Bears split opening Big Sky series

Wednesday, December 23

Greeley, Colo.

2:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

4-3,1-1Big Sky

Idaho State

4-5,1-1Big Sky

Idaho St.

Northern Colo.

Photo by: Ryan Pfeifer

12/23/2020 4:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery Photo Gallery

A trio of Bears scored in double-figures in the loss.

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado men's basketball closed out its portion of the 2020 calendar year with a split of its first two Big Sky Conference games, falling to Idaho State, 71-56 Wednesday afternoon.

UNC used a pair of big runs to defeat Idaho State on Tuesday, but this time it was ISU with two runs in the first half that took control of the game. The Bengals had runs of 14-2 and 11-0 to build a 40-29 lead at the break.

Northern Colorado kept fighting throughout the second half cutting the lead to eight with 15:53 left on a Kur Jockuch basket but was unable to get any closer than that.

2H | @kjockuch ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️#BearsStrong #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/AVrC8J0cge
— UNC Men's Basketball (@UNC_BearsMBB) December 23, 2020

The Bengals responded with a 10-1 run to put the games out of reach.

What They Said

Stat of the Game
The Bears struggled to see the ball go through the basket shooting 36.4% including only 1-for-9 from behind the arc.

Game Notes
- Daylen Kountz led the team with 15 points. He added in three rebounds and a steal to his stat line. It was the third time this season Kountz led the team in scoring.
- Sam Masten was a stat sheet stuffer scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds, four steals and two assists. The four steals tie a career-high.
- Tre'Shon Smoots continues to provide a spark off the bench scoring eight points in 14 minutes of play.
- UNC recorded a season-high nine steals.
- The loss snaps UNC's eight-game win streak against Idaho State.

What's Ahead
Following a holiday break, Northern Colorado heads to Missoula for a pair of games against Montana on January 2 and 4. UNC was won two straight in Missoula.

To stay up to date on all things UNC Men's Basketball, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the new UNC Athletics app by clicking here.