Nov. 28, 2005

Montana State/Northern Arizona Game Notes in PDF Format
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University of Northern Colorado Bears (0-6)
vs. Montana State University Bobcats (1-3)
Game #7 * Thursday, December 1, 2005 * 7:00 p.m. MT
Greeley, Colo. * Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion (4,500)

University of Northern Colorado Bears
vs. Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks (3-2)
Game #8 * Saturday, December 3, 2005 * 3:00 p.m. MT
Greeley, Colo. * Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion (4,500)

The Series: Montana State leads 27-11; Northern Arizona leads 1-0.

The Coaches: Craig Rasmuson is 58-111 (.343) in his 7th season with Northern Colorado and 124-177 (.412) in his 12th year overall.

Mick Durham is 232-201 (.536) in his 16th season at Montana State. Mike Adras is 93-85 (.522) in his 7th season at NAU.

Radio: Bears' Radio Network (Flagship Station - Newstalk KFKA 1310-AM in Greeley). KFKA's Troy Coverdale will have the play-by-play which starts with a 25-minute pre-game show. The broadcast can also be heard free online at UNCBears.com.

TV: The Montana State game can be seen live on Altitude Sports & Entertainment TV (Comcast Cable Ch. 25, Dish Network Ch. 410, DirecTV Ch. 644). Mike Haynes, Irv Brown (color) and Will Jones (sideline). There is no TV for NAU.

Livestats: Gametracker live stats available through links at UNCBears.com.

GAME INFORMATION
The University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team will search for its first victory this week when it hosts a pair of Big Sky Conference teams. The Bears host Montana State on Thursday night (7 p.m.) in a game that can be seen on Altitude Sports & Entertainment television. The week concludes with a weekend afternoon game (3 p.m.) with Northern Arizona.

The NAU game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. but is now a 3 p.m. tip-off.

THE BEAR FACTS
Northern Colorado dropped a pair of games at the Cal Golden Bear Classic last weekend, falling to host and eventual champion Cal and then to Cal State Northridge.

The Bears are off to a 0-6 start this season after starting 0-6 last year. They need a win to avoid a 0-7 start, something that has not happened to the program since the 1954-55 season. The worst start in school history was a 0-12 mark in 1944-45; that team finished the season without winning a game.

The games with Montana State and Northern Arizona give the Bears an early look at the Big Sky competition they will face next season when they become official members of the conference. The Bears pay a return visit to Northern Arizona in three weeks.

Following this week, Northern Colorado hits the road for a matchup at in-state rival Air Force on Dec. 8 and they will host Oral Roberts on Dec. 11.

OPPONENT INFORMATION

Montana State: Montana State opened the season at the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, dropping all three of its games. The Bobcats lost 69-64 to Illinois-Chicago, host Alaska-Fairbanks (65-62) and Lamar (92-82). MSU broke into the win column at home against Wayland Baptist on Nov. 27. Montana State was picked to win the Big Sky Conference this season and are being led in scoring by Ja'Ron Jefferson (12.8 points/game).

Northern Arizona: After losing its first two games of the season (to Air Force and Texas-Arlington at the BCA Classic in Seattle) before reeling off three straight victories. The Lumberjacks topped Morgan State, UC Davis and Cal Maritime. Three NAU players are averaging double figure points, with Ruben Boykin, Jr. leading the way (11.2). NAU was picked to finish fourth in the Big Sky Conference this season. The Lumberjacks are assisted by Billy Hix, who served as Northern Colorado's Director of Basketball Operations last season. NAU Director of Athletics, Jim Fallis, was the Northern Colorado A.D. from 1993-2004. NAU plays at Denver on Thursday night before playing in Greeley.

Series History: The Bears and Bobcats have played 38 times previously, most recently last season in Bozeman, but have played only three times since 1978. MSU has won five in a row and 10 of 11 in the series with Northern Colorado last winning on Feb. 8, 1956. Last season, the Bears hit 15 3-pointers and gave the Bobcats all they could handle before falling 87-75. In that game, reserve Parish Brockman hit his first six shots, including four from 3-point range, and finished the game with a career-high 21 points. Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado have played only once before, Dec. 9, 1983 in Greeley. Northern Arizona came out on top in that contest 81-71 at Butler-Hancock. The two teams will meet later this season in Flagstaff.

THE BEAR NECCESSITIES
If you don't have time to read everything in this packet, these are the key notes about the Bears.
Northern Colorado is off to an 0-6 start this season, the same start they had a season ago ... the Bears need a win on Thursday to avoid the first 0-7 start since the 1954-55 season; the worse start in program history is 0-12 - that year the team did not win a game ... on Nov. 25 at Cal, head coach Craig Rasmuson coached in his 300th collegiate game; he did so against Ben Braun, the coach he served as an assistant for at Eastern Michigan in 1990-91 ... the Bears face a pair of Big Sky Conference opponents this week; the Bears are 21-60 all-time against Big Sky teams, and last defeated a BSC team on Dec. 2, 1977 when they topped Montana 76-75 in Greeley ... sophomore Kirk Archibeque had a double-double in each of the three games to start this season; he had only four career double-doubles prior to this season ... Sean Taibi registered his first career double-double against Colorado State (Nov. 18); he had 14 points and 10 rebounds - he leads the team in 3-point shooting this year ... this season Northern Colorado returns seven players from last year's squad including Division I Independent first-team selection Kirk Archibeque and All-Newcomer pick Sean Taibi ... Archibeque was picked as the D-I Independent Preseason Player of the Year by Lindys, Street & Smith and CBS Sportsline ... Northern Colorado officially becomes a member of the Big Sky Conference in 2006-07.

NORTHERN COLORADO NOTES

Big Sky Preview: The Bears officially become a member of the Big Sky Conference next season and get a preview of conference play this week when they play a pair of BSC teams. UNC is 21-60 (.259) against Big Sky teams and last defeated a Big Sky team on Dec. 2, 1977, when they topped Montana 76-75 in Greeley. Since then the Bears have lost seven straight games to Big Sky teams.

Northern Arizona Game Time Changed: The Bears game at home against Northern Arizona on Dec. 3 has been changed from a 7 p.m. to 3 p.m. start.

Is It December Yet?: Northern Colorado will be glad when the calendar turns to December. The Bears are only 1-11 during the month of November over the past two years, including 0-6 this season. That is due in part to the fact they have faced very tough opposition including Syracuse, Bucknell, Iowa State, Colorado State and Wyoming among others.

Turnovers The Story of the Game: Northern Colorado has been very competitive in most every game this season but one telling statistic has kept the Bears out of the win column - turnovers. UNC has committed at least 15 turnovers in every game this season and committed a season-high 31 turnovers in a 9-point loss to Cal State Northridge (Nov. 26). That was the most turnovers for the Bears in the last six seasons. Northridge turned those 30 turnovers in 31 points. The Bears had 23 turnovers against Cal (which the Golden Bears turned into 31 points) and 21 turnovers at Wyoming (which the Cowboys turned into 30 points). The most miscues a Bears opponent have committed this season was 18 by CS Northridge. Northern Colorado is currently -7.2 in turnover margin this season.

Taibi Deadly From the Outside: Sophomore guard Sean Taibi has been deadly accurate from long range this season, hitting 16-of-33 (48.5%) from long range through six games. He is the only Bear to reach double-digit trifectas so far. He has hit a 3-pointer in every game this season and hit four 3-pointers against each Lipscomb and Wyoming.

Gordy Turns It On: Sophomore Michael Gordy sometimes saves his best for last. At Wyoming (Nov. 22), Gordy scored all 11 of his points in the second half. The next game, at Cal, Gordy scored all 15 of his points in the second 20 minutes. He continued his hot streak by matching his career-high, 17, against Cal State Northridge.

Bears Increase Rebounding: Despite the fact the Bears are 0-6 this season, they have shown great improvement on the backboards. Northern Colorado has out-rebounded four of its six opponents this season.

Home Sweet Home: Northern Colorado is 223-146 (.604) all-time at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion, which opened on Feb. 4, 1975 (a 64-56 loss to Air Force). The Bears were 7-5 at home last season and are 0-1 there this year; they have won nine of their last 15 games at home dating back to last season. Following a loss to Colorado State (Nov. 18), UNC is 21-9 all-time in home openers at Butler-Hancock in 30 seasons of playing in the building.

Bears Have Struggled in TV Games: The Bears will play on television this week against Montana State (Altitude Sports & Entertainment). The Bears dropped a pair of national television games (ESPNU) to start the season, falling to Lipscomb and South Dakota State at the Guardians Classic. Northern Colorado played in six television games a year ago that were available to a national audience, and they came out on the losing end each time. In the past three seasons they have played on national television nine times and are 0-9 in those games.

Third Largest Crowd Comes to Butler-Hancock: When the Bears played Colorado State (Nov. 18), a crowd of 4,351 witnessed the game, marking the third largest crowd in Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion history. It trailed only the 4,674 fans that saw the Bears play Wisconsin-Milwaukee (March 18, 1989) in the NCAA Div. II Regional Championship game, and the 4,429 fans who saw the Bears battle Augustana (Feb. 23, 1989).

Archibeque Powers Bears: Sophomore center Kirk Archibeque proved to be the team's top player last year, earning Division I All-Independent first-team honors (as he was the only non-senior on the team). Archibeque also became the first freshman in school history to lead the team in both scoring (12.1) and rebounding (6.0). His 58.1% (136-234) field goal percentage ranked No. 23 nationally and second nationally among freshmen. Prior to this season, Archibeque was named the D-I Independent Preseason Player of the Year by Lindy's, Street & Smith and CBSSportsline preseason magazines. He has proven those preseason predictions to be accurate, as he started the season by averaging 11.7 points and 8.7 rebounds through six games. Entering the season, he had only four career doubles - this season he has three double-doubles in six games.

Bears Sign Moore to National Letter of Intent: Northern Colorado signed one player during Novembers early signing period. Darren Moore (Chino Hills, Calif./Ayala H.S.) signed a national letter of intent and will join the Bears program next season. Moore (6'2, 170 lbs., PG/SG) averaged 12 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game at Ayala Hills High School as a junior. He earned first-team All-Sierra League honors and was a second-team All-California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) selection. He was ranked as one of the top guards on the west coast by Scout.com. The Bulldogs finished 23-7 last season, had a 9-1 conference record and lost in the state playoffs. Moore participated in the Double Pump West Coast All-Star camp, the adidas Super 64 and the adidas Best of the Summer events last summer. He played AAU basketball with the Inland Empire Basketball Program. Moore is the son of Duane and LaJunna Moore and plans to major in communications at Northern Colorado. He selected Northern Colorado over Northern Arizona, Loyola Marymount and UC Irvine.

SEASON NOTES

The Continued Move to Division I: The 2005-06 sports season marks year No. 3 in the "reclassification" process to Division I for the Bears. On May 10, 2002 the UNC Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve a move for the Northern Colorado intercollegiate athletics program to NCAA Division I. The 2002-03 sports year marked the last season for the Bears in the North Central Conference and the NCAA Division II level and was an "exploratory" year in the move. 2003-04 was the first season of the four-year reclassification period and last season (2004-05) marked year No. 2. The program officially becomes a Division I school (and eligible for NCAA Championships) in 2007-08.

Bears to Join Big Sky Conference in 2006-07: As the Bears continue the reclassification to Division I, they have finally found a conference home. On July 1, 2006, the program will officially become a member of the Big Sky Conference and will compete against a full BSC schedule in 2006-07. The department's programs (with the exception of women's volleyball - which got a waiver from the NCAA) will not be eligible for Big Sky championships or NCAA berths until 2007-08, the program's first full year of Division I competition. On the basketball court, the Bears will compete against the other eight Big Sky teams: Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Portland State, Sacramento State and Weber State.

Bears Not Shying Away From Tough Competition: Nobody can accuse Bears head coach Craig Rasmuson of scheduling easy game. During the reclassification process to Division I, Rasmuson has scheduled the best-of-the-best in helping the Bears prepare for Big Sky Conference play in 2006-07. Last year the Bears had 10 opponents end up playing in some sort of postseason. Eight squads were selected to play in the NCAA Tournament while two others were selected to play in the NIT. The eight selected for the NCAA Tournament were: Gonzaga (No. 3 seed), Oklahoma (No. 3), Syracuse (No. 4), Texas Tech (No. 6), Utah (No. 6), Iowa State (No. 9), New Mexico (No. 12) and Bucknell (No. 14). Two of those teams advanced to the Sweet 16 (Utah and Texas Tech) while the lowest seeded of those teams, Bucknell, pulled the biggest first round upset when they knocked off Kansas. Both Oral Roberts (Mid-Con) and Denver (Sun Belt) won their league's regular season titles but were knocked off in the championship games of their conference tournaments. Each lost in the first round of the NIT. At one point last season (Jan. 7), the Bears strength of schedule (SOS) was ranked No. 4 nationally; the Bears finished the year with the 132nd most difficult schedule in the country. In a ranking by Basketball Times, the Bears 2004-05 non-conference schedule was the 56th most difficult in Division I.

Division I Independents: This season, 10 NCAA Division I Independent men's basketball teams have joined forces to award Player of the Week awards and compile statistical leaders. The teams are UC Davis, IPFW, Longwood, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Savannah State, South Dakota State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley State. Awards and statistics will be released on each Tuesday of the season beginning Dec. 6. An index of award winners and other information on D-I Independent men's basketball can be found at: http://uncbears.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/110705aab.html.

300: Head coach Craig Rasmuson coached in his 300th career game on Nov. 26 at California. He coached that game against Ben Braun, the former coach at Eastern Michigan. Braun was the head coach of the 1990-91 EMU team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16; Rasmuson served as an assistant coach on that staff.

Tournament Games Unkind: The Bears have now lost 10 straight games that have been part of in-season tournaments, dating back to the beginning of the 2003-04 season. Northern Colorado last won 85-68 against Western State at the Jalisco Hoops Classic in Alamosa, Colo. (Nov. 21, 2003). That win was also the Bears last on a neutral court. The Bears were 0-4 last season during in-season tournaments (losing two at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and two at the Iowa State Cyclone Challenge). This season the Bears were 0-4 at the Guardians Classic and the Cal Golden Bear Classic.

Bears Play Wyoming For Only Third Time in 30 Years: Northern Colorado's game at Wyoming on Nov. 22 was the first time the teams had played since 1995 and only the third time the squads had faced each other on the hardwood since the 1976 season. Wyoming won the matchup 83-70, although the game was closer than the final score indicated. It was an improvement for the Bears, who had lost to the Pokes by a combined 92 points in the previous four meetings. UW has won 20 in a row against Northern Colorado.

Season Openers: After a 72-60 loss to Lipscomb, the Bears are now 5-7 overall in their last 12 season openers overall, 11 of which have come in road contests.

Largest Crowd To Sees Bears Play: The second largest crowd to ever see a Northern Colorado basketball team witnessed the Bears battle Lipscomb (Nov. 13). An announced crowd of 20,144 saw the contest, which was part of a doubleheader with Kentucky/South Dakota State at the Guardians Classic. That is the second largest mark, trailing only the 20,176 that officially saw the Bears battle Bucknell last season in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (a doubleheader with Syracuse-Princeton). The next night (Nov. 14), the Bears matchup with South Dakota State had 19,369 in attendance, the third largest crowd to see a UNC basketball game.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm: Last year the Bears started the regular season with a November 11th game at Syracuse (Coaches vs. Cancer Classic). The start to a regular season was the earliest ever for Northern Colorado in its 104 years of basketball. This year's Nov. 13 start tied the second earliest opener in school history, also equaled on Nov. 13, 1998 when the Bears defeated Fort Lewis 85-50.

Easy Like Sunday Morning: The Bears game with Lipscomb (Nov. 13) marked only the fourth Sunday contest in the Craig Rasmuson Era at Northern Colorado (the Bears lost 72-60). Last season UNC played on Dec. 19 at Montana State, marking the first time since Dec. 30, 2001 that they had played on a Sunday (that game was a 87-76 win at North Dakota State). UNC also played once on Sunday the year prior to that, falling 90-86 to Drury at the Las Vegas High Desert Classic - the only other time they played on Sunday during the Craig Rasmuson Era.

Close But No Cigar: Trailing South Dakota State (Nov. 14) by two points with three seconds left at the Guardians Classic, the Bears pushed the ball the length of the floor and junior Matt Kline got a 3-pointer off from 25 feet from the hoop on the right side, a shot that bounced off the rim after almost going in as time expired. The Bears have not had a buzzer-beating or near buzzer-beating shot winning basket since topping Texas A&M-International on Feb. 5, 2004. It in contest, Chris Gebhardt hit a runner in the lane with 3-seconds left to push the Bears to a 64-63 victory. Prior to that, it was Aaron Austin who hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left on Feb. 9, 2002 as the Bears topped St. Cloud State 86-85.

Home Openers: Northern Colorado has dropped each of its last three home openers, falling 83-51 to Loyola Marymount last season, 78-76 to Colorado Mines (2003-04) and 70-57 to Colorado State this season. UNC last won its home opener on Nov. 26, 2002, topping Adams State 77-73. UNC is 6-5 overall in its home openers over the past 11 years.

Rams Play in Greeley For First Time Since 1956: When Colorado State played in Greeley on Nov. 18, it marked the first time since Dec. 1, 1956 that the Rams had played in Greeley. That game took place in old Gunter Hall across the UNC campus. CSU came out on top in the game 70-57, winning for the seventh straight time in the series. The two teams plan to begin playing annually in a home-and-home series.

Tongue Tied: You may notice one name on the Bears' roster is a little longer than the others. Thanasi Panagiotakopoulos earns the honor of having the longest last name (17 letters) in school history and probably the best name in all of Division I basketball. The Phoenix native of Greek ancestry pronounces his name Thanasi (TH-nah-see) Panagiotakopoulos (Pana-Yo-Toe-CO-PO-los). His real first name, however, is not Thanasi but Athanassios. Growing up his friends and teammates nicknamed him "T-Soup" or "Soup" - short for alphabet soup (since his name was so long). Last season, Thanasi got a treat on Dec. 9 at New Mexico when his grandfather (also named Athanassios) made the trip to see him play; Thanasi scored three points in that game. His grandfather and grandmother, who live in Greece, were in the United States for the holidays.

Sparks Joins Coaching Staff: Legendary junior college coach Dan Sparks joined the Bears staff as an assistant coach in late October. Sparks, a NJCAA Hall of Fame member, spent 26 years as head coach at Vincennes College in Indiana where he compiled an overall record of 706-193 (.785). He led the Blazers to a national runner-up finish in 1986 (36-2 record) and a third-place finish in 1993 (33-3 record). Sparks was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 1986 and while at VU, coached future NBA players Shawn Marion (Phoenix), Erik Williams (Toronto) and Tyrone Nesby (Washington). Sparks played basketball at Vincennes, helping his squad to a national championship in 1965. He later went on to play with Weber State in the Big Sky Conference. Following college he played with the Miami Floridians and New Orleans Buccaneers of the ABA and the Chicago Bulls on the NBA. Spark's coached his son, Scott, at VU; Scott went on to play at Evansville and later in Europe.

Bears Radio Network: This season you can hear every Northern Colorado basketball game on the Bears' Radio Network. Newstalk 1310 KFKA in Greeley is the flagship station and KFKA's Troy Coverdale will have the play-by-play call all season long with a pre-game show starting 30 minutes before tip-off. If you are outside the Greeley area you can access all the games online through UNCBears.com (see the Events section at the bottom of the main page) or directly log into http://www.1310kfka.com.

Northern Colorado Coaches Radio Show Now on Wednesday: Fans came now attend the Coors Light Northern Colorado Coaches Show each Wednesday afternoon at Noon at Old Chicago (2349 W. 29th St.). The event, which used to be on Monday's, is open to the public and the cost of lunch is only $7, as fans hear about the happenings of UNC Athletics from in-season coaches. KFKA's Troy Coverdale serves as host and the show airs on tape-delay on Newstalk 1310 KFKA at 7 p.m. that night.