Men's Basketball starts second half of Big Sky season against Northern Arizona

Calendar

Oct 18

4 p.m. MDT

Men's Basketball

vs Wyoming

Nov 3

7:30 p.m. MST

Men's Basketball

vs Colorado College

Nov 7

6 p.m. MST

Men's Basketball

vs Colorado Christian

Nov 15

7 p.m. MST | 6 p.m. PST

Men's Basketball

at Pepperdine

Nov 21

5:30 MST | 4:30 PST

Men's Basketball

vs St. Thomas

Nov 22

6 p.m. MST | 5 p.m. PST

Men's Basketball

at Portland

Nov 23

12 p.m. MST | 11 a.m. PST

Men's Basketball

vs California State - Fullerton

Nov 26

4 p.m. MST

Men's Basketball

at Air Force

Nov 29

6 p.m. MST

Men's Basketball

vs Regis

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado men's basketball will split its time between Flagstaff, Arizona, and Greeley this week as they take on Northern Arizona in a home-road series. The Bears enter the second half of the Big Sky schedule at 5-5 looking to going some momentum down the stretch.

Opening Tip
- UNC split its games against preseason favorite Eastern Washington. The Bears won the first game in the last seconds 78-76 before falling on Saturday 82-76.
- Matt Johnson II continues to be on terror for the Bears averaging 22.5 points per game against EWU. He shot 53.6% over the two games making five three-pointers. He has led the Bears in scoring the past six games averaging 20.3 ppg.
- Bodie Hume became the 23rd member of the program's 1,000 points club on Saturday. He now has 1,004 points for his career after scoring 10 and 13 points against the Eagles. He currently is on an eight-game streak scoring in double figures.
- Freshman Bryce Kennedy saw his most action and the most production of his Bears career against Eastern Washington. The young forward played a career-high 13 minutes on Thursday and followed it up with an 8 point, 3-for-3 shooting effort on Saturday.
- The three-ball has started to fall for UNC. The Bears have made 45 three-pointers over the past four games.
- UNC is holding its opponents to 22.9% from behind the arc over its past eight games. Opponents are only making 3.1 threes per game during that time frame.
- The last time Northern Colorado played in Flagstaff they had their biggest road win in Big Sky play with the 30-point victory.
- NAU enters winning just one of their past six games.

Scouting the Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona has been struggling as of late losing five of their last six contests. The one win required a huge, 17-point comeback against Montana in Missoula. On the year they are 4-11 overall and 3-6 in Big Sky play,

Second year head coach Shane Burcar has a one man wrecking crew in Cameron Shelton who is leading the Big Sky in scoring with 21.6 points per game and ranks 10th nationally. Shelton has increased his scoring mark to 23.2 games in Big Sky play.

Defense has been a struggle at times for NAU who's allowing opponents to shoot 51.7% against them.

Around the Big Sky
Montana State remains unbeaten in Big Sky play at 6-0 after sweeping Northern Arizona last week. They will play a home-road split against rival Montana this week.

Six teams are within three games of first place in the conference including the Bears.

One series has already been canceled this week between Southern Utah and Idaho State due to COVID protocols for SUU.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado will spend next week on the road when they travel to Southern Utah for a pair of games. Tip-off for Thursday's game is set for 7 pm and Saturday's at noon.

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.