Colorado University Athletics
Sunday, December 28
Boulder, Colo.
1 p.m.
Colorado
10-3,0-0Big 12
81
vs
86
Northern Colorado
10-3,0-0Big Sky
1
2
F
Northern Colo.
37
49
86
Colorado
35
46
81
Buffs Falter In Second Half, Fall To Northern Colorado
December 28, 2025 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER – Colorado's defense collapsed in the second half Sunday as the Buffaloes gave up 49 points after halftime, allowing Northern Colorado to take an 86-81 win at the CU Events Center in the final nonconference game of the season for both teams..
Tad Boyle's Buffs dropped their second straight game to fall to 10-3 while Northern Colorado improved to 10-3.
After starting the game ice cold on the offensive end, the Buffs, led by freshman guard Isaiah Johnson's 19 first-half points, kept the game close at the break, but the defense went away in the second half. The Bears shot 73.9% from the field after halftime, only missing six shots in the second half.
"In the first half we were 5 for 22 at the rim," Boyle said. "To get 22 shots at the rim in a half is really good. That means you're getting the ball inside. You're getting shots at the rim, that's what you want as a coach. Now, when you don't finish those it's tough, and we didn't finish the ball well tonight, and that shows up in our field goal percentage. We shot 39% from the field. They shot 52%. I asked myself, 'How's it a five point game?' I feel like we should have lost by 25 with those numbers, but they shot 73.9% in the second half. You ain't beating anybody doing that."
Colorado still had a chance to force overtime, trailing by three points with 23 seconds left. The Buffs got two looks from deep by Sebastian Rancik, followed by Johnson, but both shots drew iron; the Bears rebounded and hit two more free throws to finish the scoring.
Johnson finished the game as the Buffs' leading scorer with a career-high 25 points and added eight rebounds. Three other players reached double figures with 18 from Barrington Hargress, 16 from Bangot Dak, and 14 from Rancik.
Quinn Denker was the game's leading scorer with 33 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, filling up the stat sheet.
Coupled with the second half defensive struggles, UNC made 11 3-pointers on 52% from deep to only seven on 30% for the Buffs.
"We need to stick to our principles," Hargress said. "We're letting teams shoot 21 threes and hit 11. They hit 11 tonight. So we want to keep it to 6. Allowing teams too much freedom and not making their best players feel uncomfortable. 33 (Egan Sheilds) with six free throws, so I mean, he was getting to his spots whenever, we've got to be better with just being disruptive."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado's big men got started early with Elijah Malone getting a putback for the first basket of the game, followed by a 3-pointer by Dak. Northern Colorado countered with a 10-0 run to take a 12-5 lead early.
The offense continued to struggle, with Johnson and Dak being the only players to make a basket in 11 shots as a team. Johnson was the one to spark the Buffs' offense, making three straight shots, including an and-1, as well as an assist in transition, to cut the lead to 19-18.
Johnson continued his scorching start with a pull-up 3-pointer in transition to give him 14 points in the first half and tie the game at 30 with three minutes left. He added an and-1 and a layup through traffic at the end of the half to bring his total to 19 points and keep the Buffs close at 37-35.
Outside of Johnson, the offense struggled in the first half, going 6-31 from the field and 2-10 from deep. Defensively, the Buffs held the Bears in check, holding them to 38.9 percent from the field, but allowed them to shoot 50% from deep on 6-12 shooting.
Dak started the second half strong, putting up six points, including a fastbreak slam off the assist from Johnson, to get the crowd on its feet. Hargress continued the Colorado run with eight points of his own, including an and-1 and a 3-pointer to put the Buffs up 49-43.
Both teams started shooting the ball with success, pushing the score higher. Dak continued to be the scorer for Colorado, pushing his second-half total to 11 points after making another 3-pointer to tie the game at 66 with seven minutes left.
Following an 8-0 UNC run, Hargress finished two highly contested layups to cut the deficit to four points with four minutes remaining. A quick layup by Johnson and two free throws by Rancik out of the timeout tied the game at 76.
Down three with 23 seconds left, Colorado got two shots at the tie from Rancik and Johnson, but both came up short, giving the Bears an 86-81 victory.
UP NEXT
The Buffs hit the road for the first Big 12 game of the season on Saturday against Arizona State at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
Tad Boyle's Buffs dropped their second straight game to fall to 10-3 while Northern Colorado improved to 10-3.
After starting the game ice cold on the offensive end, the Buffs, led by freshman guard Isaiah Johnson's 19 first-half points, kept the game close at the break, but the defense went away in the second half. The Bears shot 73.9% from the field after halftime, only missing six shots in the second half.
"In the first half we were 5 for 22 at the rim," Boyle said. "To get 22 shots at the rim in a half is really good. That means you're getting the ball inside. You're getting shots at the rim, that's what you want as a coach. Now, when you don't finish those it's tough, and we didn't finish the ball well tonight, and that shows up in our field goal percentage. We shot 39% from the field. They shot 52%. I asked myself, 'How's it a five point game?' I feel like we should have lost by 25 with those numbers, but they shot 73.9% in the second half. You ain't beating anybody doing that."
Colorado still had a chance to force overtime, trailing by three points with 23 seconds left. The Buffs got two looks from deep by Sebastian Rancik, followed by Johnson, but both shots drew iron; the Bears rebounded and hit two more free throws to finish the scoring.
Johnson finished the game as the Buffs' leading scorer with a career-high 25 points and added eight rebounds. Three other players reached double figures with 18 from Barrington Hargress, 16 from Bangot Dak, and 14 from Rancik.
Quinn Denker was the game's leading scorer with 33 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, filling up the stat sheet.
Coupled with the second half defensive struggles, UNC made 11 3-pointers on 52% from deep to only seven on 30% for the Buffs.
"We need to stick to our principles," Hargress said. "We're letting teams shoot 21 threes and hit 11. They hit 11 tonight. So we want to keep it to 6. Allowing teams too much freedom and not making their best players feel uncomfortable. 33 (Egan Sheilds) with six free throws, so I mean, he was getting to his spots whenever, we've got to be better with just being disruptive."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado's big men got started early with Elijah Malone getting a putback for the first basket of the game, followed by a 3-pointer by Dak. Northern Colorado countered with a 10-0 run to take a 12-5 lead early.
The offense continued to struggle, with Johnson and Dak being the only players to make a basket in 11 shots as a team. Johnson was the one to spark the Buffs' offense, making three straight shots, including an and-1, as well as an assist in transition, to cut the lead to 19-18.
Johnson continued his scorching start with a pull-up 3-pointer in transition to give him 14 points in the first half and tie the game at 30 with three minutes left. He added an and-1 and a layup through traffic at the end of the half to bring his total to 19 points and keep the Buffs close at 37-35.
Outside of Johnson, the offense struggled in the first half, going 6-31 from the field and 2-10 from deep. Defensively, the Buffs held the Bears in check, holding them to 38.9 percent from the field, but allowed them to shoot 50% from deep on 6-12 shooting.
Dak started the second half strong, putting up six points, including a fastbreak slam off the assist from Johnson, to get the crowd on its feet. Hargress continued the Colorado run with eight points of his own, including an and-1 and a 3-pointer to put the Buffs up 49-43.
Both teams started shooting the ball with success, pushing the score higher. Dak continued to be the scorer for Colorado, pushing his second-half total to 11 points after making another 3-pointer to tie the game at 66 with seven minutes left.
Following an 8-0 UNC run, Hargress finished two highly contested layups to cut the deficit to four points with four minutes remaining. A quick layup by Johnson and two free throws by Rancik out of the timeout tied the game at 76.
Down three with 23 seconds left, Colorado got two shots at the tie from Rancik and Johnson, but both came up short, giving the Bears an 86-81 victory.
UP NEXT
The Buffs hit the road for the first Big 12 game of the season on Saturday against Arizona State at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
Team Stats
UNC
CU
FG%
.525
.395
3FG%
.524
.304
FT%
.765
.933
RB
39
37
TO
13
5
STL
2
5
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
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