Playing in one of the best starts in Division I history, the Northern Colorado men’s basketball team didn’t show its best Saturday afternoon against Denver.
Forward Brock Wisne, who led UNC with 27 points, said after the game that maybe the Bears aren’t as good as they think.
UNC gave up an 11-point lead with a little more than 10 minutes to play against the Pioneers in an 86-79 loss at Bank of Colorado Arena.
Denver guard Zane Nelson scored 20 of his season-high 32 points in the second half.
The loss was the second straight for UNC, which won nine of 10 games to start the season. UNC (9-3) hung with No. 19 Texas Tech in its last game, a 101-90 loss Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas, following a break at the end of the first semester.
Wisne, who made 13 of 19 shots from the field against Denver, said the Bears’ performance started in the first half — even though they led 66-55 on his layup with 10 minutes, 18 seconds left in the game as part of a 9-0 run. Wisne also had a team-best four assists.
Wisne said the Bears walked into the arena thinking they’d win. They didn’t play hard for stretches in those first 20 minutes and thought the game would be easy. In building a lead in the second half, the Bears “let off the gas,” Wisne said, adding the guys were disconnected in Denver’s runs.
“I think that we’re just not sharp enough right now,” Wisne said. “We don’t come to compete. I think that we think that we’re better than we are. I think that’s what it comes down to.”
Denver followed the UNC run with one of its own to take control. The Pioneers outscored the Bears 16-3 over 4:30 late in the second half. Nelson started the spurt, hitting two from the free throw line with 8:20 left to cut UNC’s lead to 70-61. He hit two 3-pointers in the run, the second of which gave Denver a 75-73 lead with 4:35 left.
Nelson shot 11 of 15 from the field, including 5 of 5 on 3-pointers. He also made all five from the free-throw line.
Wisne said Nelson’s hot shooting came from him getting loose because the Bears defense didn’t do its job. UNC earned the lead earlier in the half getting stops on the defensive end, he said.
UNC struggled in both categories. The Bears were 5 of 25 on 3s (20%) and 4 of 10 from the line.
“We’re going to miss 3s sometimes,” Wisne said. “We can’t fully control that. We got great looks. Free throw line, gotta get back in the gym and get our confidence back. That’s not really what lost us the game.”
The Bears came into Saturday’s game with injuries to three key players. Starting guard Quinn Denker is out with a hand injury. Reserves Egan Shields and William Humer are also hurt and didn’t play against Denver.
Denker is one of UNC’s most important players. He’s missed the past two games, and is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 17.3 points. Denker’s already won two Big Sky Conference player of the week awards, and last week he was named to a national watch list for point guards.
UNC head coach Steve Smiley said the Bears are a “triage unit right now,” but they’re also good enough to win games.
“We are really, really good,” the coach said. “You chop off an arm, you chop off an arm, you chop off a toe, what happens is you gotta get stronger. It didn’t feel like collectively we had the same urgency of ‘we still have a great team.’ We gotta roll those sleeves up.”
Forward Ring Nyeri said playing without Denker, Shields and Humer leaves the Bears with a leadership void.
Denker started in all 10 games he played before the injury. Shields, a 6-foot-10 center, took a fall and hit his head at Texas Tech. He averaged 17.5 points in 11 games before the injury. Humer has played in four games.
“That togetherness,” said Nyeri, who scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. “We’re obviously still together as a team, but losing Quinn and Egan hurts us in that aspect.”
Arik Mawien came off the bench for 13 points and six rebounds. Vincent Delano, starting at guard in place of Denker, scored 11 points but had three of UNC’s nine turnovers.
Denver (7-7) was the fourth team UNC has faced from the Summit League this year. The Bears defeated South Dakota and Omaha earlier this month as part of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge.
St. Thomas beat UNC on a halfcourt buzzer beater in late November at the Portland Invitational.
The Bears have one nonconference game before the Big Sky Conference season starts on New Year’s Day. UNC closes out the nonconference season next Sunday at CU in Boulder.
UNC will spend New Year’s Eve in Bozeman, Montana, to play Montana State — the first step on the road to defending its Big Sky regular-season title. The Bears shared the title in 2024-25 with Montana.
The loss to Denver again delayed Smith reaching the 100-win mark at UNC. He started the day with 98. Smiley took over as the Bears’ head coach in 2020. He has one losing season in 12 as a head coach.