Boulder – Colorado men’s basketball coach Ricardo Patton was so impressed with the effort on the court Saturday night he poked his head into the locker room afterward and congratulated players on a job well done.
The opponents’ locker room, that is.
CU needed a tip-in basket by sophomore forward Jermyl Jackson-Wilson just before the buzzer for the Buffaloes to post an 88-86 victory over a Northern Colorado squad that has won just one game. Patton called the Bears “extremely fearless” and told them so.
Patton, in his 11th and final season at Colorado, said this was first time he had gone into an opposing team’s locker room after a game.
“I think the team with the most potential won, but I don’t think the best team won; that is what I told Coach (Tad) Boyle and his team,” Patton said. “I don’t think we can come away feeling good about tonight.”
A new member of the Big Sky Conference and in its final season of transition to Division I, Northern Colorado (1-7) overcame a seven-point deficit in the final 3:14 by moving the ball and working for open shots behind screens. Junior guard Sean Taibi, a Pueblo East product, made two 3-pointers down the stretch and 5-foot-8 freshman guard Will Figures, a former Smoky Hill star, tied the game at 86-86 when he knocked down a 3-pointer from just right of the top of the key with 30.3 seconds remaining.
Colorado (3-4) called a timeout with 24.5 seconds left to set up a play that was designed to get the ball inside. Nothing was open along the baseline, however. Junior guard Richard Roby got the ball, gave it to senior Dominique Coleman in the backcourt, and then got the ball back from Coleman as the seconds ticked down. Roby put up a 15-foot shot that bounced off the rim. Coleman got a hand on the rebound and tried to bat at it. He couldn’t get the tip to the basket, but fortunately knocked it directly to Jackson-Wilson, who had an easy putback before the horn sounded.
“It was great hustle by Dominique to not give up on the play,” Roby said.
Roby and Coleman each finished with 21 points and UNC’s Boyle pounded his fist several times on the scorer’s table in frustration. The Bears matched CU with five scorers in double figures and outshot the hosts 44.4 percent to 38.8.
“It’s a very emotional game,” said Boyle, in his first season as a head coach. “We deserved to win and that hurts.”
NORTHERN COLORADO (1-7)
Birden 3-6 4-4 12, Archibeque 6-14 2-4 14, Taibi 4-10 5-6 16, Kline 5-7 2-2 13, Moore 0-1 1-2 1, Lowe 2-2 2-2 6, Figures 2-9 0-0 5, Anderson 1-2 2-2 4, Panagiotakopoulos 0-1 0-0 0, Mason 5-10 3-6 15, Kaba 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-63 21-28 86.
COLORADO (3-4)
Williams 4-10 3-3 12, Silas 4-8 8-9 17, Jackson-Wilson 1-2 1-2 3, Coleman 7-13 7-9 21, Roby 6-19 9-14 21, Thorne 0-2 1-2 1, King-Stockton 1-4 0-0 2, Kowal 0-1 1-2 1, Bay 3-8 1-2 10. Totals 26-67 31-43 88.
Halftime – Colorado 45-42. 3-point goals – Northern Colorado 9-19 (Taibi 3-7, Birden 2-2, Mason 2-3, Kline 1-3, Figures 1-3, Moore 0-1), Colorado 5-17 (Bay 3-6, Williams 1-1, Silas 1-2, Coleman 0-2, Thorne 0-2, Roby 0-4). Fouled out – King-Stockton, Moore. Rebounds – Northern Colorado 41 (Archibeque 11), Colorado 45 (Roby 10). Assists – Northern Colorado 19 (Anderson, Figures 4), Colorado 13 (Jackson-Wilson 4). Total fouls – Northern Colorado 30, Colorado 23. A – 1,441.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
