# 2018–19 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by third-year head coach Jeff Linder and played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 21–11, 15–5 in Big Sky play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament to Southern Utah.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2017–18 season 26–12, 11–7 in Big Sky play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Northern Arizona and Weber State to advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament to Montana. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Drake, San Diego, Sam Houston State and UIC to become CIT champions.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Tyler Loose | 4 | G | 6'0" | 180 | RS Senior | Laramie, WY | Walk-on; graduated |
| Ibrahim Sylla | 10 | F | 6'8" | 220 | RS Junior | Denver, CO | Graduate transferred to North Carolina A&T |
| Andre Spight | 11 | G | 6'3" | 170 | RS Senior | Burbank, CA | Graduated |
| Chaz Glotta | 13 | G | 6'2" | 170 | RS Junior | O'Fallon, MO | Graduate transferred to Maryville |
| Tanner Morgan | 20 | F | 6'9" | 230 | RS Senior | Salem, OR | Graduated |
| Roberto Vercellino | 21 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Sophomore | Turin, Italy | Transferred to Regis |
| Anthony Johnson | 24 | G | 6'2" | 190 | RS Senior | Indianapolis, IN | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Trent Harris | 1 | G | 6'1" | 155 | Junior | Scottsbulff, NE | Junior college transferred from Western Nebraska CC |

### 2018 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Sam Masten #59 PG | Littleton, CO | Rock Canyon High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 155 lb (70 kg) | May 4, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Tre'Shon Smoots-Jones PG | Sacramento, CA | Grant Union High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | May 4, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Bodie Hume SF | Sterling, CO | Sterling High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jul 17, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Kur Jockuch PF | Canada | London Basketball Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Jul 2, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Cole Bergan PF | Aberdeen, SD | Central High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Aug 22, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Roy Grigsby PF | Louisville, CO | New Hampton School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | May 31, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 4, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Cole Nicholson SF | Chaska, MN | Chaska High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | N/A | Jul 28, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 4, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 30, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Colorado Christian | W 92–59 | | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,773) Greeley, CO |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Colorado College | W 126–56 | 1–0 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,348) Greeley, CO |
| Nov 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Pepperdine | W 88–80 | 2–0 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,778) Greeley, CO |
| Nov 21, 2018* 6:00 pm | | at Incarnate Word | W 90–64 | 3–0 | McDermott Center (705) San Antonio, TX |
| Nov 24, 2018* 3:30 pm | | at Texas Tech | L 62–93 | 3–1 | United Supermarkets Arena (9,689) Lubbock, TX |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Denver | W 88–72 | 4–1 | Magness Arena Denver, CO |
| Dec 1, 2018* 4:00 pm | | at Wyoming | W 85–80 | 5–1 | Arena-Auditorium (4,046) Laramie, WY |
| Dec 11, 2018* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Johnson & Wales (CO) | W 118–52 | 6–1 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,255) Greeley, CO |
| Dec 15, 2018* 8:00 pm | | at San Diego Las Vegas Classic | L 65–85 | 6–2 | Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,497) San Diego, CA |
| Dec 17, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at New Mexico State Las Vegas Classic | L 62–74 | 6–3 | Pan American Center (4,304) Las Cruces, NM |
| Dec 22, 2018* 2:30 pm | | vs. Rider Las Vegas Classic Visitors semifinals | L 67–74 | 6–4 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| Dec 23, 2018* 2:00 pm | | vs. SIU Edwardsville Las Vegas Classic Visitors 3rd place game | L 72–82 | 6–5 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| Dec 29, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | W 70–65 | 7–5 (1–0) | Hornets Nest (581) Sacramento, CA |
| Dec 31, 2018 3:00 pm | | at Portland State | W 73–60 | 8–5 (2–0) | Viking Pavilion (735) Portland, OR |
| Jan 5, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Idaho | W 83–79 | 9–5 (3–0) | Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO |
| Jan 7, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Eastern Washington | W 75–63 | 10–5 (4–0) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,389) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 12, 2019 2:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Montana | L 64–88 | 10–6 (4–1) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,124) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 14, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Montana State | W 73–70 | 11–6 (5–1) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,706) Bozeman, MT |
| Jan 19, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Weber State | L 64–78 | 11–7 (5–2) | Dee Events Center (7,891) Ogden, UT |
| Jan 21, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Idaho State | W 77–53 | 12–7 (6–2) | Reed Gym (1,705) Pocatello, ID |
| Jan 24, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Southern Utah | W 79–68 | 13–7 (7–2) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,368) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 26, 2019 6:00 pm | | at Northern Arizona | W 63–48 | 14–7 (8–2) | Walkup Skydome (1,089) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Feb 4, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Montana State | L 66–69 | 14–8 (8–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,409) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Portland State | W 80–62 | 15–8 (9–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,547) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 9, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Sacramento State | W 65–59 | 16–8 (10–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,637) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 14, 2019 8:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Idaho | W 75–47 | 17–8 (11–3) | Cowan Spectrum (409) Moscow, ID |
| Feb 16, 2019 3:00 pm | | at Eastern Washington | L 78–88 $^{OT}$ | 17–9 (11–4) | Reese Court (1,481) Cheney, WA |
| Feb 25, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Montana | W 74–72 | 18–9 (12–4) | Dahlberg Arena (3,773) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 28, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Weber State | W 85–61 | 19–9 (13–4) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,169) Greeley, CO |
| Mar 2, 2019 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Idaho State | W 71–62 | 20–9 (14–4) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,024) Greeley, CO |
| Mar 7, 2019 6:30 pm | | at Southern Utah | W 70–53 | 21–9 (15–4) | America First Events Center (2,172) Cedar City, UT |
| Mar 9, 2019 5:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Northern Arizona | L 78–89 | 21–10 (15–5) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,854) Greeley, CO |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 5:30 pm, Eleven | (2) | vs. (7) Southern Utah Quarterfinals | L 64–83 | 21–11 | CenturyLink Arena Boise, ID |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||
Source