An old in-state rivalry is renewed on Thursday night when the Colorado St. Rams take on the Northern Colorado Bears. In fact it is the oldest rivalry in the history of the Colorado St. basketball program, and has been good for the Rams over the years. They have won 10 of the last 12 head-to-head matchups and lead the all-time series 62-35, so the Bears will be trying to buck a tough trend when the teams meet at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavillion. As pointed out here on the Rams' official website, this matchup is between the only two Division I basketball programs in the state to have earned postseason berths in each of the past two seasons.
The Rams recently broke a two-game losing streak by knocking off Texas Southern Tigers on Monday, while the Bears are coming off a tough 93-72 road loss against the #11 Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday. Colorado St. sports the 86th-best field goal percentage in the nation (45.8%), while the Bears are even higher-ranked at 73rd overall (46.2%). The real problem for both teams has been rebounding. The Rams rank 313th in the nation in rebounds per game (31.0), which is likely because they start an incredibly small lineup: Paul Garnica (6'0"); Tate Unruh (6'4"); Mike Proctor (6'8"); Elliott Lloyd (6'1"); and Emmanuel Addo (6'7"). As for the Bears, they don't fare much better, and only rank 231st in the nation with 34.2 rebounds per game.
Here is some general information to help you find the game on Thursday:
Game date, time: 7 p.m. MT, Thursday, Dec. 22nd, 2011
Location: Butler-Hancock Sports Pavillion, Greeley, CO
TV channel: UNCBears.com
Radio: 560 AM Denver, 600 AM Fort Collins
Spread: Colorado St is currently favored by 2 points, and the over/under is currently 148.5 points.
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