‘I DON’T THINK THERE’S ANYTHING BETTER’
After chanting “Start the buses” and “Go home Weber,” the University of Northern Colorado student section got to do something it hasn’t done in five years: storm the court.
UNC (8-16, 3-9 Big Sky) men’s basketball defeated the Wildcats (12-12, 7- 4 Big Sky), 88- 54, on Monday night in its best overall performance in a long time. It was tied for the best offensive game since the Bears’ win at Colorado State and the best defensive night all season.
“It really started with having a phenomenal student section. When you’ve got that place packed — the student section was beyond capacity — and the energy our guys fed off of that was just awesome,” Bears coach Steve Smiley said, noting he hopes to do a thank you video and get food for the next game. “We gotta get these kids back, because it’s awesome. It’s just such a big deal when you play in front of that type of crowd and atmosphere.”
The students maintained their energy the entire game, making noise, chanting and having a good time.
Graduate transfer Riley Abercrombie said the team knew it needed a big game. Coming in, the team was on a three-game losing streak and had lost 11 of the last 13. The guys were engaged and looked like they all knew the game plan, but having the rowdy fans certainly helped.
“I don’t know if it was necessarily warranted, but I was just happy to be a part of it,” Abercrombie said with a laugh after being asked about the court storm.
The team started hot, taking an early 10 point lead. Its first five points came on second chance opportunities and the defense played with intensity that hasn’t been seen all season. UNC took a 14-point lead into the half and expanded that into a 34-point blowout.
No one saw that coming. Smiley, who coached alongside Wildcats coach Eric Duft when they were assistants, didn’t see that.
“The fact we were able to take that lead at halftime and stretch it and stretch it and stretch it, they don’t just let you do that,” Smiley said. “For us to do that, it was really good.
“I’d never be like, ‘ Oh yeah, we’ll beat those guys by 30,’ because he’s too good of a coach and they’re really good. They were in third place going into tonight, so no one would’ve said that,” Smiley said. “But, I know what our team’s capable of. Now, hopefully, this is that galvanizing force, that inflection point that propels us forward.”
Senior Dalton Knecht and grad student Daylen Kountz are typically the big names on the stat sheet — and they performed exceptionally — but Abercrombie had a night to remember.
The Aussie scored a season-high 21 points on 7- of-8 shooting from deep, making all of his first seven attempts, including five straight in the second half, before missing one late.
“I don’t think there’s anything better. I think that’s so much fun. I think it’s one of the reasons we play basketball: to have big nights like that. And to do that with a huge student crowd like we had was awesome.”
He wasn’t the only one, though. Every player contributed positively in some way.
All 14 eligible players earned minutes. Young guys pulled down rebounds. Sophomore Jalen Page and freshman Dawson Mohr hit back-to-back treys, both going 1- of-1, to extend the team’s lead. Mohr’s shot was his first bucket as a Bear. The bench and crowd went wild for both.
It’s a game the Bears deserve to celebrate, at least for a few hours, and one they’ll likely remember for years to come.
“I think (it came from) a lot of belief from our team that we’re really good,” Abercrombie said. “I know we’ve underperformed since the start of conference, but we’ve never lost faith in the talent we have and the team that we have. We know if we can put everything together, we’re going to put together games like that.”
Northern Colorado will try to do it again this week when it hosts Portland State. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at Bank of Colorado Arena.
• Riley Abercrombie: 21 PTS (7-8 3FG), 7 REB, 2 BLK
• Dalton Knecht: 16 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST
• Daylen Kountz: 16 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST
• UNC shooting: 33- 54 FG, 12-22 3FG, 10-16 FT
• UNC other: 43 REB (5 OREB), 17 AST, 8 STL, 2 BLK, 25 PF, 10 TO
• Weber State shooting: 20- 58 FG, 3-24 3FG, 11-24 FT
• Weber State other: 30 REB (10 OREB), 8 AST, 6 STL, 2 BLK, 17 PF, 11 TO