Northern Colorado proves too much

It's rare but sometimes the opening play in a game is a telltale sign. Host Northern Colorado began the match against San Jose State with a quick trey and such was a omen of things to come.

The contest remained close through the half but then the Bears exploded in the second half, finishing with a 93-69 victory

At the half, it was 38-33 in favor of Northern Colorado. C.J. Webster has 11 points and Adrian Oliver 10 after the first 20 minutes. Both teams shot 44% but the Bears shot 7-19 from three-point range.

UNC did jump out to that very early 3-0 lead but the Spartans then went on a 9-0 run. Northern Colorado went on an 8-0 run of its own to take back the lead at 17-15. SJSU tied it at 24 but the Bears grabbed the lead back and held on to it through the first half.

Things fell apart in the second half.

Northern Colorado jumped ahead 48-37 at the 15:48 mark. A Webster basket made it 55-45 and Oliver reduced the deficit to eight at 55-47 but the Bears went 7-9 on the second half shots, 3-4 on treys and it was 61-47 at the 11:30 mark. The Spartan deficit went to 20 with 5:40 remaining.

UNC went 18-37 on three-point shots for the night, making more baskets from long distance than they did inside the line (15). Backcourters Will Figures and Devon Beitzel each scored 24, going 6-11 and 6-8 respectively from long distance.

San Jose State shot 43% overall, 23-25 at the foul line and 4-10 on treys. Northern Colorado shot 53% overall, 9-12 from the charity stripe and the aforementioned 18-37 from long range.