GREELEY, Colo.—Will Figures scored 22 points and Northern Colorado had little trouble defeating Johnson & Wales, Colo., 88-67 on Tuesday night.
Connor Osborne added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Bears (23-6), who won their third straight.
Northern Colorado is one victory from matching the school record for most wins in a season. The Bears went 24-6 in 1988-89.
Ethan Fisher led Johnson & Wales (15-13), an NAIA Division II school, with 19 points. Andrew Baker had 14 points for the Wildcats.
The game was a tuneup for Northern Colorado’s regular season finale Saturday at Sacramento State. A win would ensure the Bears the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big Sky tournament.
Northern Colorado was in full control by halftime. Nate Lark beat the buzzer with a 60-foot shot for the Wildcats, but the Bears led 55-28.
Figures hit two 3-pointers and scored 13 of his points while helping Northern Colorado to a 29-12 lead with 12:02 left in the first half.
Baker made 1-of-2 free throws for Johnson & Wales before Northern Colorado’s Chris Kaba capped a 14-0 run with two jump shots that made it 43-13. Hauns Brereton’s putback gave the Bears their biggest lead, 53-20.
Figures made his last shot of the game to put Northern Colorado up 69-44 midway through the second half. Ethan Evenson’s 3-pointer pulled Johnson & Wales to within 67-44, and he made another 3 with 3:15 remaining, trimming the lead to 82-59.
