Men's Basketball's 2021-22 Season Came to a Conclusion Tuesday

Tuesday, March 22

Daytona Beach, Fla.

5:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

22-16

UNC Wilmington

26-9

UNC Wilmington

Northern Colo.

Photo by: Steve Simoneau

3/22/2022 8:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Northern Colorado finished the year with the fourth most wins in program history

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2021-22 season came to an end for Northern Colorado men's basketball on Tuesday night falling to UNC Wilmington 80-64 in the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational. The Bears finish the year with a 22-16 mark, tied for the fourth most wins in program history.

Northern Colorado struggled shooting early on going just 25.8% from the field in the first half allowing UNCW to slowly build its lead to double figures. The Seahawks led the Bears 36-23 at the break.

UNC never gave in cutting the Wilmington lead to single digits multiple times, but never getting any closer than six points with 9:33 left. The Seahawks responded with a 6-0 run to put away any chance of a comeback.

Matt Johnson II led the charge in the second half scoring 13 of his 16 points in the second half on 5-of-6 shooting.

The Bears improved their shooting to 55.6% in the second half.

What They Said
Head Coach Steve Smiley
"I couldn't be more proud of our guys, not only tonight but throughout the entire season. When the dust settles and we have a chance to reflect, we'll see that this was a tremendous season and our guys have a lot to be proud of. Tonight just wasn't our night. As we were preparing for UNC Wilmington it was very clear to me that they were extremely talented and well-coached, and that's why they've won 26 games now. I knew we were going to have to play really well to get the job done, and ultimately we missed a ton of shots early to get ourselves into a hole and even when we made a big run in the second half, we missed some crucial free throws at critical times and just couldn't get over the hump. Regardless, getting to the semifinals of the best mid-major postseason tourney with a field this deep is something I'm extremely proud of. This experience will do nothing but help us as we continue to build for the future"

Stat of the Game
Northern Colorado was unable to overcome a poor shooting first half shooting just 39.7% from the field compared to UNC Wilmington's 53.6%.

Game Notes
- Daylen Kountz finished the year scoring 786 points, the second-most in the program's single-season history and fourth in the Big Sky's history. He passed NBA all-start Damian Lillard on the Big Sky list Tuesday night.
- Dru Kuxhausen ended the year with 112 made threes for the Bears, also the second-most in the program's single-season history. It places him eighth in the Big Sky.
- Matt Johnson II led the Bears with 16 points on Tuesday alongside three assists and two rebounds.
- Kur Jongkuch was a monster on the offensive glass grabbing nine offensive rebounds. He finished the night with 13 rebounds, nine points and a career-high-tying five assists.
- Dalton Knecht came on the bench scoring 12 points for the Bears, while Bodie Hum was the fourth Bear to score in double figures with 10 points.

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