2021–22 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by second-year head coach Steve Smiley, played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference.

2021–22 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball
Rainbow Classic champions
CBI, Semifinals
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	22–16 (13–7 Big Sky)
Head coach	Steve Smiley (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Cory Fehringer Dorian Green Houston Reed
Home arena	Bank of Colorado Arena
Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Montana State †	16	–	4		.800			27	–	8		.771
Southern Utah	14	–	6		.700			23	–	12		.657
Northern Colorado	13	–	7		.650			22	–	16		.579
Weber State	13	–	7		.650			21	–	12		.636
Montana	11	–	9		.550			18	–	14		.563
Eastern Washington	11	–	9		.550			18	–	16		.529
Portland State	10	–	10		.500			14	–	17		.452
Sacramento State	6	–	14		.300			11	–	18		.379
Idaho	6	–	14		.300			9	–	22		.290
Idaho State	5	–	15		.250			7	–	23		.233
Northern Arizona	5	–	15		.250			9	–	23		.281
† Conference tournament winner

Previous season

The Bears finished the 2020–21 season 11–11, 6–8 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for seventh place. As the #8 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they defeated #9 seed Sacramento State in the first round,^[1] before falling to top seeded Southern Utah in the quarterfinals.^[2]

Roster

2021–22 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Dru Kuxhausen 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 187 lb (85 kg) GS McNeese State Scottsbluff, NE G 1 Daylen Kountz 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Colorado Denver, CO G 2 Matt Johnson II 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Rangeview HS Aurora, CO G 3 Tre'Shon Smoots 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Grant HS Sacramento, CA G 4 Dawson Mohr 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr IMG Academy Scottsbluff, NE G 5 Dalton Knecht 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Jr Northeastern JC Thornton, CO F 10 Jamel Melvin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So The Potomac School McLean, VA G 11 Zach Bloch 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Colorado Prep Lawrence, KS G 12 Connor Creech 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Hastings HS Hastings, NE G 13 Bodie Hume 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Sterling HS Sterling, CO F 15 Kur Jongkuch 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr London Basketball Academy Ontario, Canada F 21 Bryce Kennedy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Allen HS Allen, TX G 22 Bailon Black 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Ironwood HS Phoenix, AZ G 24 Trent Hudgens Jr 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 163 lb (74 kg) Fr Santa Clara Phoenix, AZ G 25 Jalen Page 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Fairview HS Boulder, CO C 32 Theo Hughes 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 260 lb (118 kg) So Barking Abbey Brentwood, England	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: October 31, 2021

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 10, 2021* 7:30 pm		vs. Pacific Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic	W 67–65	1–0	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
November 11, 2021* 10:00 pm, ESPN+		at Hawaii Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic	W 81–78	2–0	Stan Sheriff Center (2,110) Honolulu, HI
November 13, 2021* 7:30 pm		vs. Hawaii–Hilo Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic	L 79–87 OT	2–1	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
November 15, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Colorado College	W 93–53	3–1	Bank of Colorado Arena (890) Greeley, CO
November 17, 2021* 6:30 pm, LHN		at No. 8 Texas Abe Lemons Classic	L 49–62	3–2	Frank Erwin Center (11,083) Austin, TX
November 21, 2021* 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at California Baptist Abe Lemons Classic	L 70–74	3–3	CBU Events Center (2,229) Riverside, CA
November 23, 2021* 8:00 pm		at San Jose State Abe Lemons Classic	L 74–75	3–4	Provident Credit Union Event Center (1,257) San Jose, CA
November 27, 2021* 12:00 pm, KCDO		at Colorado State	L 79–88	3–5	Moby Arena (4,328) Fort Collins, CO
December 2, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Montana State	W 77–75	4–5 (1–0)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,191) Greeley, CO
December 4, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Montana	W 78–75	5–5 (2–0)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,178) Greeley, CO
December 7, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		South Dakota	W 74–69	6–5	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,115) Greeley, CO
December 15, 2021* 7:00 pm, P12N		at No. 8 Arizona	L 76–101	6–6	McKale Center (11,943) Tucson, AZ
December 18, 2021* 2:00 pm, P12N		at Washington State	L 56–82	6–7	Beasley Coliseum (2,438) Pullman, WA
December 21, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern New Mexico	W 90–54	7–7	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,293) Greeley, CO
January 1, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Southern Utah	W 91–81	8–7 (3–0)	America First Event Center (865) Cedar City, UT
January 8, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Sacramento State	L 71–85	8–8 (3–1)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,204) Greeley, CO
January 20, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Idaho	W 87–70	9–8 (4–1)	Idaho Central Credit Union Arena (1,069) Moscow, ID
January 22, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Washington	W 87–83	10–8 (5–1)	Reese Court (1,102) Cheney, WA
January 27, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Weber State	L 76–85	10–9 (5–2)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,629) Greeley, CO
January 31, 2022 8:30 pm, ESPN+		at Portland State Rescheduled from January 10	L 76–79	10–10 (5–3)	Viking Pavilion (989) Portland, OR
February 3, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Portland State	L 99–106	10–11 (5–4)	Bank of Colorado Arena (888) Greeley, CO
February 5, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Northern Arizona	W 74–71	11–11 (6–4)	Walkup Skydome (1,239) Flagstaff, AZ
February 7, 2022 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Northern Arizona Rescheduled from January 15	W 82–60	12–11 (7–4)	Bank of Colorado Arena (802) Greeley, CO
February 10, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at Sacramento State	W 79–61	13–11 (8–4)	Hornets Nest (916) Sacramento, CA
February 14, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Southern Utah	W 100–95	14–11 (9–4)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,024) Greeley, CO
February 17, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Idaho State	L 58–61	14–12 (9–5)	Reed Gym (1,088) Pocatello, ID
February 19, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Weber State	W 83–79 OT	15–12 (10–5)	Dee Events Center (5,543) Ogden, UT
February 21, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Idaho State Rescheduled from January 29	W 77–70	16–12 (11–5)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,136) Greeley, CO
February 24, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Washington	L 76–85	16–13 (11–6)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,004) Greeley, CO
February 26, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Idaho	W 98–94	17–13 (12–6)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,421) Greeley, CO
March 3, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Montana	W 75–66	18–13 (13–6)	Dahlberg Arena (3,278) Missoula, MT
March 5, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Montana State	L 85–87	18–14 (13–7)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (4,217) Bozeman, MT
Big Sky tournament
March 10, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+	(3)	vs. (6) Eastern Washington Quarterfinals	W 68–67	19–14	Idaho Central Arena (2,022) Boise, ID
March 11, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+	(3)	vs. (7) Portland State Semifinals	W 86–79	20–14	Idaho Central Arena (3,037) Boise, ID
March 12, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPNU	(3)	vs. (1) Montana State Championship	L 66–87	20–15	Idaho Central Arena  Boise, ID
College Basketball Invitational
March 20, 2022 12:30 pm, FloHoops	(12)	vs. (5) Florida Atlantic First Round	W 74–71	21–15	Ocean Center (762) Daytona Beach, FL
March 21, 2022 3:30 pm, FloHoops	(12)	vs. (13) UNC Asheville Quarterfinals	W 87–84	22–15	Ocean Center (706) Daytona Beach, FL
March 22, 2022 5:00 pm, ESPN2	(12)	vs. (9) UNC Wilmington Semifinals	L 64–80	22–16	Ocean Center (633) Daytona Beach, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Source^[3]

References

1. "Northern Colorado Wins Tight Contest Over Sacramento State, Advance to Play Southern Utah". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
2. "Comeback effort falls just short for men's basketball". University of Northern Colorado Athletics. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
3. "2021-22 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Northern Colorado Athletics. Retrieved October 31, 2021.