A Big Sky Conference basketball banner is coming to Greeley.
On the final night of the regular season, the Northern Colorado men’s basketball team earned a share of the conference title with a 68-62 win over Weber State on Monday night in Ogden, Utah.
Guard Jaron Rillie scored a team-high 24 points, including 11 of the Bears’ 24 points in a sluggish first half to lead UNC to its first Big Sky title since the 2010-11 season.
Rillie shot 7 of 14 from the floor against the Wildcats, 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and he pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Rillie was also 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
Forward Isaiah Hawthorne managed 15 points on a 4 of 15 night from the floor. He was 5 of 6 from the line with six rebounds and a steal. Marcell McCreary came off the bench for 14 points in 19 minutes.
The Bears shot 30% from the floor (9 of 30) in the first half that ended with UNC leading 24-23. Weber State was 9 of 23 in the first half (39%).
University of Northern Colorado head men’s basketball coach Steve Smiley, left, talks with Jaron Rillie during a Big Sky Conference game against Idaho State on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025 at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. .(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)UNC shares the regular-season title with Montana because the Grizzlies defeated Eastern Washington 83-72 in their regular-season finale Monday night at home in Missoula.
UNC (15-3 Big Sky, 23-8 overall) earns the top seed over the Grizzlies (15-3, 22-9) on a tiebreaker for the upcoming conference tournament, March 8-12 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
The Bears swept the season series against fourth-place Idaho State while Montana split its two regular-season with the Bengals.
Idaho State comes into the picture for the tiebreaker because UNC’s and Montana’s records against teams behind them in the standings factors into the tiebreaker scenario.
Portland State finished third in the regular season with an 11-7 conference record. Montana and UNC both split the season series against the Vikings, moving the tiebreaker to records against ISU.
UNC goes to the Big Sky tournament on a four-game winning streak, which is currently the best in the conference. Montana went on a 10-game winning streak starting in late January to overtake UNC for first place in the conference standings.
The Grizzlies’ streak ended Saturday with a 79-76 overtime loss at Portland State, giving UNC another chance at first place. UNC took it, beating Northern Arizona on the road Saturday night in Flagstaff for a share of first in the conference.
The Bears’ first game in Boise is at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the second-round against either No. 9 Weber State or No. 10 Sacramento State. Weber State and Sacramento State meet in the first round at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Second-seeded Montana plays either No. 7 Northern Arizona or No. 8 Eastern Washington at 8 p.m. Sunday. NAU and EWU play in the first round at 8 p.m. Saturday.
The winners of the second-round games on Sunday earn a day off Monday and advance to the tournament semifinals scheduled for Tuesday night.
Portland State is the third seed and meets No. 6 Idaho in the third round on Monday night. No. 4 Idaho State plays No. 5 Montana State in the third round on Monday evening.
Northern Colorado won its only Big Sky regular-season and conference tournament championships in 2010-11 when it hosted the tournament. The championships were later vacated because of NCAA violations on use of an ineligible player.
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