND Athletics
Recap: @UNCO_MBB Didn’t Need OT This Time Against North Dakota
2/24/2018 6:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears win last game at North Dakota in Big Sky play
Grand Forks, N.D.—Northern Colorado was on its game and avoided overtime for the fourth-straight game vs the Fighting Hawks with the 79-66 win. UNC (19-10, 10-6) relied on a balanced attack led by Jonah Radebaugh to hand UND (10-18, 5-11) a defeat on Senior Day.
(1/20/2018) Men's Basketball vs North Dakota
The Bears started the game slowly building their lead as they were up five at the first timeout, 10 at the next and 12 at the eight media timeout. Northern Colorado used a balanced approach to control the game.Their largest lead of the game was after a 10-2 run when they led 42-23.
North Dakota came back like they usually do against the Bears and finished the first half on an 11-3 spurt to close the gap to 11 at the halftime buzzer. Conner Avants led all scorers with 12. Andre Spight and Jonah Radebaugh each had nine points at the break. UNC went to the locker room shooting 60.0 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3.
With the 11-point lead, the Bears responded well to each North Dakota run and never let them get closer than seven points in the second half. When the Hawks closed the gap to seven, the Bears proceeded to go on a 10-2 run and the lead never dipped below 10 for the rest of the game.
Spight had an off night by his standards but the team had a balanced offense. Jonah Radebaugh had a strong game with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan Davis hit his average of 16 and Anthony Johnson came off the bench to put in 12.
Game Changer
Jonah Radebaugh is having an under the radar year and he used that to his advantage today as he scores a season-high of 19 points and ties his season-high for rebounds with 11. Both were a team high and he led the team in steals with three. The Thornton, Colorado native shot 7-for-10 and 5-of-7 from deep.
Key Stat
North Dakota had been hitting seven 3s per game but the Bears shut them down from behind the arc. UND went 0-for-8 from deep and this marks the first time the Bears have completely shut down an opponent from 3-point land this season.
What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder
On their offensive performance
"In the first 15 minutes of that game offensively, we were really good and it was another really big step in the right direction because Dre didn't play well tonight. That is probably the first time where if he doesn't play well offensively, we tend to struggle. So for the other guys to step up in his place…JD with an efficient 16 and Jonah with a more efficient 19 and 11 and Ant to have 12 off the bench so I thought we did a really good job of having Dre's back. There were a lot of nights where he bailed us out and to find a way on the road where he doesn't play well, I thought that was a big thing. Then defensively for us to not allow them to get a 3 off was good since we felt like it would be hard for them to beat us with twos. I thought overall we did a really good job on the defensive end of the floor.
"On Jonah's game tonight
"He did a great job and our guys did a great job of finding him in his spots and I thought that was a big thing there. You knew it wasn't going to last very long with him being a little bit of a shooting slump. He continues to work hard with extra shots up in the gym. He played 40 minutes. He asked to come out in the first half and I told him no. It is hard to win on the road but I don't think we will ever try to come back here since they are leaving the league. We are going to enjoy tonight and have a good meal."
Notable Stats
What's Next
Northern Colorado's final two games of the regular season are out on the west coast. First up is Portland State Thursday, March 1st at 9 pm and UNC's final game takes place in Sacramento when the Bears play the Hornets of Sacramento State Saturday, March 3rd 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 10th.
The Bears started the game slowly building their lead as they were up five at the first timeout, 10 at the next and 12 at the eight media timeout. Northern Colorado used a balanced approach to control the game.Their largest lead of the game was after a 10-2 run when they led 42-23.
North Dakota came back like they usually do against the Bears and finished the first half on an 11-3 spurt to close the gap to 11 at the halftime buzzer. Conner Avants led all scorers with 12. Andre Spight and Jonah Radebaugh each had nine points at the break. UNC went to the locker room shooting 60.0 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3.
With the 11-point lead, the Bears responded well to each North Dakota run and never let them get closer than seven points in the second half. When the Hawks closed the gap to seven, the Bears proceeded to go on a 10-2 run and the lead never dipped below 10 for the rest of the game.
Spight had an off night by his standards but the team had a balanced offense. Jonah Radebaugh had a strong game with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan Davis hit his average of 16 and Anthony Johnson came off the bench to put in 12.
Game Changer
Jonah Radebaugh is having an under the radar year and he used that to his advantage today as he scores a season-high of 19 points and ties his season-high for rebounds with 11. Both were a team high and he led the team in steals with three. The Thornton, Colorado native shot 7-for-10 and 5-of-7 from deep.
Key Stat
North Dakota had been hitting seven 3s per game but the Bears shut them down from behind the arc. UND went 0-for-8 from deep and this marks the first time the Bears have completely shut down an opponent from 3-point land this season.
What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder
On their offensive performance
"In the first 15 minutes of that game offensively, we were really good and it was another really big step in the right direction because Dre didn't play well tonight. That is probably the first time where if he doesn't play well offensively, we tend to struggle. So for the other guys to step up in his place…JD with an efficient 16 and Jonah with a more efficient 19 and 11 and Ant to have 12 off the bench so I thought we did a really good job of having Dre's back. There were a lot of nights where he bailed us out and to find a way on the road where he doesn't play well, I thought that was a big thing. Then defensively for us to not allow them to get a 3 off was good since we felt like it would be hard for them to beat us with twos. I thought overall we did a really good job on the defensive end of the floor.
"On Jonah's game tonight
"He did a great job and our guys did a great job of finding him in his spots and I thought that was a big thing there. You knew it wasn't going to last very long with him being a little bit of a shooting slump. He continues to work hard with extra shots up in the gym. He played 40 minutes. He asked to come out in the first half and I told him no. It is hard to win on the road but I don't think we will ever try to come back here since they are leaving the league. We are going to enjoy tonight and have a good meal."
Notable Stats
- Radebaugh wasn't the only one to collect double-digit rebounds as Jalen Sanders grabbed 10 boards in his 29 minutes. This was his fourth game this season with 10 or more rebounds.
- The Bears only toes the free-throw line 13 times but hit 11 of them and that average of 84.6 percent is 15 points better than their season average of 69.0 percent.
- This is the eighth time this season the Bears have led the whole way or the lead changed hands just one time.
What's Next
Northern Colorado's final two games of the regular season are out on the west coast. First up is Portland State Thursday, March 1st at 9 pm and UNC's final game takes place in Sacramento when the Bears play the Hornets of Sacramento State Saturday, March 3rd 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 10th.
Team Stats
NC
UND
FG%
.476
.448
3FG%
.444
.000
FT%
.846
.778
RB
35
33
TO
13
13
STL
6
9
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
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