FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s hoops opens Big Sky play against Idaho State
Northern Colorado hosts Idaho State Tuesday and Wednesday
By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com
Game Notes Attached
GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado men’s basketball aims to go into the holiday break in a jolly mode when they host Idaho State on back-to-back days. The Bears and Bengals open up Big Sky play on Tuesday and Wednesday at 2 pm each day.
Opening Tip
– Northern Colorado closed out a tough five games in 10 days stretch with a 63-50 loss to Utah State.
– The Bears finished the stretch 3-2.
– The trio of Bodie Hume, Daylen Kountz and Kur Jockuch finished the game with double-figures scoring. Kountz led the Bears with 13, Jockuch, 11 and Hume, 10.
– Bodie Hume and Daylen Kountz tied for the team-lead with six rebounds in the game against USU. Kountz matched his career-high in rebounds.
– The Big Sky changed the format of this year’s conference schedule to combat travel costs and help protect teams from contracting COVID-19. Teams will play against the same team in back-to-back games. eight of the 10 series will be at the same sight with a pair of home and homes.
– This is the first time since 2017-18 UNC will open the conference season at home.
– The Bears are 11-3 in their Big Sky openers, including 6-1 at home.
– Northern Colorado is on a five-game win streak against Idaho State.
– The Bengals enter conference play on a three-game win streak.
Scouting the Bengals
Idaho State enters the games on a three-game win streak and 3-4 overall. The Bengals have confidence after beating Bethesda (CA) and SAGU American Indian twice. ISU is 0-4 against Division I opponents.
The duo of Tarik Cool, 13.4 ppg, and Robert Ford II, 12.7 ppg lead the team in scoring.
ISU was picked to finish 10th in the league by both the coaches and media.
Around the Big Sky
Three teams are undefeated during the early part of Big Sky play in Sacramento State, Southern Utah and Eastern Washington. Sac State and SUU are 2-0 while EWU is 1-0. Entering the holiday break, only Montana State will have not played a conference game.
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.
Ryan Pfeifer
Director of Strategic Communication
O: 970-351-3645 | C: 720-290-8886
#Bears Strong | @Rpfeifer82
