GREELEY, Colo. - A bevy of 3-pointers by the University of North Dakota men's basketball team was not enough to lead the visitors to a victory, as Northern Colorado defeated the Fighting Sioux, 80-72, on Thursday at the Butler-Hancock Pavilion.
UND made a season-high 14 3-pointers in the contest with senior F O.J. Harrison and junior G Travis Bledsoe (Minneapolis, Minn.) each led the team with four three's. Senior G Darius Joseph (Tacoma, Wash.) leading the team with four three's a piece. Harrison finished with 14 points, while Bledsoe went for 13. The Sioux dropped their fourth straight to fall to 11-11 on the campaign. The Bears improved to 12-15.
The home team's shooting was the difference in the game as the Bears went 24-for-40 from the floor (60 percent) and were led by Will Figures with 20 points. Figures also made 10-of-11 from the free throw line, where UNC went 21-for-26 as a team. Comparatively, UND was just 8-of-17 from the charity stripe, but did produce a season-best 14-for-23 effort from deep.
“We had a chance to win this game,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We missed some key free throws down the stretch, but we carried out our game plan and we got better tonight.
“This is a Big Sky team that is doing fairly well right now, but we still lost the game. I'm proud of our effort though and we played the way we know we can. Now, we finally get a chance to go home and try to close out the season on a strong note.”
The Sioux jumped out to an 8-3 lead behind back-to-back 3-pointers by senior G Wes Porter (Arvada, Colo.) and Harrison in the opening minutes, but the lead would be short-lived for the visitors. The Bears gained their first lead of the game at 12-10 on a lay-up by John Pena at the 14:49 mark.
UNC extended that lead to 19-10 before senior G Daniel Harkins (Portage, Wis.) snapped a four-minute scoreless drought for the Sioux with a 3-pointer. Harkins went 4-for-5 from the field in the game, making all three of his 3-point attempts to finish with 11 points.
Harkins' first long-distance bucket sparked a 12-0 run for the Sioux over the next 2:16 that put UND back ahead at 22-19 with just over nine minutes remaining in the half.
The teams went back-and-forth until the six-minute mark when the Bears reeled off nine straight points to take a 36-28 advantage. The Sioux fought right back though.
Redshirt freshman Pat Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) drained the seventh 3-pointer of the half for the Sioux to end a three-minute drought and Harkins, then Bledsoe followed that one with two more long-range shots. Bledsoe was fouled on his attempt and made the free throw for his second 4-point play of the season to cut the Sioux deficit to 40-38.
A 3-pointer by Will Figures put UNC ahead 43-38, but Harrison's third 3-pointer of the half in the closing seconds made it a 43-41 contest at the break.
The 10 3-pointers in the first half surpassed the most UND had made in a game this season, which was nine - a feat the Sioux accomplished four previous times. The Bears made seven 3-pointers of their own and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes to help give them a two-point edge.
Mitchell once again ended a three-minute scoring drought for the Sioux with a 3-pointer. This time it came in the second half and cut UNC's lead to 55-52 with 14:18 remaining on the clock.
UND pulled within a point of the home team after a lay-up by Joseph off an in-bounds pass with 12:08 to play, but once again the Bears responded with a quick 8-0 spurt to surge ahead 65-56 with 9:29 to play.
The Sioux never relented though as Bledsoe kept pouring in the 3-pointers and quickly had UND back within a point of the Bears at 65-64. UND sophomore F Derek Benter (Crosby, N.D.) then tied the game on the ensuing possession with a free throw.
After the Bears went back up by five at 70-65, UND responded yet again to make it a one-point deficit after a lay-up by Joseph with just under three minutes to play.
Of the 25 3-pointers made between the two teams, Pena made the biggest one for the home team putting them ahead by six, 75-69, with 1:24 to play. Pena finished with 13 points as the Bears connected on 11-of-22 3-pointers in the game.
UNC put the game away at the foul line as the Sioux could not pull out the victory in the end.
The Sioux return home on Monday night to play Hamline following their four-game road trip. Tip-off with the Pipers is slated for 7 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
GAME NOTES: Senior G Wes Porter (Arvada, Colo.) grew up about an hour south of Greeley and prepped at Arvada West High School ... Porter had more than 40 friends and family members in attendance to watch him play tonight ... His mother cooked for the entire team on Wednesday night as the players and staff feasted on a spectacular meal of Thai food with all the garnishes ... An old rival from the North Central Conference days, Northern Colorado made the same transition to Division I that UND is making this season back in the 2003-04 season ... Porter made the first 3-pointer of the game for the Sioux, who made a season-high 14 from beyond the arc (previous high was nine) ... Senior F O.J. Harrison (Danville, Ill.) equaled his season-high for 3-pointers made with four in the contest.
