2020–21 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team

2020–21 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball
2020–21 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	11–11 (6–8 Big Sky)
Head coach	Steve Smiley (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Cory Fehringer; Dorian Green; Houston Reed;
Home arena	Bank of Colorado Arena
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Big Sky men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Southern Utah	12	–	2	.857	20	–	4	.833
Weber State	12	–	3	.800	17	–	6	.739
Eastern Washington†	12	–	3	.800	16	–	8	.667
Montana State	8	–	6	.571	13	–	10	.565
Idaho State	8	–	6	.571	13	–	11	.542
Montana	7	–	9	.438	15	–	13	.536
Northern Colorado	6	–	8	.429	11	–	11	.500
Portland State	6	–	8	.429	9	–	13	.409
Sacramento State	5	–	9	.357	8	–	12	.400
Northern Arizona	4	–	10	.286	6	–	16	.273
Idaho	1	–	17	.056	1	–	21	.045

† Conference tournament winner

The 2020–21 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by first-year head coach Steve Smiley, played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 11-11, 6-8 in Big Sky Play to finish a tie for 7th place. They defeated Sacramento State in the first round before losing in the quarterfinals to Southern Utah.

Previous season[edit]

The Bears finished the 2019–20 season 22–9, 15–5 Big Sky play to finish in second place. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all postseason tournaments were canceled including the Big Sky tournament.^[1]

On March 17, 2020, head coach Jeff Linder was named the head coach at Wyoming.^[2] A few days later, the school promoted assistant coach Steve Smiley as the school's new head coach.^[3]

Roster[edit]

2020–21 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Greg Bowie II	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	RS Jr	UT Rio Grande Valley	San Antonio, Texas
G	1	Daylen Kountz	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	Jr	Colorado	Denver, Colorado
G	2	Matt Johnson II	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	RS Jr	Rangeview High School	Aurora, Colorado
G	3	Tre'Shon Smoots	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	RS So	Grant High School	Sacramento, California
G	4	Sam Masten	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Rock Canyon High School	Highlands Ranch, Colorado
F	10	Jamel Melvin	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	The Potomac School	McLean, Virginia
G	11	Rodrick McCobb	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Fullerton College	Ontario, California
G	12	Connor Creech	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Hastings High School	Hastings, Nebraska
G	13	Bodie Hume	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Sterling High School (CO)	Sterling, Colorado
F	15	Kur Jockuch	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	London Basketball Academy	Ontario, Canada
G	20	Malcolm Little	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	RS Fr	Balboa School	San Diego, California
F	21	Bryce Kennedy	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Allen High School	Allen, Texas
G/F	24	Marque English II	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Butler Community College	Pittsburg, Kansas
G	25	Jalen Page	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Fairview High School	Boulder, Colorado
C	32	Theo Hughes	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Fr	Barking Abbey School	Brentwood, England
F	43	Roy Grigsby	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS So	Monarch High School	Superior, Colorado

Head coach

Steve Smiley (Northern State)`

Assistant coach(es)

Cory Fehringer (Hastings College)
Dorian Green (Colorado State)
Houston Reed (Northern State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 11, 2020

Schedule and results[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 27, 2020*		vs. Southeast Missouri State The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Tipoff Classic	Canceled		Mabee Fieldhouse Kansas City, MO
November 28, 2020*		vs. Kansas City/Greenville The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Tipoff Classic	Canceled		Mabee Fieldhouse Kansas City, MO
December 5, 2020*		at Arizona	Canceled		McKale Center Tucson, AZ
December 9, 2020* 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Colorado Christian	W 87–62	1–0	Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
December 11, 2020* 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Regis	W 83–58	2–0	Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
December 14, 2020* 7:00 pm, P12N		at Colorado	L 45–81	2–1	CU Events Center (26) Boulder, CO
December 16, 2020* 6:00 pm		at Denver	W 83–75	3–1	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
December 18, 2020* 7:00 pm		at Utah State	L 50–63	3–2	Smith Spectrum (1,376) Logan, UT
December 22, 2020 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Idaho State	W 69–64	4–2 (1–0)	Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
December 23, 2020 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Idaho State	L 56–71	4–3 (1–1)	Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
January 2, 2021 5:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Montana	W 64–62	5–3 (2–1)	Dahlberg Arena Missoula, MT
January 4, 2021 9:00 am, Pluto TV		at Montana	L 54–56	5–4 (2–2)	Dahlberg Arena Missoula, MT
January 7, 2021 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Montana State	L 67–79	5–5 (2–3)	Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
January 9, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Montana State	L 74–76	5–6 (2–4)	Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
January 14, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Idaho	W 74–54	6–6 (3–4)	Cowan Spectrum Moscow, ID
January 16, 2021 1:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Idaho	W 75–61	7–6 (4–4)	Cowan Spectrum Moscow, ID
January 21, 2021 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Eastern Washington	W 78–76	8–6 (5–4)	Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
January 23, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Eastern Washington	L 76–82	8–7 (5–5)	Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
January 29, 2021 6:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Northern Arizona	L 64–68	8–8 (5–6)	Rolle Activity Center Flagstaff, AZ
February 4, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Southern Utah	Canceled		America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
February 6, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Southern Utah	Canceled		America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
February 11, 2021 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Sacramento State	Canceled		Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO
February 13, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Sacramento State	Canceled		Hornets Nest Sacramento, CA
February 16, 2021*		at Colorado State	Canceled		Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO
February 22, 2021* 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Warner Pacific	W 89–60	9–8	Bank of Colorado Arena (100) Greeley, CO
February 25, 2021 6:30 pm, Pluto TV		Portland State	W 66–64	10–8 (6–6)	Bank of Colorado Arena (100) Greeley, CO
February 27, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Portland State	L 65–73	10–9 (6–7)	Bank of Colorado Arena (125) Greeley, CO
March 4, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Weber State	L 59–60	10–10 (6–8)	Dee Events Center (1,093) Ogden, UT
March 6, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Weber State	Canceled		Dee Events Center Ogden, UT
Big Sky tournament
March 10, 2021 9:00 am, Pluto TV	(8)	vs. (9) Sacramento State First Round	W 90–83	11–10	Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID
March 11, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV	(8)	vs. (1) Southern Utah Quarterfinals	L 83–91	11–11	Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Source^[4]

References[edit]

^ "Big Sky Conference cancels remainder of 2020 championships". MTSPX. March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
^ "Northern Colorado's Jeff Linder named Wyoming men's basketball coach". Casper Star-Tribune Online. March 17, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
^ "Steve Smiley named new Northern Colorado men's basketball coach". The Denver Post. March 20, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Northern Colorado Athletics. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[1] "Big Sky Conference cancels remainder of 2020 championships". MTSPX. March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.

[2] "Northern Colorado's Jeff Linder named Wyoming men's basketball coach". Casper Star-Tribune Online. March 17, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.

[3] "Steve Smiley named new Northern Colorado men's basketball coach". The Denver Post. March 20, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.

[4] "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Northern Colorado Athletics. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball
Venues	Bank of Colorado Arena (1975–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24