Senior guard Trent Harris scoresd 17 points as Northern Colorado (12-6, 5-2 BSC) defeated Idaho (5-13, 1-6 BSC) 74-53 Saturday afternoon. Senior guard Trevon Allen recorded 23 points in loss.
Both teams struggled offensively early in the first half with defense being a factor. Both the Vandals and the Bears forced turnovers and highly contested shots. Idaho went on a 9-0 run early, with junior guard Damen Thacker scoring five points to an early Vandals lead.
“My teammates getting me open, our big guys set a lot of open screens and it’s easy to get open when you get some solid screens,” Thacker said.
UNC would fire back with three point shooting and defensive pressure to tie the game at 11. Two early fouls for Allen would see him exit the first half early, as Thacker would continue to lead the offense finishing with 10 points and tying the game at 20. Northern Colorado finished the first half with a 26-22 lead with a two point field goal from redshirt freshman guard Tre’Shon Smoots at the buzzer.
As the second half went under way, Northern Colorado kept extending their lead by executing on offense and getting to the free throw line. Its defense constantly put the pressure on Idaho scored 16 points from turnovers along with 26 points in the paint.
“We’re a tough team, we’re going to keep battling, we went through a little adversity with some pick and roll but that’s just something we changed in the timeout, and it’s just something that got away from us in the end,” Thacker said.
Idaho could not regain the lead in the second half, and the game would slip away from them in the last five minutes. The Bears continued their pressure with 19 bench points and scored 44.4% from behind the three point line, going 8-18. Idaho’s Allen scored 21 points in the second half in an attempt to keep them in the game.
“I didn’t think we played with as much toughness and tenacity as we did in the first half. I didn’t do a good enough job of making sure our guys were in the right position and giving them the chance to be successful strictly on the defensive end,” Interim Head Coach Zac Claus said. “We failed them in that regard. In terms of the next one, we have to turn our focus to Southern Utah who has been playing great as of late.”
Claus and his squad look ahead and prepare for their next game on Monday night. The Vandals will take on Southern Utah at 6:30 pm in Cowan Spectrum. They will look to break their four game losing streak before they go on their three game road stretch.
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected]