Top Two Battle in Greeley Thursday

Thursday, February 6

Greeley, Colo.

6 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

Montana

Tickets

2/5/2025 9:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Michael High, Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications

UNC controls its own destiny with eight games remaining in the regular season.
The Bears lead Montana by one game and would hold the tiebreaker with a win and the season sweep.
UNC defeated the Grizzlies in Missoula, Mont., 81-57, Jan. 11 in the first meeting this season.
The Bears won 10-of-11 games at Bank of Colorado Arena this season, including six straight.
Montana posted a 3-7 mark in 10 road games this season.

SERIES HISTORY

UNC trails the all-time series 28-17, including 22-16 since UNC joined the Big Sky Conference
The Bears are 7-11 in Greeley all-time.
Over the last 10 games, the Bears hold a 7-3 mark, including three-straight victories.
Montana last won in Greeley, Feb. 7, 2023, a 79-74 victory for the Grizzlies.

LAST TIME OUT – UNC

Isaiah Hawthorne, Jaron Rillie and Marcell McCreary accounted for 39 points in Northern Colorado's 50-point second half at Reed Gym Monday.
The Bears rode a 15-0 spurt in four minutes to a season sweep of Idaho State, posting the best start since UNC opened with an 18-5 record in 2009-10. The Bears erased a six-point deficit and built a 57-48 advantage with 13:43 left in regulation.
Idaho State responded with 11-5 spurt and sliced the deficit to 63-59 but the Bengals failed to close to within one possession the rest of the way.

LAST TIME OUT – MONTANA

Montana dominated the Sacramento State 87-59 at Dahlberg Arena Saturday, improving to 8-2 in Big Sky play, its best 10-game start in league play since 2018-19.
The offense utilized Saturday, with 12 different Grizzlies entered in the scoresheet, the most in a game since 2006.
Montana reached 20 assists, the fourth time this season and the most in a game since the Big Sky opener at Eastern Washington Jan. 2. Malkik Moore led Montana with six.
Kai Johnson led with 15 while Joe Pridgen added 11 on 5-of-7 shooting.
Austin Patterson, playing against his former team, propelled Montana to the early lead with 11 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting with three made three pointers.

LEADING THE WAY

UNC paces the Big Sky in assists per game, effective field-goal percentage, and field-goal percentage.
The Bears rank second in the league in assists-to-turnover-ratio, fastbreak points, and defensive rebounds per game.
They sit in the top 100 in the country in every category, with the field-goal percentage ranking second in all of Division I men's basketball, while the effective field-goal percentage ranks ninth.

SUITS AND SNEAKERS

Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers Week is a nationwide event when basketball coaches across the country unite for a common cause – ending cancer as we know it, for everyone. To raise awareness and bring attention to the cause during this week coaches from all around the country will wear suits and sneakers.
The UNC coaching staff donned their suits and sneakers for Saturday's game against Northern Arizona.

COLORADO PREP PIPELINE

Zach Bloch, Langston Reynolds, Egan Shields and Brock Wisne all attended Colorado Prep before joining the Bears. All four play valuable minutes, with Bloch, Reynolds and Wisne cracking the starting five, while Shields joined the lineup after redshirting last season.

2024-25 ROSTER

The Bears reloaded after losing eight members of the 2023-24 roster, which accounted for 59% of the offense and rebounds. Key losses include Saint Thomas (19.7 ppg, 9.8 RPG), Dejour Reaves (14.9 ppg, 3.5 RPG), Riley Abercrombie (7.4 ppg, 3.6 RPG), Theo Hughes (3.3 ppg, 2.6 RPG), Mekhi Cameron (1.6 ppg, 0.6 RPG), Connor Creech (1.3 ppg, 1.7 RPG), Juju Ramirez (1.7, 1.0) and Jalen Page (0.0 ppg, 0.5 RPG).
Smiley added depth and experience with five student-athletes from the transfer portal.

Quinn Denker | 6-3 | Guard | Idaho | San Jose, Calif.
In his single season with Idaho, Denker started all 32 games while leading his team with 12.5 points and 3.7 assists per game. He averaged 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 84.4% from the foul line.

He amassed 15 or more points in 10 games last season, finishing the season 14th overall in scoring in the Big Sky Conference and seventh in minutes played. Denker joined the Bears as a current junior, with one year of eligibility remaining.

Isaiah Hawthorne | 6-8 | Forward | San Francisco | Tracy, Calif.
Hawthorne spent the last five seasons at San Francisco, where he tallied 369 points, 178 rebounds, 46 assists, 41 steals and 22 blocks.

During the 2023-24 season, Hawthorne appeared in 29 games, starting eight, averaging 3.9 points and 1.4 rebounds. He shot 43.3% from the field, including 30.8% from three-point range.

Taeshaud Jackson | 6-6 | Guard | VMI | Denver, Colo.
In two seasons with Virginia Military Institute, Jackson averaged 8.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks per game. He appeared in 64 games, including 44 starts over his time in Virginia. Jackson started 32 of the 33 games he played in during the 2023-24 campaign, tallying 344 points (10.4) and 344 rebounds (10.4), with 38 assists, 43 steals and 13 blocks.

Luca Colceag | 6-9 | Forward | Eastern Florida State College | Bucharest, Romania
Colceag spent last season at Eastern Florida State College. The Titans began the season ranked No. 1 in the National Junior College Athletic Association national poll and remained in the top ten the entire season.

During his sophomore campaign, Colceag averaged 10.7 ppg and 6.8 rebounds per game. He knocked down 35% of his attempts behind the 3-point line. Colceag converted 14 of 25 (56%) attempts behind the arc in a four-game stretch during conference play. He represented Romania in the FIBA U20 European Challengers averaging 8.5 ppg and 10.0 rpg during the event.

William Humer | 6-8 | Forward | San Jose State | Sollentuna, Sweden
Humer appeared in 25 games – starting two - for the Spartans during the 2023-24 campaign. He established a career-high 11 points and four assists against Bethesda (Calif.) and at Montana. Against the Grizzlies, Humer hit 5 of 9 from the field in 25 minutes, establishing highs in all three categories. With an eye on the future, Smiley added four talented freshmen to the 2024 signing class.

Ariik Mawien | 6-4 | Guard | Link Year Prep Academy | Sioux Falls, S.D.
Mawien averaged 14.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game during the 2023-24 campaign with Link Year Prep Academy. He shot 47% from the field, including 38% from 3-point range.
At Capistrano Valley Christian High School, he tallied 1,050 points and set the single-season school record with 2.5 blocks per contest.

Viktor Lukic-Gavric | 6-2 | Shooting Guard | Get Better Academy | Stockholm, Sweden
Lukic-Gavric, signed a National Letter of Intent, after posting 18.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists at the 2023 FIBA U18 A Division last summer. He played prep basketball at the Get Better Academy in Prague, Czech Republic.

Hunter Caldwell | 6-10 | Center | Lutheran HS | Parker, Colo.
Caldwell averaged 10.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and one block during his three seasons at Lutheran High School. In his senior campaign, he scored 16.0 points and grabbed 7.4 rebounds, with 1.1 blocks per game.

Walker Asp | 6-8 | Wing | Palmer High School | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Asp played an integral part in Palmer High School advancing to the Colorado High School Activities Association 5A Sweet 16 in his junior and senior campaigns.

In his senior season, Asp led the Terrors in scoring 14.0 ppg and rebounding 5.4 rpg, averaging 1.7 steals and almost one block per game. After his junior year, Asp earned an All-Colorado Springs Metro League Second Team Selection. He elevated his game during his final campaign, capturing All-Colorado Springs Metro League First Team and Colorado All-State 5A Honorable Mention accolades.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: A unique neutral site game against South Dakota State at The Monument in Rapid City, S.D., a highly anticipated Big Sky – Summit League Challenge game in Bank of Colorado Arena and a pair of matchups against Power Four schools highlighted Northern Colorado's 2024-25 13-game non-conference basketball schedule.

The Bears hosted six regular-season games at Bank of Colorado Arena, including the season opener against Colorado College Nov. 4, Colorado Christian Nov. 12, Prairie View A&M Nov. 23, Northern New Mexico Nov. 26, St. Thomas Dec. 4 and Air Force Dec. 16.

UNC traveled to Boulder for a clash with the Buffaloes Nov. 8, before meeting South Dakota State Nov. 14. The Bears visited Pullman, Washington for a matchup with Washington State Nov. 18 and took on Cal Baptist in Riverside, California two days later.

They ended the first month of the season at Texas Tech Nov. 29. UNC met North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D., Dec. 7 in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. The Bears closed out the non-conference slate at Denver Dec. 21.

BIG SKY TOURNY TICKETS
Tickets for the 2025 Big Sky Basketball Championships, presented by Idaho Central Credit Union, are on sale now. 

The men's and women's basketball tournaments will be hosted at Idaho Central Arena on March 8-12, marking the seventh straight year that Starch Madness will be held in Boise, Idaho. 

Fans can purchase all-tournament, all-session ticket packages for both the men's and women's sessions for courtside, reserved, and general admission seating.
  
Single-session tickets will be available for purchase Monday, Feb. 3. To purchase tickets, visit uncbears.com/tickets or call 970-351-4849.

Tickets can also be purchased at the Campus Commons Ticket Office, Monday-Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. TicketSmarter is the official resale marketplace of UNC athletics.

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