Preview: @UNCO_MBB Charges into CIT Championship with Hot Hands

Greeley, Colo.—Championships are won on the court in more ways than one. Yes, Northern Colorado (25-12) could win the CIT championship on the hardwood inside of Bank of Colorado Arena, Friday night, but that arena means more than just one game. That floor has been used to sharpen the skills of every player on the roster starting way back before the beginning of the season.

The floor in Bank of Colorado Arena will be the place where all the hard work could lead to something going high above the floor in the form of a championship banner. The only thing standing in the way is the University of Illinois at Chicago Flames (20-15) Friday.

The game will be aired on CBS Sports Network at 5 pm MT and you can listen in to 1310 KFKA for the call from Troy Coverdale. Follow stats live at UNCBears.com.

Fans will have the chance at the Bank of Colorado cash cube at halftime. If you want that chance, you can sign up before the game and during the first half.

Tickets for the game are available online at UNCBears.com/tickets 24/7, or by calling 970-351-4849 or visiting the UNC Athletics Box Office at Nottingham Field Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm. The box office will open at 3:30 pm on Friday for gameday sales. Ticket prices are $40 for Courtside, $15 for Premium Reserved, $10 for End Reserved and $10 for General Admission, plus fees. All UNC students will receive free admission to the game thanks to Cache Bank and Pepsi. The Bears are looking to top the attendance from Wednesday's semifinal of 2,019 fans.

Opening Tip
The Bears and Flames have only played once in both teams history and UNC won that matchup 52-47 December 8, 1979, when UIC was known as Illinois-Chicago Circle. The Flames are the only current member of the Horizon League that Northern Colorado has played.

Last Time Out
Northern Colorado men's basketball came out and knocked down its first 10 shots of the game and kept the hot hand all night long to defeat Sam Houston State 99-80. UNC only trailed once in the win.

Bear Tracks

UNC is the first team in Big Sky History to score over 3,000 points in a season. The Bears currently have 3,006 points on the season and the previous record holder was the Eastern Washington Eagles who scored 2,820 in the 2014-15 season. The Bears also crushed the single-season FG's made record as Northern Colorado has 1,077 and the former record holder was Weber State in 2012-13 with 990 made shots. UNC also passed the record for 3s attempted and are 25 away from securing the top spot for treys made.
With his 40-point performance vs Sam Houston State, Andre Spight is now sitting in second place all-time in the Big Sky Conference for points in a season. Dre now has 832 points which are 13 points behind Dave Wagnon of Idaho State who scored 845 points in the 1965-66 season.
Of Spight's 832 points, 375 of them came from the 3-point shot as Dre has made 125 triples on the season which is three shy of the single-season Big Sky record which is held by Tyler Harvey of Eastern Washington in the 2014-15 season.
Jordan Davis is now tied with Derek Chaney (1990-94) for fourth all-time in UNC history. Both have 1,491 points and the next hurdle is the Division I all-time points lead for UNC as Devon Beitzel scored 1,568 points in his illustrious career.
Jalen Sanders needs six blocks in the game to crack the top 25 of single-season blocks in BSC history. Sanders has 52 and four players are tied for 25th with 58 rejections in a single season.
UNC turns it on in the second half as they have scored 215 more points in the second stanza compared to the first.

Scouting UIC
Steve McClain was hired by UIC Athletic Director Jim Schmidt on March 23, 2015, to serve as the 11th head men's basketball coach in program history. McClain owns 35 years of collegiate coaching experience, including 11 as a Division I head coach following his second season at the helm for the Flames.

Under McClain's tutelage, junior Tai Odiase became the first player in program history to be named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year as he finished in the top five nationally in blocks per game for the second consecutive season in 2016-17. Two Flames, Tarkus Ferguson and Dominique Matthews, were named to the Horizon League's All-Freshman Team, as well. Ferguson, Matthews, Godwin Boahen and Marcus Ottey each earned recognition as the Horizon League Freshman of the Week throughout the 2016-17 season and UIC became the first program in conference history to have four different winners in one season.

McClain spent three seasons helping to rebuild the program at Colorado, including two years as the associate head coach under UIC alum Jeff Bzdelik. From year two to year three at CU, the Buffaloes jumped up four spots in the Big XII standings and finished the 2009-10 season with a 15-16 record, the program's best mark in four years. McClain also helped develop then-freshman guard Alec Burks, who earned Big XII Freshman of the Year honors in 2010 and was later selected 12th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2011 NBA Draft.

The Flames finished the regular season 17-14 and lost in their first game of the Horizon League tournament to Milwaukee 80-75.
UIC is averaging 78 points in the CIT so far and allowing 64.3 per game but during the regular season they were only scoring 75 and allowing 72.
The University of Illinois at Chicago has three players who average double digits: Dikembe Dixson leads the way with 14.2, Marcus Ottey averages 13.5 and Tarkus Ferguson puts in 10.5 ppg. Jordan Blount leads the team in rebounds as he cleans the glass 6.8 times per game.
Watch out for Odiase as he might be patrolling the middle looking for someone to reject as has 109 swats on the season. UNC has 135 combined and only been rejected 102 times on the season. UIC averages 6.8 blocks per game thanks to Odiase.
Like UNC, UIC picks up the scoring in the second half of games. The Flames have put 71 more points on the board in the second 20 minutes.
The Bears will face their third-straight team who has a lower 3-point field goal defensive percentage. UIC only allows their opponents to hit 32.6% of their triples and the Bears allow 3's at a 33.1 percent clip.
The Flames don't take many 3's and have only hit 237 treys on the seasons compared to UNC's 331.
UIC's biggest games of the year were vs Kentucky (L, 107-73) and Final Four-bound Loyola Chicago (L, 85-61). UNC and UIC have no common opponents.

What's At Stake
With a win, the Bears will be the first Big Sky team ever to win an NCAA postseason tournament.

To keep up to date on all things UNC men's basketball, follow the team on UNCBears.com and on Twitter @UNCO_MBB.

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