MISSOULA, Mont. -- Derrick Barden and Tate Unruh combined for 40 points as Northern Colorado defeated Montana 84-73 Saturday night.

Barden and Unruh each scored 20 as Northern Colorado bounced back from its first conference defeat, a 70-55 loss to Montana State Thursday night.

Tevin Svihovec scored 12 points for Northern Colorado (11-4, 5-1 Big Sky Conference).

Montana took at 44-40 lead early in the second half, but the Bears went on a 17-4 run to lead 57-48 with 11:30 to play. Michael Weisner made a 3-pointer as Montana closed to 75-67 with 2:13 remaining. Dominique Lee answered with two free throws and Barden had a dunk to extend the lead to 79-67.

Northern Colorado was 29 of 50 from the field (58 percent) while shooting 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. The Bears won the rebound battle, 31 to 15.

Kareem Jamar led Montana (7-8, 2-4) with 23 points.