Men's Basketball Forces Overtime, Falls to Northern Iowa

Saturday, November 16

Cedar Falls, Iowa.

11 AM

University of Northern Colorado

2-2,0-0Big Sky

Northern Iowa

4-0,0-0MVC

OT 1

Northern Colo.

UNI

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

11/16/2019 8:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Game Book

UNC men's basketball battled back from as much as 16 down to force overtime against UNI

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Bodie Hume's 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left in the second half capped off a 9-0 that helped Northern Colorado push Northern Iowa to overtime on Saturday. The Bears fell in overtime to the Panthers 77-72.

Resilient is what UNC was all day long as they trailed by six early on in the game but cut the deficit to two with six minutes. The Panthers proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to push it to 11 and led by the score of 37-29 at the break.

Northern Iowa came out strong to begin the second half, expanding their lead to 16. UNC started battling back from that point going on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit in half. Jonah Radebaugh had six of the team's 10 points during the run with a pair of 3s.

He finished the game with a team-high 24 points including three made shots from behind the arc. Eighteen of his 24 came in the second half and overtime.

UNC cut the UNI lead to one point with 6:39 left in the game. The Panthers responded with a 9-1 run to go back up by nine with three minutes left. Radebaugh started the late charge for UNC with a three-point play the old fashion way and followed it up with a triple from behind the arc to help set up the Hume late-game shot to send it to overtime.

In the extra five minute period, Northern Colorado earned its first lead for the game on a Radebaugh jumper. Both teams played well down the stretch, but UNI closed the game on a 9-2 run.

What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder

Overall thoughts on the game
"We are two very similar teams. Both of us rely a lot on the three-ball and that was a big part of our game plan to minimize their attempts and make the most of ours. We did a good job of running them off the line in the first half limiting them to two makes. In the first half we had too many turnovers, but our guys fought through that. In the second half we slowed down a little bit as I told them at the half. We were trying a little too hard, they are a good defensive team you have to make them break down and force them to chase which we did a good job of."

About the second half comeback to force overtime
"To come back from 16 down in this environment shows the type of guys we have. They kept fighting and scratching and clawing their way back into it."

On the similarities of the two teams
"Good teams have good habits. You look at Northern Iowa they have a lot of the same habits as we do and they are going to be a team that's competing for a Missouri Valley title. Really they have some more experience than we do right now when we have three or four sophomores on the floor at one time."

Stat of the Game
Northern Colorado did not show a lack of heart and hustle on Saturday, playing from behind for almost 41 minutes. The Bears led for just 40 seconds of the 45-minute game.

Game Notes
- Redshirt freshman Tre'Shon Smoots earned his first career start on Saturday.
- Radebaugh ended up four points shy of his career-high scoring with his 24 points. He added six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
- Kai Edwards had his second straight 10-plus rebound game with 13 on Saturday, one-off his career-high.
- Sam Masten returned to the lineup after missing two games scoring 11 points in 27 minutes off the bench and passing out 3 assists.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado continues its road trip by heading to the hills of West Virginia. UNC will face the Mountaineers on Monday night at 5 pm.

UNC's next home game does not come until December 4 against Northern New Mexico at 7 pm.

To stay up to date on all things UNC men's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @UNC_BearsMBB.