GREELEY — The college basketball season in Colorado ended Monday night, but not before the University of Northern Colorado staged a second-half rally against Pacific that fell just short at Butler-Hancock Activities Center.
In the end, the Tigers had too much defense and too much rebounding early in the game. With those two key elements, Pacific (22-11) advanced to the quarterfinals of the Tournament with a 63-59 victory.
The Bears (25-8), who finished with a school record for wins, were the last Colorado team still standing.
“We had a tough night shooting the ball,” UNC coach Tad Boyle said. “We battled. We tied it up twice, but we just couldn’t generate enough consistent offense to get over the hump.”
Maybe Pacific coach Bill Thomason knew the reason why.
“Defense is a big factor for us all the time,” he said. “Our offense goes up and down. We played as much zone as we have all year.”
UNC senior guard Yahosh Bonner didn’t think Pacific’s zone would be a factor.
“We’ve done really well against the zone,” Bonner said. “Shots weren’t falling for us tonight. We had to penetrate with the ball a little more.”
UNC shot 34 percent from the field, including 5-of-19 from 3-point range.
With guards Terrell Smith and Demetrece Young leading the way with 15 and 10 points, respectively, the Tigers shot 41 percent.
The Tigers never trailed after Joe Ford’s basket tied the score 9-9.
Pacific built a 23-13 edge in rebounding, including nine off the offensive boards, in the first half and scored 11 points off second-chance shots.
After tying the score at 39 with 16:17 to go on an eight- point salvo from Chris Kaba, who scored a game-high 17 points, and again at 48 on Elliott Lloyd’s shot from just inside the 3-point line with 10:23 to go, UNC’s offense sputtered.
The Bears converted on only five of their last 16 possessions.
Kaba scored with 1:15 left to cut Pacific’s lead to 60-57, but the Tigers held on despite missing a dunk and going 3-of-8 from the free-throw line in the last 62 seconds.
