Slow first half too much for UNC to overcome

Thursday, January 5

Greeley, Colo.

6 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

5-10,0-3Big Sky

Montana State

9-7,2-1Big Sky

Montana St.

Northern Colo.

Photo by: Jam David

1/5/2023 9:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

GREELEY, Colo. – The Northern Colorado men's basketball team fell to Montana State, 77-56, on Thursday night at Bank of Colorado Arena.

UNC shot just 28% (8-for-29) in the opening half, compared to a blistering 62.5% (15-for-24) by the Bobcats, as the Bears entered halftime with a 39-20 deficit.

Northern Colorado was not deterred by the imbalance and came out strong in the second half. Freshman guard Langston Reynolds had a career-best night, leading the Bears with 12 points, scoring all 12 in the second half alone.

UNC finished the second half shooting 48%, but Montana State kept shooting just as well to hold on to its lead for their ninth win of the season.

BY THE NUMBERS

Langston Reynolds set career-highs in points (12), minutes played (17), field goals made (5), three-pointers made (2), and steals (1).
Fellow freshman Brock Wisne also set career-bests in points (10), and field goals made (5). Wisne was the only other Bear to score in double digits.
Northern Colorado falls to 5-10 on the season and 0-3 in Big Sky competition.

ACCORDING TO COACH SMILEY
"I think for us right now, I would be lying if I didn't say that I think we're a little bit at a loss. This was our 15th game, we have 30 games this year, so we're half way in; and where we were five games ago, we were playing well and we're not there right now.

You might have one or two of these a year, where just nothing is working. At the start of the game, I thought we had great looks.

At the end of the day, we have to play better. There's always going to be pressure on your best players to perform, whether that's scoring or this or that.

We just have some guys that are struggling right now. It's putting pressure on the team, but I don't believe it's from a lack of 'want to.' I think our guys are really dialed in, and they're really working hard, we're just not playing very well."

UP NEXT
Northern Colorado continues its weekend at home, hosting the University of Montana for a 6 p.m. (MT) contest this Saturday, Jan. 7, back at Bank of Colorado Arena. Tickets for the game against the Grizzlies are still available, for more information visit UNCBears.com/Tickets.