Colorado University Athletics
Sunday, December 28
Boulder, Colo.
1 p.m.
Colorado
vs
Northern Colorado
Buffs Close Out Nonconference Play With UNC Sunday
December 26, 2025 | Men's Basketball
Game 13 - Northern Colorado, Sunday, December 28, 2025
CU Events Center, Boulder, Colo.
Tip: 1:01 p.m. MT
Watch: ESPN+ (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke) https://buffs.me/44LktzW
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Jerry Schemmel)
Listen Online: Sirius XM 392, SXM App 982 https://sxm.app.link/SXM982
Live Statistics: http://statb.us/b/611126
THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 10-2 overall, returning from the holiday break to close out the nonconference portion of its schedule with in-state rival Northern Colorado. In their last outing, the Buffaloes dropped their second game of the year, to Stanford, 77-68, in the Hall of Fame Series Phoenix game.
After an 8-0 start, Colorado's best in 76 years, the Buffaloes are an even 2-2 over the last four. Colorado has 10 wins after 12 games for the second time in three seasons, joining the 2023-24 NCAA Tournament team that had started conference play by the time the 12th game hit. The Buffaloes' 10-2 mark in nonconference play is their best since the 2019-20 squad went 11-2 in non-league play. Colorado, which was 9-2 during the nonconference schedule a year ago, didn't win its 10th game last season until Feb. 15.
Colorado's offense has been strong during nonconference play, ranking among the nation's best in several categories. The Buffaloes are 20th in the nation in field goal shooting at 51.1 percent, which also ranks third in the Big 12 Conference. Colorado is 28th in the nation, and fourth in the Big 12, in 3-point percentage (.384)
SCORING BALANCE: Colorado has had at least four players score in double figures in 10 of its first 12 games, including the first nine. The Buffaloes have had four games with at least five scoring in double digits.
Colorado had only four games with four players scoring in double figures in 35 contests last year (3-1 record) and none with five. Prior to this season, the NCAA Tournament win over Florida on March 22, 2024 was the last instance of five double-digit scorers.
The Buffaloes have had five different players lead the team in scoring this season and four have had 20-point games. Freshman Isaiah Johnson picked up his second 20-point game, scoring 20, to lead Colorado over Portland State.
Colorado is averaging 35.2 points per game from its bench accounting for 41 percent of the team's scoring. The Buffaloes' reserves are shooting 50.5 percent from the field while also pitching in 12.9 rebounds per game.
Colorado's 35.2 bench points per game leads the Big 12 and ranks 24th in NCAA Division I.
Freshman Isaiah Johnson is Colorado's leading scorer while coming off the bench in all 12 games. His 14.8 points per game average off the bench is second among Power 4 Conference players and third in NCAA Division I overall, trailing only Loyola Marymount's Myron Amey Jr. (15.5 ppg) and Penn State's Freddie Dilione V (14.9 ppg).
Johnson led the Buffaloes in scoring for the fourth time this season with 20 points in the win over Portland State, including a perfect 11 of 11 showing from the free throw line. Johnson also dished out three assists against the Vikings and is averaging 3.8 over the last five games. He had a career-high six against UTSA.
Junior Barrington Hargress leads Colorado in assists (59) and field goal percentage (.583) and is tied with Johnson for the team lead in steals (14). He had a team-high 16 points against Stanford and is averaging 18.0 points over the last three games.
Hargress recorded a CU-best 23 points in the win over UTSA, the 25th overall 20-point game in his collegiate career. He tied an overall career-high and a team season high with five 3-point field goals.
On the Big 12 charts, Hargress ranks sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0), seventh in field goal percentage and 11th in assists (4.9 apg).
Hargress has made his 22 of his last 31 from the field (.710), including 8 of 11 from 3-point range (.727).
Sophomore Sebastian Rancik is second on the team in scoring (13.2 ppg), assists (28) and rebounding (5.5 rpg).
His rebounding numbers have picked up, averaging 6.4 rebounds over the last eight games. Rancik tied a career-high with nine against San Francisco.
Rancik leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 85.5 percent. He has made 53 of 62 from the line, which includes a string of 25-straight made between the Eastern Washington and UC Davis games.
Junior forward Bangot Dak leads the Buffaloes and is 17th in the Big 12 at 6.9 rebounds per game and eighth in blocks at 1.7 per outing. He is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game while shooting 49.5 percent from the field.
Dak recorded his second career double-double in the win over Portland State with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He had a pair of blocks, marking his sixth straight game with at least two blocked shots.
Freshman Alon Michaeli is averaging 10.4 points on 50 percent shooting in his 11 games off the bench. He has scored in double figures in seven of those contests. Michaeli had a team-high 19 points at Colorado State, hitting 8 of 12 from the field. He just missed a double-double against Portland State with a career-high 10 rebounds and nine points.
CU IN THE NET: A snapshot of Colorado's NET rankings in 2025-26 (through games of Dec. 26).
Current: 60 | Highest: 39 (Dec. 2) | Lowest: 65 (Dec. 21)
Opponent Net Rank: 86 | Opponent Avg. Net: 155
Quad 1: 0-1 | Quad 2: 1-1 | Quad 3: 4-0 | Quad 4: 5-0
ABOUT THE BEARS: Northern Colorado is 9-3 overall and heads to Boulder on a two-game losing streak after falling to a different in-state rival Denver, 86-79 at home and No. 19 ranked Texas Tech on the road 101-90. The Bears are averaging 86.9 points per game, shooting 50.7 percent from the field, both of which lead the Big Sky Conference. UNC has been solid at sharing the basketball, leading the Big Sky in assists per game with 18.2 per night, which is also 35th in the country. Defensively, the Bears are allowing 75.8 points per game, and have held opponents to 45.7 percent shooting. UNC is also toward the top of the Big Sky in team 3-point defense, holding teams to just 28.5 percent from deep.
Graduate guard Quinn Denker leads the Bears at 17.3 points per game which ranks third in the Big Sky. Denker also leads the Big Sky in assists per game with 6.1, which is 22nd in the nation. The Bears have two other players who average double-digits in points: senior forward Brock Wisne (16.8) and graduate guard Zach Bloch (13.3). Bloch has made a name for himself as a 3-point shooter. He leads the conference and is fourth in the country at 51.9 percent from deep. He makes 3.33 3-pointers a game which leads the conference and is 20th in the NCAA.
THE SERIES: This will be the 44th 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 25-18 edge in the series and has won the last 13. 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 nine times since 2004, including a 90-88 double overtime Colorado win on Nov. 8, 2024. Head coach Tad Boyle is 7-0 against UNC, the program he coached from 2006-10.
THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 10-2 overall, returning from the holiday break to close out the nonconference portion of its schedule with in-state rival Northern Colorado. In their last outing, the Buffaloes dropped their second game of the year, to Stanford, 77-68, in the Hall of Fame Series Phoenix game.
After an 8-0 start, Colorado's best in 76 years, the Buffaloes are an even 2-2 over the last four. Colorado has 10 wins after 12 games for the second time in three seasons, joining the 2023-24 NCAA Tournament team that had started conference play by the time the 12th game hit. The Buffaloes' 10-2 mark in nonconference play is their best since the 2019-20 squad went 11-2 in non-league play. Colorado, which was 9-2 during the nonconference schedule a year ago, didn't win its 10th game last season until Feb. 15.
Colorado's offense has been strong during nonconference play, ranking among the nation's best in several categories. The Buffaloes are 20th in the nation in field goal shooting at 51.1 percent, which also ranks third in the Big 12 Conference. Colorado is 28th in the nation, and fourth in the Big 12, in 3-point percentage (.384)
SCORING BALANCE: Colorado has had at least four players score in double figures in 10 of its first 12 games, including the first nine. The Buffaloes have had four games with at least five scoring in double digits.
Colorado had only four games with four players scoring in double figures in 35 contests last year (3-1 record) and none with five. Prior to this season, the NCAA Tournament win over Florida on March 22, 2024 was the last instance of five double-digit scorers.
The Buffaloes have had five different players lead the team in scoring this season and four have had 20-point games. Freshman Isaiah Johnson picked up his second 20-point game, scoring 20, to lead Colorado over Portland State.
Colorado is averaging 35.2 points per game from its bench accounting for 41 percent of the team's scoring. The Buffaloes' reserves are shooting 50.5 percent from the field while also pitching in 12.9 rebounds per game.
Colorado's 35.2 bench points per game leads the Big 12 and ranks 24th in NCAA Division I.
Freshman Isaiah Johnson is Colorado's leading scorer while coming off the bench in all 12 games. His 14.8 points per game average off the bench is second among Power 4 Conference players and third in NCAA Division I overall, trailing only Loyola Marymount's Myron Amey Jr. (15.5 ppg) and Penn State's Freddie Dilione V (14.9 ppg).
Johnson led the Buffaloes in scoring for the fourth time this season with 20 points in the win over Portland State, including a perfect 11 of 11 showing from the free throw line. Johnson also dished out three assists against the Vikings and is averaging 3.8 over the last five games. He had a career-high six against UTSA.
Junior Barrington Hargress leads Colorado in assists (59) and field goal percentage (.583) and is tied with Johnson for the team lead in steals (14). He had a team-high 16 points against Stanford and is averaging 18.0 points over the last three games.
Hargress recorded a CU-best 23 points in the win over UTSA, the 25th overall 20-point game in his collegiate career. He tied an overall career-high and a team season high with five 3-point field goals.
On the Big 12 charts, Hargress ranks sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0), seventh in field goal percentage and 11th in assists (4.9 apg).
Hargress has made his 22 of his last 31 from the field (.710), including 8 of 11 from 3-point range (.727).
Sophomore Sebastian Rancik is second on the team in scoring (13.2 ppg), assists (28) and rebounding (5.5 rpg).
His rebounding numbers have picked up, averaging 6.4 rebounds over the last eight games. Rancik tied a career-high with nine against San Francisco.
Rancik leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 85.5 percent. He has made 53 of 62 from the line, which includes a string of 25-straight made between the Eastern Washington and UC Davis games.
Junior forward Bangot Dak leads the Buffaloes and is 17th in the Big 12 at 6.9 rebounds per game and eighth in blocks at 1.7 per outing. He is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game while shooting 49.5 percent from the field.
Dak recorded his second career double-double in the win over Portland State with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He had a pair of blocks, marking his sixth straight game with at least two blocked shots.
Freshman Alon Michaeli is averaging 10.4 points on 50 percent shooting in his 11 games off the bench. He has scored in double figures in seven of those contests. Michaeli had a team-high 19 points at Colorado State, hitting 8 of 12 from the field. He just missed a double-double against Portland State with a career-high 10 rebounds and nine points.
CU IN THE NET: A snapshot of Colorado's NET rankings in 2025-26 (through games of Dec. 26).
Current: 60 | Highest: 39 (Dec. 2) | Lowest: 65 (Dec. 21)
Opponent Net Rank: 86 | Opponent Avg. Net: 155
Quad 1: 0-1 | Quad 2: 1-1 | Quad 3: 4-0 | Quad 4: 5-0
ABOUT THE BEARS: Northern Colorado is 9-3 overall and heads to Boulder on a two-game losing streak after falling to a different in-state rival Denver, 86-79 at home and No. 19 ranked Texas Tech on the road 101-90. The Bears are averaging 86.9 points per game, shooting 50.7 percent from the field, both of which lead the Big Sky Conference. UNC has been solid at sharing the basketball, leading the Big Sky in assists per game with 18.2 per night, which is also 35th in the country. Defensively, the Bears are allowing 75.8 points per game, and have held opponents to 45.7 percent shooting. UNC is also toward the top of the Big Sky in team 3-point defense, holding teams to just 28.5 percent from deep.
Graduate guard Quinn Denker leads the Bears at 17.3 points per game which ranks third in the Big Sky. Denker also leads the Big Sky in assists per game with 6.1, which is 22nd in the nation. The Bears have two other players who average double-digits in points: senior forward Brock Wisne (16.8) and graduate guard Zach Bloch (13.3). Bloch has made a name for himself as a 3-point shooter. He leads the conference and is fourth in the country at 51.9 percent from deep. He makes 3.33 3-pointers a game which leads the conference and is 20th in the NCAA.
THE SERIES: This will be the 44th 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 25-18 edge in the series and has won the last 13. 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 nine times since 2004, including a 90-88 double overtime Colorado win on Nov. 8, 2024. Head coach Tad Boyle is 7-0 against UNC, the program he coached from 2006-10.
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