Tad Boyle ties program wins record as Buffs beat Northern Colorado

Colorado basketball coach Tad Boyle made history at the CU Events Center on Sunday, tying Sox Walseth for the program record for wins (261) as his Buffaloes bested Northern Colorado, 88-77.

Boyle’s milestone win came in a symbolic way as it was a 25-8 season at Northern Colorado in 2009-10 that led to him getting the Buffs job.

Former players form Boyle's Northern Colorado teams were in attendance for his full circle moment.

“Sox was a special man and I’m honored to be in his company,” Boyle said. “We had five guys here from UNC, guys that I’ve coached -- Neal Kingman, Devon Beitzel, Will Figures, Terry Anderson and Taylor Montgomery. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for those five guys and other guys like them that played their tails off for the Bears just like those kids did tonight.”

Boyle admitted that he was “a little nervous coming into tonight,” because of three Colorado kids on the Bears’ roster: Dalton Knecht (Thornton), Matt Johnson II (Aurora) and Daylen Kountz (Denver). Kountz used to be a Buff before transferring to UNC after the 2019-2020 season.

Kountz (17 points), Johnson II (15) and Knecht (24) pulled their weight offensively, but the Buffs did as well, shooting 56 percent from the field and 53 percent from three.

Tristan da Silva has now posted back-to-back career-high games putting up 26 points, eight rebounds and one steal in this one after tallying 25 points, nine rebounds and three steals on Thursday against North Alabama.

He’s the first Colorado player since George King to record consecutive games with 25 points or more. King did it back in 2017 against Mercer and Air Force.

“We’ve been practicing really hard for the past couple of days and past weeks,” da Silva said. “Ultimately it comes down to preparation. Once again, my team tried to look for me on [an] offensive day for me to be aggressive. So, I tried to do that and it felt good.”

In addition to da Silva, CU was clicking offensively as KJ Simpson scored 18 points, and Julian Hammond II and Javon Ruffin came up hot off the bench scoring a combined 23 points.

“I thought KJ tonight was … 7 for 10 from the field, 2 for 2 from [the] 3-point line … his most efficient game certainly offensively for us as well,” Boyle said. “We got some great minutes from Julian Hammond off the bench and Javon Ruffin off the bench. I thought those guys were both terrific tonight coming in and giving us a spark and because you have to keep scoring against UNC.”

The Bears held on with the Buffs early in the first half with Johnson II driving through the lane for some challenging layups and some 3-pointers from Knecht and Kountz. However, Hammond and Ruffin nailed their long-range shots, helping set Colorado up with a 46-39 lead at the half.

The Buffs maintained their distance between the Bears as they moved through the second half. Almost every Buff contributed offensively, but the buckets continued to rain from da Silva as he put up 15 points after halftime.

“The thing about this team is that it might be Julian Hammond and Javon Ruffin tonight, it might be Jalen [Gabbidon] and Ethan [Wright] the next game or somebody else,” Boyle said. “We need more than just two or three or four guys. It’s a team effort. So, our bench play, and we talked about that before this game, the major advantage we had over UNC was our bench.”

While multiple Buffs found success in the frontcourt, J’Vonne Hadley continued to be a grounding presence in the backcourt. He came close to posting his first double-double as a Buff with nine points and nine rebounds.

Boyle’s team is beginning to blossom with a season-best three-game win streak.

“Part of this now is due to the schedule, so let’s just be real about that,” Boyle said. “Part of it is we’re playing better and again you expect your team to be better in December than it was in November. I think we are and I sure as heck expect us to be better in January than we are in December and hopefully February as well.

“That’s what I want from this team is continued improvement and understanding as the season plays out. Not that you’re going to win every game, but you’re going to be rock solid in areas we need to be rock solid.”