University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Tuesday, November 5
Austin, Texas
6 pm
University of Northern Colorado
0-1,0-0Big Sky
45
at
69
Texas
1-0,0-0Big 12
1
2
F
Northern Colo.
15
30
45
Texas
34
35
69
Bears Miss Opportunity Against Texas
11/5/2019 8:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
UNC men's basketball didn't see its shot go in often as they fell to Texas 69-45
AUSTIN – Basketball can be a simple game about makes and misses and that's exactly what it was on Tuesday night. The Northern Colorado men's basketball team opened the 2019-20 season at Texas falling to the Longhorns 69-45.
The Bears shot 27.3 percent from the field and made just two 3-pointers. Besides shots falling or not, UNC played even with Texas throughout all aspects of the game.
Sophomore Sam Masten led the Bears with 11 points as he was the only UNC player to break double-figures, while Aaron Jones led Texas with 20. Jonah Radebaugh was Northern Colorado's leading rebounder as he pulled down 11 boards including three on the offensive end.
Both teams looked to have first game jitters early on as shots were not falling until Texas went on a 12-0 run midway through the half to distance themselves from the Bears.
Trailing 34-15 at the break, Northern Colorado came out quick in the second half with an 8-1 run to cut the deficit to 13. Unfortunately for the Bears, they went on another long scoring drought leading to a 14-0 UT run to end any hopes of a comeback.
What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder
Overall thoughts on the game
"Tonight was a good test for the team. In this type of game, you get exposed to where your flaws are. Ultimately you can not lose sight of the fact that we are not going to play a team like Texas in our league. They have a lot of length and athleticism that we won't see in the Big Sky and they didn't make a lot of mistakes defensively. You have to give them credit for understanding what we do well and making us shoot some contested threes. At the end of the day it comes down to makes and misses and if you want to win you can't make two of twenty-one threes and go thirteen of twenty-two from the foul line."
About the shooting woes
"When you are going up against a team like Texas, a legit top fifty power five program, with guys that are of a certain athleticism and length you can't simulate that in practice. You can't simulate when those guys are running at you closing out and contesting shots and their length at the rim. For the most part we had some good looks especially early on when we were getting stops and could have gained some momentum from it if some of those shots went down."
On how the team defended Texas
"Defensively I thought our guys did a good job with the game plan minus a few threes late that we can not allow to be a good team."
Stat of the Game
It was as simple as makes and miss tonight with Texas shooting 45.3 percent compared to UNC's 27.3 percent.
Game Notes
- Matt Johnson earned his first career start on Tuesday.
- The 10-plus rebound game for Jonah Radebaugh is his 14th of his career.
- With shots not falling, UNC did a good job of attacking the rim getting to the free throw line 22 times.
What's Ahead
The Bears come home for a home opener doubleheader. UNC will face Incarnate Word at 8 pm on Friday, November 8. The game follows the Northern Colorado women hosting Colorado State at 6 pm.
The game will be broadcast on Pluto TV ch. 541 and 1310 KFKA.
Tickets for Friday night's game and all season long for UNC men's basketball are available at UNCBears.com/Tickets, by calling 970-351-4849 or visiting the UNC Ticket Office located inside the Campus Commons.
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.
The Bears shot 27.3 percent from the field and made just two 3-pointers. Besides shots falling or not, UNC played even with Texas throughout all aspects of the game.
Sophomore Sam Masten led the Bears with 11 points as he was the only UNC player to break double-figures, while Aaron Jones led Texas with 20. Jonah Radebaugh was Northern Colorado's leading rebounder as he pulled down 11 boards including three on the offensive end.
Both teams looked to have first game jitters early on as shots were not falling until Texas went on a 12-0 run midway through the half to distance themselves from the Bears.
Trailing 34-15 at the break, Northern Colorado came out quick in the second half with an 8-1 run to cut the deficit to 13. Unfortunately for the Bears, they went on another long scoring drought leading to a 14-0 UT run to end any hopes of a comeback.
What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder
Overall thoughts on the game
"Tonight was a good test for the team. In this type of game, you get exposed to where your flaws are. Ultimately you can not lose sight of the fact that we are not going to play a team like Texas in our league. They have a lot of length and athleticism that we won't see in the Big Sky and they didn't make a lot of mistakes defensively. You have to give them credit for understanding what we do well and making us shoot some contested threes. At the end of the day it comes down to makes and misses and if you want to win you can't make two of twenty-one threes and go thirteen of twenty-two from the foul line."
About the shooting woes
"When you are going up against a team like Texas, a legit top fifty power five program, with guys that are of a certain athleticism and length you can't simulate that in practice. You can't simulate when those guys are running at you closing out and contesting shots and their length at the rim. For the most part we had some good looks especially early on when we were getting stops and could have gained some momentum from it if some of those shots went down."
On how the team defended Texas
"Defensively I thought our guys did a good job with the game plan minus a few threes late that we can not allow to be a good team."
Stat of the Game
It was as simple as makes and miss tonight with Texas shooting 45.3 percent compared to UNC's 27.3 percent.
Game Notes
- Matt Johnson earned his first career start on Tuesday.
- The 10-plus rebound game for Jonah Radebaugh is his 14th of his career.
- With shots not falling, UNC did a good job of attacking the rim getting to the free throw line 22 times.
What's Ahead
The Bears come home for a home opener doubleheader. UNC will face Incarnate Word at 8 pm on Friday, November 8. The game follows the Northern Colorado women hosting Colorado State at 6 pm.
The game will be broadcast on Pluto TV ch. 541 and 1310 KFKA.
Tickets for Friday night's game and all season long for UNC men's basketball are available at UNCBears.com/Tickets, by calling 970-351-4849 or visiting the UNC Ticket Office located inside the Campus Commons.
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.
Team Stats
UNC
UT
FG%
.273
.453
3FG%
.095
.259
FT%
.591
.800
RB
37
40
TO
16
15
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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