Colorado Basketball Hosts UNC Sunday

THE GAME: The University of Colorado continues its home stand by hosting the University of Northern Colorado on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 1 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.

WATCH/LISTEN:
TV: Pac-12 Network (Rich Burk, Kevin O'Neill)
Radio: KKZN AM 760 (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Satellite: Sirius 145, XM 197
Watch Online: Pac-12 Now
Listen Online: CUBuffs.com, TuneIn, CU Gameday App
Live Statistics: CUBuffs.com

OPENING TIP: Colorado leads the Pac-12 Conference in free throw percentage at .741.

ABOUT THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 4-1 overall on the young season, coming off an 81-70 win over Air Force on Nov. 25 at the Coors Events Center.

The Buffaloes will play their fourth of five straight home games after coming out even from one of the more challenging starts in recent memory. Colorado opened the season with two games away from the Coors Events Center for the first time since 2003-04.

The Buffaloes dove right into the 2015-16 schedule matching up with  preseason No. 7 ranked (AP & USAT) Iowa State. Colorado produced a valiant effort, but fell short of the two-time defending Big 12 Champion Cyclones 68-62 at a sold-out Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Buffaloes rebounded with a quality 91-84 win at Auburn in SEC country. Colorado fell behind by as much as 15 in the first half, but had the Tigers' lead whittled down to four by the break (46-42). The Buffaloes took over in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 49-38.

That win has sparked a four-game winning streak and allowing the Buffaloes to start with at least four wins in their first five games for the fourth straight year.

Senior forward Josh Scott is averaging 16.6 points and leads the team in rebounding (8.8 rpg), blocks (2.5 bpg) and field goal percentage (.617). He shook off a cold shooting night against Iowa State in the opener and has returned to his usual form. Since making just 5-of-16 against the Cyclones, Scott has made 24-of-31 over the last four games (.774).

Scott has two of the team's three double-doubles, most recently a 14-point, 12-rebound effort in the win over Omaha. That double-double gave him 25 for his career, tying David Harrison (2001-04) for 10th on CU's all-time list. Scott now has 71 double-figure scoring games, 29 double-figure rebound games and 32 with at least two or more blocks.

On the Pac-12 charts Scott ranks fourth in blocks, fifth in rebounding, seventh in field goal percentage, eighth in scoring and 14th in free throw percentage (.806).

Sophomore guard George King has led the early scoring punch, averaging 18.2 points over his first five games. He had a career and team-season high 27 points at Auburn, nearly doubling his previous best, four days earlier against Iowa State (14). King is shooting 50 percent from the field (29-of-58) including 12-of-25 from 3-point range.  King, who took a redshirt year in 2014-15, also had a personal best  nine field goals on 14 attempts against the Tigers while matching career numbers for 3-pointers made (4) and rebounds (7).

King is fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring while ranking fourth in 3-pointers made (2.4 3mpg) and sixth in 3-point percentage (.480).

Junior guard Josh Fortune had a spectacular home stand, his first games at the Coors Events Center. He's averaging 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds over the last three games. In his Coors debut, Fortune recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and a team season-high 14 rebounds against Portland. He also led the Buffaloes with six assists and three steals. Fortune followed that up with 18 points on a team season-best five 3-pointers with six rebounds against Air Force. On the season, Fortune is third on the team in scoring (11.0 ppg) and second in rebounding (6.8 rpg) and assists (2.2 apg).

Junior guard Tre'Shaun Fletcher is fifth on the team in scoring at 8.8 points per game. Against Omaha, he scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half including 10 straight during a 14-2 run that gave Colorado a 10-point lead with 6:33 left in the game. Fletcher averaged 16 points last weekend hitting 10-of-16 from the field. He scored a career-high 17 points against Portland on 7-of-8 from the field.

Sophomore guard Dominique Collier is averaging 9.0 points and 2.4 assists per game. Collier matched his season high with 13 points in the win over Omaha. He was 6-of-6 from the free throw line, a career-best and tied with back court mate Xavier Talton for the best single-game team mark this season. Talton also achieved his 6-for-6 game against Omaha.

Junior forward Wesley Gordon logged a season-high 12 points against Omaha rebounding nicely from being held scoreless in the home opener. Gordon added seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists. He's logged two assists in three of four games. Gordon is eighth in the Pac-12 in blocks at 2.5 per game.

The Buffaloes depth has continued to show itself. Talton has been a steady reserve, tied with Fortune for second on the team in assists (2.2 apg) and ranking second in steals (1.0 spg) to begin the season. Sophomore forward Tory Miller is averaging 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds while hitting 43 percent from the field (6-of-14).

Colorado's international connection of freshman guard Thomas Akyazili and sophomore forward Kenan Guzonjic are having nice start to their careers. Akyazili had a career-high eight points and four assists in the win over Air Force. Guzonjic scored his first points in a Colorado uniform with a 3-pointer late in the game against Portland.

ABOUT THE BEARS: Northern Colorado is 1-4 overall coming off a 105-85 setback to Omaha on Nov. 25. UNC is averaging 78 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the field and 36 percent from downtown. The Bears are an excellent free throw shooting team, at 79.4 percent through their first five games. UNC is allowing 91 points per game. Opponents have shot 51 percent against the Bears.

UNC's scoring comes primarily from its back court as the three-guard junior class combo of Cameron Michael, Anthony Johnson and Jordan Wilson have accounted for 56 percent of the Bears' scoring. Johnson leads the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game and is coming off a career-best 20-point performance against UNO.  Michael, averaging 16.8 points per game, did not play against the Mavericks. Wilson is averaging 13.4 points an outing and is the Bears' top 3-pointer shooter at 40 percent; hitting 12 of is first 30 attempts. Michael leads the Bears in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and assists (2.8 apg). Sophomore forward Jeremy Verhagen is averaging 9.8 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 59 percent from the field.

B.J. Hill is in his sixth season as the head coach at Northern Colorado with a record of 77-81.

THE SERIES: This will be the 38th meeting between Colorado and Northern Colorado with the Buffaloes holding a slight 19-18 edge.  The majority of the series was played between 1918 and 1937 as the Buffaloes and Bears have met just four times since the 1938-39 season. Three of those meetings have been since 2004, including a 93-68 Colorado win at Coors on Dec. 13, 2014. Overall the Buffaloes have won seven straight in the series, dating back to UNC's last win, which came in Greeley on Feb. 18, 1936. Colorado is 12-8 all-time against the Bears in Boulder.

Tad Boyle is 1-0 against Northern Colorado as a head coach. B.J. Hill is 0-1 against Colorado as a head coach.

REUNION: Colorado head coach Tad Boyle, a Greeley native, held the top spot on the Northern Colorado bench from 2006-10, helping the Bears into the Big Sky Conference era. Boyle guided the Bears from a four-win season his first year to breakout season in 2009-10, when UNC was 25-8 and finished second in the Big Sky, earning that league's Coach of the Year honor. Current UNC head coach B.J. Hill was on Boyle's staff for those four years, eventually leading the Bears to the 2011 Big Sky Championship and the school's first NCAA DI Tournament appearance.

FREE SHOOTING: Colorado has been excellent at the line leading the Pac-12 Conference at 74.1 percent (100-of-135). The back court duo of Xavier Talton and Dominique Collier have combined to make 21 of 22 foul shots (.955). Talton tops the Pac-12, hitting all 10 of his season's attempts while Collier is second at 91.7 percent (11-of-12). Four Buffaloes are in the Pac-12's Top 15. Tre'Shaun Fletcher is eighth at 84.6 percent (11-of-13). Josh Scott, who leads Colorado in free throws made (25) and attempted (31) is 14th at 80.6 percent.