Boyle Seeks To Match Wins Record As Buffs Host UNC Sunday

BOYLE MILESTONE: Head coach Tad Boyle, in his 13th season, has 260 wins at Colorado, one behind Sox Walseth for the most in program history. Walseth was 261-245 in 20 seasons (1956-76).

Boyle-led teams own nine of the 13 20-win seasons in team history, the top five single-season win totals and six of the top seven. With a record of 260-160 at CU, his 61.9 winning percentage is second all-time just behind Forrest "Frosty" Cox at 62.3 from 1936-50.

Boyle has 110 Pac-12 regular season wins, tying California's Ben Braun (1997-08) for 19th in conference history.

THE SEASON: Colorado is 6-5 overall after defeating North Alabama 84-60 on Dec. 15, its second of a four-game home stand to finish off nonconference play. The Buffaloes have won back-to-back games for the first time this season and the first time in a span of 13 games dating back to last season.

After a four-game scoring slump, where the Buffaloes averaged 60.5 points per game, the offense has rebounded to score 93 and 84 in back-to-back outings. Colorado has shot 54 percent from the field (69-128) over the last two games. The Buffaloes have won 34 straight home games when scoring at least 80 points.

Colorado made 31 field goals against North Alabama, hitting the 30-made mark for the fourth time this season. The Buffaloes have won 13 straight when hitting that mark dating back to the 2020-21 season. In the Pac-12 era, Colorado is 55-7 when making 30 or more field goals.

The Buffaloes began their Pac-12 Conference schedule, dropping consecutive games to Arizona State at home, 60-59 on Dec. 1, and at Washington, 73-63 on Dec. 4, to open 0-2 in league action for the first time in four years.

Colorado is averaging 74.5 points per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field. The Buffaloes lead the Pac-12 in offensive rebounds at 12.3 per game and are fourth on the league charts in overall rebounding at 39.8 an outing. Defensively, the Buffaloes have held their opponents to 67.6 points on 41.2 percent shooting. Colorado is second in the Pac-12 in steals at 8.5 per game.

Sophomore KJ Simpson leads Colorado at 16.8 points, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He also tops the Buffaloes in field goals (66), 3-pointers (23) and free throws made (30).

Simpson, who has scored in double-figures in all 11 games, tied a career and team season-high with six assists in the win over North Alabama.

Simpson had 27 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, to lead Colorado over Colorado State. It was his third career 20-point game - all coming this season. His five 3-pointers ties a team season-high as well (Ethan Wright vs. Texas A&M).

On the Pac-12 charts Simpson is sixth in scoring and steals, eighth in assists, 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and 17th in 3-point shooting (.365).

Junior forward Tristan da Silva is averaging 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 51 percent from the field. He had multiple career highs against North Alabama, scoring 25 points on 11 of 18 shooting along with nine rebounds and three steals.

Over the last five games da Silva is averaging 16.6 points while shooting 52 percent (35-67). He averaged 6.0 rebounds in the two Pac-12 contests. Da Silva had a career-high eight rebounds and matched a personal-best two blocks, along with 10 points, against Arizona State.

Da Silva ranks 14th in scoring, 15th in steals (1.2 spg) and 16th in 3-point shooting (.371) on the Pac-12 charts.

Junior J'Vonne Hadley leads the Buffaloes and ranks seventh in Pac-12 in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Hadley tops CU in field goal shooting at 58.7 percent while averaging 10.3 points per game.

Hadley scored 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting to continuing his blistering pace from the field since his return to the lineup after missing two games at Myrtle Beach with a shoulder injury. In his last five games he is shooting 75.9 percent, having made 22 of 29 shots. Hadley led the Buffaloes at Washington with 15 points and a career-best seven field goals made.

Hadley leads the Pac-12 in offensive rebounds (3.1 orpg) while ranking eighth in field goal percentage.

Graduate senior Jalen Gabbidon is averaging 6.8 points while ranking third on the team in steals with 12. Gabbidon had eight points and tied his CU-high with five rebounds against North Alabama.

Sophomore Lawson Lovering leads Colorado in blocks (11) while ranking fourth in rebounding (4.3 rpg) and assists (14). Lovering recorded a career-high and matched a team season-best with three blocked shots against Yale. He had a block in each of the first seven games this season but it was his first time with multiple blocks in any one contest.

Lovering averaged 4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists at the Myrtle Beach Invitational He dished out a career-best four assists against Texas A&M, one better than his previous-best three a day earlier against UMass. Lovering has made 9-of-15 from the field after making just 2-of-11 in his first three games.

Nique Clifford is averaging 5.9 points and 3.8 rebounds while ranking third on the team in assists with 18. Clifford had 13 points, hitting 6 of 9 from the field against Colorado State along with a pair of blocked shots.

Luke O'Brien is averaging 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. O'Brien had 11 points and six rebounds against North Alabama. Along with pitching in 10 points against Colorado State, O'Brien has scored in double-figures in back-to-back games, a mark he hit just once in his first 52 collegiate games. Against North Alabama, O'Brien's six rebounds tied a season high, with five of them coming on the offensive end.

ABOUT THE BEARS: Northern Colorado is 5-5 overall. The Bears will be playing their sixth-straight game away from home and so far, so good during that stretch having won four of five including an 88-83 win at Colorado State on Dec. 3. UNC averages 71.4 points while shooting 42.8 percent from the field. The Bears have been exceptional at the free throw line, hitting 79.1 percent which ranks 10th in the nation. Defensively, UNC has allowed opponents 80.1 points on 47.6 percent shooting.

Most of Northern Colorado's production has come from a trio of Denver Metro area natives. Graduate senior Daylen Kountz averages 17.4 points and 3.6 assists and shoots 83 percent from the free throw line. A Denver East graduate, Kountz played two years for Colorado (2018-20), averaging 4.3 points over 68 career games.

Senior guard Dalton Knecht, a native of Thornton, averages 17.3 points and a team-best 8.4 rebounds per game. Graduate senior Matt Johnson II, from Aurora, averages 13.7 points and paces the Bears in assists (43) and 3-pointers made (28).

SERIES RECORDS: This will be the 41st meeting between Colorado and Northern Colorado in a series that dates back to a 35-20 Buffaloes win on Jan. 25, 1918. Colorado holds a 22-18 edge in the series and has won the last 10. All 18 of UNC's wins in the series came in the 1920s and 1930s when the schools were rivals in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Buffaloes won three-straight during the 1936-37 and 1937-38 seasons as Colorado was transitioning over to the Mountain States Conference and putting the series on a 41-year hiatus. The series resumed for one game - a 78-56 CU win on Dec. 16, 1978 - before another 25-year pause. The two teams have met six times since 2004, the last coming two years ago, a 81-45 Colorado win on Dec. 14, 2020.

NONCONFERENCE NUMBERS: Colorado is 116-37 (.758) in nonconference regular season games under head coach Tad Boyle including a 69-20 mark (.775) since the beginning of the 2014-15 season.

Colorado is 86-7 (.925) in nonconference home games under Boyle, a record which includes a 6-1 mark in postseason action.

Boyle Seeks To Match Wins Record As Buffs Host UNC Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Nique Clifford

Tristan da Silva

Jalen Gabbidon

J'Vonne Hadley

Lawson Lovering

Luke O'Brien

KJ Simpson

Ethan Wright