University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Thursday, March 1
Portland, Ore.
9 pm
University of Northern Colorado
20-10, 11-6
85
at
78
Portland State University
18-12, 8-9
1st half1
2nd half2
FinalF
Northern Colorado
42
43
85
Portland State
39
39
78
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
Recap: @UNCO_MBB Gets to 20 Wins with the Victory over Portland State
3/2/2018 12:38:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bears lock up the fifth seed in the Big Sky tourney with the win
Portland, Ore.—Northern Colorado fights off multiple comeback attempts by Portland State to capture their first 20-win season since the 2010-11 season. UNC (20-10, 11-6) made two crucial defensive plays late to guarantee the 85-78 win over PSU (18-12, 8-9).
How It Happened
It was a bit of a slow start for both teams considering they are the two highest scoring teams in the Big Sky. The Bears only led six to four at the first media timeout. UNC came out of that breather and went on a 12-6 run to build their lead up to eight.
Their largest advantage was 11 points with 10:50 to go in the first half but Portland State chipped away late in the first. The Vikings ended the half on a 10-3 outburst to close the gap to three at the break. Andre Spight carried the Bears in the first half by scoring 19 points. UNC was up 42-39 with 20 minutes left to play.
The second half started a lot faster than the first but the Bears kept their lead until PSU took it away with 14:45 to go off a Michael Mayhew 3-pointer. Northern Colorado responded with an 11-2 spurt to balloon the lead to as much as 13 points with eight minutes left in the game. In that stretch, the Bears held the Vikes scoreless and forced three turnovers in just over a two-minute span.
Portland State kept chipping away and got as close as one point with just under two minutes to go but two crucial defensive plays sealed the victory for the Bears. Spight and Radebaugh both corralled the ball…Dre by a steal and Jonah by a defensive rebound and both finished the play with buckets. These plays put the game out of reach. Spight finished with 37 and Davis had 17 while Tanner Morgan pulled down 10 boards for the second time this season.
Game Changer
Andre Spight has been on fire recently and scored over 30 points for the sixth time this season with a 37-point performance tonight. Dre shot 15 for 24 and hit three 3's and also added six rebounds, two assists and the most important steal of the season for the Bears.
Key Stat
Both teams committed 11 turnovers but the Bears capitalized on those more than the Vikings did as the UNC scored 14 points off those mistakes. PSU only scored seven off the 11 Bears turnovers and that seven points was the difference in the game.
What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder
Opening Statement
"To be really good defensively, you can't rely on opportune stops. Getting those critical stops at the right time, we did that tonight. Jonah Radebaugh did a good job on the last play they ran for (Bryce) Canda and for Dre to use his basketball instincts on the defensive end to help us win the game and that was a big play with him finishing it like he did. I am really proud of the guys. That was a team that was 18-11 coming in and a very, very talented team in the way that they play which is different than anybody else. When you see them for the first time and see them the week of league play, it takes a little while to adjust and I thought after the first four minutes of getting offensive rebounds and I think after the first four or five minutes of the game, they only had three or four offensive rebounds the rest of the way. I am just really proud of our guys. It was a collective effort on the road to beat a good team."
On points off turnovers
"That's is the little sneaky thing about us. We have some really good athletic guards in terms of denying. I never thought I would be the guy who would be preaching denying but ultimately for us, it helps us keep the ball out of the post. Guys like Jonah, Dre and JD are big athletic guards for this league. I think that is the big reason our 3-point field goal defense is what it is but we gave up five in the second half which we need to correct. Overall, we did a really good job offensively of breaking their pressure and then we knew we could get any shot we wanted if we got them below the volleyball spike line on the court. They make it really difficult to get from point A to point B."
Notable Stats
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.
How It Happened
It was a bit of a slow start for both teams considering they are the two highest scoring teams in the Big Sky. The Bears only led six to four at the first media timeout. UNC came out of that breather and went on a 12-6 run to build their lead up to eight.
Their largest advantage was 11 points with 10:50 to go in the first half but Portland State chipped away late in the first. The Vikings ended the half on a 10-3 outburst to close the gap to three at the break. Andre Spight carried the Bears in the first half by scoring 19 points. UNC was up 42-39 with 20 minutes left to play.
The second half started a lot faster than the first but the Bears kept their lead until PSU took it away with 14:45 to go off a Michael Mayhew 3-pointer. Northern Colorado responded with an 11-2 spurt to balloon the lead to as much as 13 points with eight minutes left in the game. In that stretch, the Bears held the Vikes scoreless and forced three turnovers in just over a two-minute span.
Portland State kept chipping away and got as close as one point with just under two minutes to go but two crucial defensive plays sealed the victory for the Bears. Spight and Radebaugh both corralled the ball…Dre by a steal and Jonah by a defensive rebound and both finished the play with buckets. These plays put the game out of reach. Spight finished with 37 and Davis had 17 while Tanner Morgan pulled down 10 boards for the second time this season.
Game Changer
Andre Spight has been on fire recently and scored over 30 points for the sixth time this season with a 37-point performance tonight. Dre shot 15 for 24 and hit three 3's and also added six rebounds, two assists and the most important steal of the season for the Bears.
Key Stat
Both teams committed 11 turnovers but the Bears capitalized on those more than the Vikings did as the UNC scored 14 points off those mistakes. PSU only scored seven off the 11 Bears turnovers and that seven points was the difference in the game.
What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder
Opening Statement
"To be really good defensively, you can't rely on opportune stops. Getting those critical stops at the right time, we did that tonight. Jonah Radebaugh did a good job on the last play they ran for (Bryce) Canda and for Dre to use his basketball instincts on the defensive end to help us win the game and that was a big play with him finishing it like he did. I am really proud of the guys. That was a team that was 18-11 coming in and a very, very talented team in the way that they play which is different than anybody else. When you see them for the first time and see them the week of league play, it takes a little while to adjust and I thought after the first four minutes of getting offensive rebounds and I think after the first four or five minutes of the game, they only had three or four offensive rebounds the rest of the way. I am just really proud of our guys. It was a collective effort on the road to beat a good team."
On points off turnovers
"That's is the little sneaky thing about us. We have some really good athletic guards in terms of denying. I never thought I would be the guy who would be preaching denying but ultimately for us, it helps us keep the ball out of the post. Guys like Jonah, Dre and JD are big athletic guards for this league. I think that is the big reason our 3-point field goal defense is what it is but we gave up five in the second half which we need to correct. Overall, we did a really good job offensively of breaking their pressure and then we knew we could get any shot we wanted if we got them below the volleyball spike line on the court. They make it really difficult to get from point A to point B."
Notable Stats
- Head Coach Jeff Linder has perfected the art of which backups to use in each game as Kai Edwards came off the bench to score a season-high nine points.
- The Bears once again shot over 50% for the game and finished 35 for 67 (52.2%). UNC bolstered that number by shooting 62% in the second half.
- Northern Colorado did not allow PSU to hit a 3 in the first half and that pushed their streak of no 3's allowed for 60 minutes of game time over the last game and a half.
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
UNC
PSU
FG%
.522
.484
3FG%
.353
.385
FT%
.563
.550
RB
38
37
TO
11
11
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
37
FGM
15
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
4
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