Buffs Hang On To Take Down Portland State

Wednesday, December 17

Boulder, Colo.

7 p.m.

Colorado

10-1,0-0Big 12

Portland State

6-4,0-0Big Sky

Portland St.

Colorado

December 17, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

BOULDER — Colorado freshman Isaiah Johnson scored 20 points off the bench and helped spur a late 11-2 run that lifted the Buffaloes to a hard-fought 84-73 win over Portland State Wednesday evening at the CU Events Center.

Due to high winds, power outages throughout Boulder and the surrounding area, as well as potentially hazardous road conditions, the decision was made by CU Athletics and the CU Division of Public Safety to play tonight's game without fans. The announced attendance of 101 fans consisted of family and friends of players from both teams.

"Kind of a weird night tonight for the Buffaloes," CU Coach Tad Boyle said. "It took me back a few years ago when we played in this building with hardly anybody here — except there weren't even as many fans as there were tonight. It was basically just some employees and family friends.

"It was a good win in a very unique environment, more like a scrimmage than a basketball game. But we beat a good team — that's a good basketball team we beat — so you've got to take that, be proud of it, and move on."

Bangot Dak had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Alon Michaeli was one point shy with nine points and 10 rebounds of his own. Barrington Hargress scored 15 points and Sebastian Rancik 12 to hit double figures. Seven Buffs had seven or more points with Josiah Sanders scoring nine points and Felix Kossaras seven.

Hargress dished out six assists and Rancik led the defensive effort with four steals. Hargress and Johnson both added three steals and Dak led the team with two blocked shots.

Colorado trailed the first 12 minutes of the game and except for a 17 second span late in the first half, never trailed after that point, but were also unable to build a double-digit lead until the final minutes of the game. The majority of the second half was played with CU holding a two to five point advantage.

"We finally got some stops strung together down the stretch, and that allowed us to take it from two or three points to eight or 10, and then we were able to hold them off," Boyle said.

The Vikings were led by Jaylin Henderson and Terri Miller Jr., who scored 23 and 16 points, respectively, and at one point in the second half scored 18 of 20 of the Vikings points to keep them in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The game was a back-and-forth affair most of the first half. The Vikings were up for the first 12 minutes of the game, opening up a big lead of eight points after a 6-0 run pushed their lead to 14-6 about five-and-a-half minutes in.

CU slowly chipped away at that lead, pulling within two after a 7-1 CU run made it 15-13 in favor of the Vikings. Johnson had a plus-one at the 10:24 mark to bring CU within one at 19-18 before the Vikings rattled off two straight buckets to take a 23-18 lead with 8:28 left in the half.

CU then had its big run of the half, a 10-0 run over the span of the next three-and-a-half minutes to take a 28-23 lead with 5 minutes left in the first half. The Vikings briefly took the lead back after a 5-0 run in the final three minutes of the half, going up 33-32 before CU scored five of the final seven points of the half to lead 37-35 at the break.

The two teams kept it close to open the second half, with CU opening a quick four point lead with a Dak bucket before the Vikings tied the game at 39-39 two minutes into the half. A Colorado 5-0 run keyed by a Rancik 3-pointer was pushed to a 9-2 run and seven point lead for the Buffs at 48-41 at the first media timeout of the second half.

The Vikings needed just over a minute to tie the game with a quick 7-0 run, knotting the game at 48-48 five minutes into the half. CU then had a pair of 4-0 runs over the next few minutes to build a 58-53 lead at the under 12 media timeout. Johnson hit 4-of-4 from the line and had a tough contested layup in that time frame.

Colorado maintained the lead the next several minutes, but were unable to push the lead to greater than five points, which it did three more times, a Johnson 3-pointer giving CU a 63-58 lead, a Sanders layup making it 67-62 in favor of the Buffs, and a Hargress layup giving CU a 69-64.

CU finally pushed the lead past two possessions with a 5-0 run to push the lead to 74-68 after a pair of Johnson free throws and Rancik layup just prior to the final media timeout of the game.

That run was extended to a 11-2 run after that timeout to give CU a 12-point lead at 80-68 with under two minutes left in the game. The Vikings made a quick 5-0 run but the Buffs hit all four free throws down the stretch to secure the 11 point win, 84-73.

UP NEXT

The Buffs next head to Arizona for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series Phoenix to face Stanford on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. Arizona and San Diego State will square off in the other game there.