The three-headed monster of Jonah Radebaugh, Kai Edwards and Kur Jockuch led the Bears combining for 57 points on Saturday night. Radebaugh led the team with 22 points and nine assists.
Jockuch set his career-high in scoring with 17 and Edwards matched his with 18 points.
Eaaaaaassssssy jam for @kjockuch! He now has a career-high 1⃣7⃣! #GoUNCBears?? #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/w3vx7oM0bK
— UNC Men’s Basketball (@UNC_BearsMBB) February 23, 2020
It was Jockuch who got into the action early scoring eight of the team’s first 10 points as Northern Colorado never trailed Idaho State. Radebaugh followed it up with nine straight and UNC was well on its way to the win.
Just a reminder you only have ✌️ more chances to see the amazing @Radebaugh12 at the ?, you don’t want to miss this! PS he’s 5-for-5 with 11 points already tonight. #FearTheMullet #GoUNCBears?? #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/TP5sbZnpQF
— UNC Men’s Basketball (@UNC_BearsMBB) February 23, 2020
The Bears offense was clicking on all cylinders in the first half as they shot 74.2 percent and cashed in both of their free throw attempts. Edwards, Jockuch and Radebaugh all reached double figures by the half.
How bout that! Both big men with career-highs tonight! Kai now has 1⃣8⃣ #GoUNCBears?? #BigSkyMBB pic.twitter.com/o27Z7NwuQq
— UNC Men’s Basketball (@UNC_BearsMBB) February 23, 2020
Holding a 13-point lead heading into the break it never dipped into the single digits in the second half and expanded to as much as 23 points.
What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder
On handling their business tonight
“I’m proud of our guys’ effort. It’s a tough game to come into, we made sure our guys understood they have played everyone tough on their home court this year. We made sure our guys had the right mindset and mentality and they did a good job executing tonight. We have seen a million different ways to guard us this season and we are a tough matchup. Once we figured out what they were going to do we attacked that weakness and I love how some guys understand they may have to sacrifice a few shots because of it, but in turn, you end up shooting over seventy percent like we did tonight.”
About fan support next week
“We did what we needed to tonight, taking care of business on the road and now we are looking forward to coming home to Bank of Colorado Arena next week. We hope to see a lot of people there next week to help us as we pursue a Big Sky title down the stretch.”
On the team’s mentality down this stretch of the season
“We have played three of our last four games on the road and our guys showed the grit and toughness it takes when pursuing a conference championship to pick up three road wins.”
Stat of the Game
Northern Colorado turned in its second-best shooting night of the season Saturday going 35-for-56 from the floor. The 62.5 percent shooting is only behind UNC’s performance last weekend at Sacramento State when they shot 65.9 percent.
Game Notes
– Jonah Radebaugh continues to move up lists in the UNC record book. Tonight he moved into third place for career rebounds passing Jim Hruska (1956-60) and his 754. Radebaugh grabbed four boards on the night to have 755 for his career.
– Sam Masten is starting to round into form after missing six games due to a hand injury. The sophomore scored eight points on the night including connecting on a couple of 3s and had three assists off the bench.
– UNC had 18 assists on 35 makes. It’s the 10th time this season the Bears recorded 15-plus assists.
– The Bears are now one win away from their third consecutive 20-win season.
Around the Big Sky
In the three-team race for the Big Sky title, it stayed status quo on Saturday. Eastern Washington defeated Northern Arizona 80-70 in the late afternoon, while Montana went to Bozeman and beat rival Montana State 59-54. The Griz hold the one-game lead over UNC and EWU with two weeks to go. UM heads to NAU Thursday while EWU visits Southern Utah.
What’s Ahead
Northern Colorado comes home for its final homestand of the 2019-20 season hosting Idaho on Thursday, February 27 and Eastern Washington on Saturday, February 29.
For tickets to the game and all UNC athletic events, visit UNCBears.com/Tickets, call 970-351-4849 or visit the UNC Ticket Office located inside the Campus Commons.
To stay up to date on all things UNC men’s basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.