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Weber State forward Dillon Jones (2) grabs a rebound in front of Northern Colorado's Jamel Melvin (10) on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, in Greeley, Colo.

Photo supplied, Northern Colorado Athletics

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Northern Colorado's Daylen Kountz (1) drives against the defense of Weber State's Koby McEwen (15) on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, in Greeley, Colo.

Photo supplied, Northern Colorado Athletics

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The first half was an all-fears-realized frame of hoops for Weber State men’s basketball Thursday night at Northern Colorado.

But after halftime, the Wildcats dropped a hammer defensively and had the Bears scurrying.

Thanks to hot shooting from Dillon Jones and a bevy of steals and deflections, Weber State turned a 10-point halftime deficit into an 85-76 victory to remain at first place in the Big Sky standings.

In the first 20 minutes, the conference’s leading scorer, Daylen Kountz, scored 17 points. Dru Kuxhausen knocked down four 3-pointers and the Bears were 7 of 15 from deep for a 43-33 advantage.

“I don’t know if it was, Monday night we played our tails off and that was kind of an emotional win. We didn’t look like we had a lot of emotion, a lot of enthusiasm … might be a little bit of a hangover,” WSU head coach Randy Rahe said. “We didn’t play very fast.”

Weber State (15-5, 8-1 Big Sky) forced five Bears turnovers in the opening 4 minutes of the second half, an omen of things to come, and used a 13-3 run to even up the score with 13:20 left.

And the run kept going.

Jones hit consecutive 3-pointers to put the Wildcats up 54-53 with 10:35 left, their first lead since 18-16 at the 10:35 mark of the first half.

JJ Overton added two perimeter steals, converting them for a dunk and a layup in direct transition, then Jones buried his fifth 3-pointer of the game on a post kick-out from Dontay Bassett to put Weber State up 63-53 with just more than 6:30 to go.

Zahir Porter and Seikou Sisoho Jawara each hit 3-pointers, and Overton got another dunk on a backdoor feed from Jones. It was 73-55 with 4 minutes left — a 40-12 battering in the 16 minutes after halftime.

Rahe said they zeroed in on Kuxhausen better in the second half but, everything else, “we just needed to do it better,” he said. “We just played with a lot more activity, and I thought Dontay Bassett played his tail off tonight. Defensively, he was everywhere … I thought that was huge to us.”

Before Northern Colorado (10-9, 5-2) hit three 3-pointers in the final minute, the Bears had just six field goals for the entire half and were 3 of 12 from behind the arc.

Jones finished with a career-high 24 points, adding 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Overton totaled 17 points, five rebounds and four steals. Koby McEwen added 15 points and five assists before fouling out on a technical foul as part of a strange final minute that brought the game to a close.

Sisoho Jawara totaled 14 points, three assists and three steals, and Bassett chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Kountz finished with 22 points, scoring just five in the second half, and Kuxhausen with 20, also just five in the second half. Bodie Hume added 17 points.

Weber State scored 21 points off 20 forced turnovers; Northern Colorado scored six points on eight turnovers. Each team had five offensive rebounds, with WSU claiming an 8-5 advantage in second-chance points.

The Wildcats shot 17 of 28 in the second half, including 7 of 12 from beyond the arc, and scored 52 points after halftime.

Weber State continues its four-cities-in-eight-days trip by playing at Sacramento State on Saturday before returning to Ogden to play Eastern Washington on Monday.

NOCO 65, WSU 55

OGDEN — Weber State women’s basketball trailed by 8-10 points for much of the afternoon until Kori Pentzer hit a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer.

That sparked a 14-0 run, which saw the Wildcats hold Northern Colorado without points for nearly six minutes and got WSU a 50-46 lead with 4:29 left.

But Hannah Simental broke the drought for the visitors, scoring on a three-point play to beat the shot clock, hitting a 3-pointer and knocking down a jumper in less than three minutes to put the Bears up 54-50 with 1:50 left. She made seven free throws from there, WSU couldn’t find the net, and Northern Colorado ended the game on a 20-5 run.

“We’re an energy-based team and on our run, we were up, up, up, and then once it started to end, our energy started to fade as well. That affected the way that we played,” junior forward Daryn Hickok said.

It was the sixth straight loss for the Wildcats, who fell to 7-12 overall and 3-7 in Big Sky play after several close losses.

Head coach Velaida Harris said her team has somewhat lost the defensive edge that led to a 3-1 league start and is mentally trying to turn a corner to end the losing streak.

“We have to have a mindset of winners, not a mindset of ‘oh, not again.’ I think that’s what today was,” Harris said. “We have to learn how to win and keep that chip on our shoulder, and don’t go with the undue stress of (the past).”

Hickok led Weber State with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Pentzer scored 11 points, Jadyn Matthews totaled 10 points and nine rebounds, and Emma Torbert grabbed seven steals.

Simental led all scorers with 20 points and Kurstyn Harden totaled 19 points and 10 rebounds for Northern Colorado, who picked up its second conference win.

WSU hosts Sacramento State at noon Saturday.