@UNC_BearsMBB look to stay perfect in conference play

Saturday, January 5

Greeley, Colo.

4 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Idaho

Freshman Bodie Hume scored 37 combined points in his first two Big Sky games.

1/4/2019 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: Ryan Ronan

It was a great start to conference play for Northern Colorado. They had suffered some late-game hardships to close out the non-conference schedule but with the help of Jordan Davis turned that around in a hurry against Sacramento State. They dominated the final 20 minutes to come away with a sweep of the opening weekend beating Portland State on New Year's Eve.

Davis led the way as he has done all season, earning his second conference player of the week honors, but Bodie Hume burst on to the Big Sky scene with a pair of impressive performances. The freshman was the second-leading scorer in each game netting 19 and 18 points apiece.

As a team, the Bears got back to their shooting ways. Led by Hume, they made 10 three-pointers against the Hornets who came into the game allowing just five makes a game. Hume made that many himself. They kept it going against the Vikings, UNC knocked down 12 more triples in the holiday victory.

BEAR BITES
- UNC has made 141 three's this season most in the Big Sky by 25.
- They start the second weekend of conference play as the second leading scoring team.
- Defensively they are third in the league allowing just 72 points a game.
- The Bears have the best margin of victory in the BSC at nearly 10 points a game.

The Vandals come to Greeley limping off to a 4-10 start after posting 22 wins just last season. They lost a pair of Big Sky games last weekend to Idaho State and Weber State, but rebounded with a Thursday night win over Eastern Washington.

IDAHO INSIGHT
- As a team, UI is seventh in the conference in scoring at 72 points a game.
- They are led by Cameron Tyson and Trevon Allen who both average almost right at 14ppg.
- Teams are scoring close to 75 a game on the Vandals this season.
- They are second in the Big Sky in 3-point defense, behind Sacramento State.
- Rebounding could play a big factor, UNC is second in the conference, while Idaho is middle of the pack.

The Bears and Vandals have a very brief series history for a pair of conference teams.
- Idaho leads the all-time series 4-2.
- UNC has won the last two meetings, both in 2018.
- Jeff Linder is 2-1 vs. the Vandals.

The 'weekend' concludes with a game against Eastern Washington on Monday night. EWU comes in with a record 3-11 but have split their last two games.

EASTERN INFO
- After winning just two non-conference games, EWU knocked off Idaho State in its second Big Sky game of the season.
- Eastern played a difficult non-conference schedule including four Power 5 schools along with Wisconsin-Green Bay and San Francisco.
- Mason Peatling leads a trio of Eagles in double figures with 15.
- Jesse Hunt, 14.8, and Jacob Davison 11.1 are the other two leading scorers.
- This will not be an old-school matchup, EWU and UNC have made more three-pointers than any other Big Sky teams.
- However, Eastern is ninth in the BSC in percentage, while UNC is second.

SERIES HISTORY
- Eastern and Northern have played 14 times with the Eagles winning eight of those.
- EWU has won three of the last four.
- The teams split last season with each winning on their home floor.

Also, there a handful of spots left in Saturday's inaugural Bear Cub Baby Race presented by Banner NCMC. Crawling babies between 4 and 12 months are eligible and participants receive two general admission tickets. The winner will receive a prize pack from UNC Athletics and Banner NCMC.

Saturday's game tips at 4 p.m. and Big Sky Monday night gets underway at 7 p.m.