@UNC_BearsMBB win fourth straight and move into a tie for 1st place

Thursday, March 7

Cedar City, Utah

6:30 PM

University of Northern Colorado

21-9 (15-4)

Southern Utah

14-15 (9-11)

Northern Colorado

Southern Utah

Jordan Davis scored a game-high 28 points in the win over Southern Utah.

3/7/2019 10:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Ryan Ronan

CEDAR CITY, Utah – By now everyone in the Big Sky conference knows that UNC can fill it up from deep like few other teams in the nation. They set a record for three-pointers made in a season during 2018-19 and came in top 50 in the country this season. Southern Utah must have missed the memo. The Bears knocked down 11 more Thursday, which propelled them to a 70-53 win.

Northern Colorado is peaking at the right time and have now won four straight. They picked up the latest of those victories with the help of a 16-4 run to close out the first half.

The Bears jumped out to a quick 10-point lead with the help of Trent Harris off the bench knocking down a trio of triples, but the Thunderbirds came back and cut that lead in half. UNC caught its second wind, Matej Drgon's three and a Kai Edwards layup had the lead right back to double digits. Southern Utah might have gotten wise to the three-point shooting efforts of the Bears, which allowed Jordan Davis to blow by the defense for a baseline dunk. NC knocked down four free throws before Jalen Sanders, who was back in the lineup after missing three games, ended the first half with you guessed another three. The run gave the Bears a 43-23 lead at the half.

UNC knocked down nine three-pointers in the first half.

The pace of the game came to a screeching halt in the second half with 21 combined fouls called, but the Bears didn't allow Southern Utah to use that to its advantage. UNC didn't let the lead slip under 12 over the final 20 minutes.

BREAKING OUT OF THE BOX SCORE

Davis finished with a game-high 28. In two games against SUU this season he scored 64 points.
Harris hit four of those 11 three-pointers and finished with 14 points.
UNC held Southern Utah to just three made triples. In the last two games, the Bears have held their opponents to just six made three-pointers.
The Bears have now topped the vacated record of 14 Big Sky wins with their 15th victory this season.
This is UNC's third four-game winning streak of the season.
They have swept over half the teams in the Big Sky this season with a chance to add to that.

CHASING A CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
The UNC win coupled with the loss by Montana at Portland State means the Bears and Griz go into the final game of the regular season tied atop the Big Sky standings. Montana closes out the regular season Saturday at Sacramento State. The Hornets are coming off a win over Montana State, but UM won the first meeting by 29.

SCHEDULE SAYS
Northern Colorado will be playing for at least a share of a conference championship on Saturday when they host Northern Arizona on senior night. Tickets for that game are available at tickets.UNCO.edu or by calling the UNC Box Office at 970-351-4849 Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.