Northern Colorado concluded its first Big Sky Conference road trip with an 88-79 loss to Montana on Saturday at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. The Bears, now 10-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play, struggled early as Montana opened the game with a 28-11 run over the first 13 minutes and maintained a double-digit lead for much of the contest.
Montana (8-7, 2-0 Big Sky) took a nine-point advantage into halftime after Northern Colorado was held scoreless until nearly three minutes into the game. Despite trimming the deficit to single digits several times before halftime, UNC trailed 34-25 at the break.
In the second half, Northern Colorado improved offensively, scoring 54 points while shooting 41.5 percent from the field and making nine three-pointers. Brock Wisne led the Bears with a team-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and hit a career-best three three-pointers. He also added eight rebounds and four assists. Ibu Yamazaki contributed 14 points with three made threes, while Zach Bloch had 13 points and five assists.
Quinn Denker finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and seven assists for Northern Colorado. Egan Shields came off the bench to add five points and six rebounds as UNC narrowed Montana’s lead to six points with less than five minutes remaining. However, Montana secured the win by converting free throws down the stretch.
Northern Colorado ended the game shooting just under 37 percent from the field and about 31 percent from beyond the arc but forced 11 turnovers and outrebounded Montana, holding a slight edge on the glass. Montana’s decisive factor came at the free-throw line where it converted on 35 of its 38 attempts.
Northern Colorado will return home next week for its Big Sky Conference home opener at Bank of Colorado Arena, hosting Idaho State on Thursday at 6 p.m., followed by Weber State on Saturday at the same time. Games will be available for viewing on ESPN+ and PirateRadio935.com.
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