THE MATCHUP
Coming off an action-packed 80-74 win over rival Montana State on Sunday afternoon, Montana hoped to keep climbing the Big Sky Conference standings with upstart Northern Colorado coming to town. The Bears, coming off an 85-76 home loss to Eastern Washington, came to Missoula having won four of its last five trips to Missoula.
THE RESULT
Once again, the Bears did not look intimidated one bit by the Dahlberg Arena crowd of 3,285. The Griz looked flat coming out of a game that 5,285 showed up and playing a team that has had the Grizzlies’ number in Missoula for years.
Montana entered the game having won 58 of its last 68 home games. Five of those 10 home losses came to Northern Colorado, including Thursday, when Northern Colorado did it again, posting a 75-66 win over the Griz to move to 12-6 in league play and hand Montana its sixth home loss in its last 11 in Dahlberg, including just its second home loss this season.
The loss drops Montana to 11-8 in Big Sky Conference play. The Griz are locked in as the No. 5 seed in next week’s Big Sky Tournament regardless of Saturday’s result against Sacramento State.
Montana State locked up the top seed in the conference tournament with a 75-69 win over Sac State in Bozeman. Northern Colorado plays at MSU on Saturday. A Bears win would give UNC the No. 2 seed. A loss and the Bears would be the No. 3.
Weber State and Southern Utah play Saturday. The loser of that game plays Montana next Wednesday in the Big Sky Tourney semifinals. The Griz split with both, beating each team in Missoula and losing on the road.
THE STANDOUTS
Northern Colorado is one of the talented and veteran teams in the league, led by fifth-year senior Bodie Hume. The former three-time All-Big Sky player scored just two points but dished out four assists and proved pivotal in helping the Bears move the ball against Montana’s stout defense.
The Griz made UNC play late into the shot clock over and over again. And each time, either Daylen Kountz or Matt Johnson, Northern Colorado’s veteran back court, would win a one-on-one matchup and get a bucket. Kountz, the Big Sky’s leading scorer (20.1 points per game) entering the game, finished with 29 points while Johnson, who has made a habbit of killing the Griz during his career, finished with 20.
“It’s all about staying composed, man,” said Kountz, a front-runner for Big Sky MVP honors who transferred to Northern Colorado from Colorado. “We were having patience and getting our right shot and our right spots. We get to our right spots, there’s a chance for them to go in.”
Kur Jongkuch, who was a project when he came to Northern Colorado, looked like a beast who will play pro ball as long as he wants overseas after his consistent development. The 6-foot-11 jumping jack protected the rim with authority and scored 12 points, five of them on thunderous dunks, and grabbed 14 rebounds, including four offensive boards.
“He clogs it up, he’s active and he does a good job of controlling their offense because he’s handling the ball away, so it opens up the floor. If he didn’t have the ball in his hands, you could sag off and probably help around the rim. But because he has the ball, it makes it very difficult on those guards to turn the corner because there’s no rim protection.
QUOTABLE
“Game of possessions. If you play a game with the pace we had tonight, which was slow, every possession matters a lot more. You can’t give up 50 percent (UNC shot 51 percent) and you can’t let two guys (Kountz, Johnson) score 49 points. All credit to Kountz and Johnson. Those guys showed up.”
Montana head coach Travis DeCuire
“That’s one on one defense at that point because there is no more action. You have to do better at letting guys get to the middle of the floor, you gotta do a better job of contesting and that’s the difference.”
Montana head coach Travis DeCuire
“We are just trying to get rolling, go to the tournament hot, give ourselves a chance,” Kountz said.
Northern Colorado guard Daylen Kountz
SOCIAL
BOX SCORE
WHAT’S NEXT
Montana hosts Sacramento State on Saturday. Northern Colorado plays at Montana. The Bears can finish as high as second and as low as third. Montana is locked into the No. 5 seed while MSU is locked into the No. 1 seed.
