Thursday, February 28th, 9:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Dahlberg Arena (7,321) -- Missoula, Montana. Television: None. Home Record: UNC 9-4, Montana 6-5. Away Record: UNC 2-11, Montana 5-8. Neutral Record: UNC 1-0, Montana 2-1. Conference Record: UNC 5-9, Montana 7-7. Series Record: Montana leads, 7-1.

GAME NOTES: Already recognized as a highly successful season, the Northern Colorado Bears try to continue their strong play tonight as they drop in on the Montana Grizzlies in a Big Sky Conference bout at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. Last season, the Bears won a total of just four games, with one of those coming against Colorado Christian, which means 12 victories in 2007-08 is a huge leap forward for the program. On Saturday, the squad defeated Eastern Washington with a 79-66 decision, continuing the trend of alternating wins and losses now for the last eight games. As for the Grizzlies, they were in action on Sunday and used that time to post a 72-63 overtime win versus Idaho State on the road. The victory snapped a brief two-game slide for the squad and pushed them to 7-7 in conference play, with a home date versus Portland State on Saturday set to close out the regular season. Montana captured the 71-60 win in the first meeting of the season with the Bears, which means the Griz are now ahead in the all-time series with UNC by a count of 7-1. Tonight's game will also serve as an opportunity to recognize Montana defensive end Kroy Biermann who was named the program's first-ever Buck Buchanan Award winner, presented by the Sports Network in recognition of the nation's top FCS defender.

Sean Taibi knocked down four of his eight attempts behind the three-point line on Saturday, leading to a team-best 20 points and a win over the Eagles at home in Greeley. Jabril Banks tacked on 19 points and reserve Jefferson Mason came up a rebound shy of a double-double as he posted 12 points, to go along with five assists and a pair of steals. Robert Palacios put his own offense on hold and decided to work the glass for a team-best 11 rebounds. Just as the team has traded wins for losses in the last month or so, the scoring responsibility seems to have shifted between Taibi and Banks in seven of the last eight games as well, with the latter currently atop the season's scoring list with his 13.1 ppg, followed by the former who has accounted for 11.2 ppg. But the two have vastly different approaches as Banks (5.9 rpg) remains on the inside to knock down 57.5 percent from the field and Taibi looms around the perimeter where he has converted 42-of-109 chances. One thing they certainly have in common is an inability to pass the ball effectively, combining for a mere 29 assists over 27 games.

Andrew Strait filled out his stat line with 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots over the weekend as he and the rest of the Grizzlies survived the trip to Pocatello in overtime. Also posting a double-double for the visitors was Jordan Hasquet with his 13 points and 12 rebounds, adding a team- high six assists for good measure. Ryan Staudacher contributed 10 points as well. Always having the potential to drop a double-double on the opponents, Hasquet leads the team both in scoring and rebounding with 14.2 points and 7.3 boards per game this season. Just as strong has been Strait and his 13.3 ppg and 6.6 rpg, with Strait emerging as one of the top shooters in the Big Sky with his 63.5 percent accuracy from the floor. Ceylon Elgin-Taylor (6.0 ppg) doesn't do much in the way of scoring for the group, but his team-best 89 assists are crucial to their success on a regular basis.

The domination of the Grizzlies in this series will have to take a hit at some point, but playing at home tonight it doesn't appear as though Montana is ready to bow to UNC.

Predicted Outcome

Montana 72, Northern Colorado 66