LARAMIE, Wyo. — Ryan Dermody never played a minute for the Colorado Buffaloes, but his one semester at CU plus a few practices with the Buffs were enough to officially make him an ex-Buff.

Now a starter for Wyoming, Dermody said "Hello" to his former team and teammates Saturday with a career-high 18 points in the Cowboy's 73-64 win over Colorado.

Dermody, a former Loveland High School standout, was an invited walk-on in the fall of 2005. But halfway through the semester, he decided to transfer, and found a home in Laramie, where then-Wyoming coach Steve McClain (now a Buff assistant) gave him a scholarship.

"It just wasn't the best fit for me basketball-wise or academically," Dermody said. "It felt good up here, and I haven't looked back since."

It didn't take long Saturday for Dermody to make his presence known. He hit two 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game, giving the Cowboys a lead they would never relinquish. He had 11 of his 18 in the first half as Wyoming built a 40-20 lead, then added two free throws in the final minute to help turn back a late Colorado rally.

"The motivation for me wasn't the opponent, it was just to get a win," Dermody said. "We came in 3-3 and we didn't want to lose a game on our home floor. We wanted to take care of business."

Dermody came into the game averaging just more than 10 points and five rebounds per game. He added nine rebounds to his 18 points Saturday, just missing his third career double-double.

Welcome back

Former Wyoming head coach Steve McClain was greeted by a smattering of boos and at least an equal amount of applause Saturday when introduced as a CU assistant.

After the game, McClain had a brief handshake with Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer, who worked as an assistant under McClain for one season in Laramie. McClain also shook hands with the entire Wyoming team after the game, and hugged guards Brad Jones and Brandon Ewing, both of whom he recruited to Wyoming.

Marathon man

Buff guard Marcus Hall once again played all 40 minutes, the third time in a row the CU senior has been on the floor for the entire game. Hall finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists, all above his season average.

Hall also hit two free throws with 1:21 left in the game to cut Wyoming's lead to five, 62-57. Hall is now 16-for-16 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes of games this year.

Moving up

With his 10 points Saturday, Buff senior Richard Roby moved into sixth place on CU's all-time scoring list.

Roby now has 1,575 points in his CU career, as he passed Randy Downs (1,566 from 1982-85). In fifth place on the list is Emmett Lewis (1,680 from 1976-79).

Tough times

in Laramie

Saturday was the first time the Buffs played in Laramie since Dec. 9, 1998, a loss.

CU's last victory in Laramie came on Dec. 10, 1996 (84-68). Wyoming has now won the last four meetings between the two schools, and holds a 26-10 advantage in Laramie.

Board problems

The Buffs were outrebounded for the sixth time in nine games Saturday, as Wyoming held a 43-33 edge on the boards.

The only games in which Colorado has outrebounded its opponent were Savannah State, Colorado Christian and Denver. The Buffs did, however, improve their numbers on the offensive boards. After grabbing just three offensive rebounds against Stanford, Colorado did collect 12 on Saturday.

Up next

After playing six of their first nine games away from home, the Buffs close out the non-conference portion of their schedule with four of their next five games at home, beginning with a Wednesday home tilt vs. New Orleans.

After that, it's a road trip to Colorado State (Dec. 22), followed by home games vs. Grambling State (Dec. 29), SMU (Jan. 4) and Tulsa (Jan. 7).

CU opens the Big 12 portion of play with a road game at Texas A&M on Jan. 12.