It’s fitting the first shot at another coaching milestone for Tad Boyle will happen against Northern Colorado.

The decades are growing longer from Boyle’s formative years in Greeley, and even from his first collegiate head coaching gig back in his hometown.

A young Boyle often honed his shot in the UNC gyms while his father finished his day on campus as an English professor. Years later, Boyle took over the UNC men’s basketball program, a tenure that was a precursor to a run at Colorado now in its 15th season.

Boyle will have an opportunity to make history when the Bears visit the CU Events Center on Friday night, as a victory would make him the first CU men’s coach to reach 300 victories with the program. Already the program’s all-time wins leader, Boyle picked up another milestone win against Northern Colorado on Dec. 18, 2022, when he tied Sox Walseth’s former record of 261 wins. Only Ceal Barry, who collected 427 wins as the head coach of CU women’s basketball, and Walseth, whose 77 wins as the leader of the women’s team gave him 338 total wins, own more victories than Boyle in any team sport in CU athletics history.

“Growing up and watching that program as a kid, even though they were a Division II program, and basically growing up as a player in their gyms, Butler-Hancock and Gunter Hall, which is not there anymore. It definitely means a lot,” Boyle said. “They gave me my first start. It’s been 15 years now. The first few years meant a little bit more because there were a lot of people who were still there. It means a lot because it’s an in-state game, and there’s some kids, just like Eastern Washington, those kids want to come in here and prove a point. Northern Colorado is going to be no different from that standpoint.”

Of course, Boyle likely will trade any milestone for a smoother performance out of his Buffs, who opened the season with a 76-56 win against Eastern Washington on Monday. CU pulled away late, authoring a 37-point swing after falling behind by 17 points in the first half, but the first 28 minutes or so were marked by turnovers and poor shot selection by the Buffs.“We have to bring out the intensity from the start,” said freshman forward Sebastian Rancik. “That’s what it comes down to. And turnovers. That’s what killed us in the beginning. (Eastern Washington) got to that start because they had many fast-break opportunities, and they scored a lot off of our turnovers. So it just comes down to taking care of the ball and coming out with big intensity on Friday.”

Rancik was one of the bright spots for the Buffs in the opener, going 4-for-5 on 3-pointers with a team-high 13 points in his collegiate debut. CU recovered from its horrid start, going 9-for-15 on 3-pointers after starting 0-for-8, and committing only five turnovers after halftime. Facing another Big Sky team in UNC that will be at a disadvantage in size and athleticism, the Buffs will seek a more complete performance.

“Throughout the first half, we didn’t take care of the ball. Which is a huge thing for us,” CU forward Andrej Jakimovski said.

“I think it’s normal for a first game at home just to play a little bit rough. Especially our offense, it wasn’t flowing. And we couldn’t get stops. But the good thing is we figured it out, and we came back and won the game by 20. I think we can learn from (Eastern Washington) and move on to the next one.”