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NORMAN, Okla. -- Northern Colorado went into its game against Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon expecting to beat the Sooners.

The same Oklahoma squad that finished 30-6 last season, advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight and had won 75 of its previous 77 nonconference home games inside the Lloyd Noble Center.

And the Bears almost did win, coming just a point short, 80-79, of sending more than 7,000 crimson-and-cream clad fans home in disbelief.

That explains more than anything the current state of Northern Colorado basketball and how far Tad Boyle has brought the Bears (9-3, 1-1 Big Sky) in his four years of roaming the NC sidelines.

"We'll never be happy with a loss," Boyle said. "We're down. We expected to come in here and beat Oklahoma. That's what I like about our guys, that's what I like about where our program is right now. We expected to come in here and beat Oklahoma. You could tell that by our guys' faces in the locker room. I'm proud of our guys. I don't like saying that after a loss, but I really am."

During the 2004-05 season, Northern Colorado made this same trek to central Oklahoma but with far different results. The Bears lost by 36 that day, 80-44, in their fourth worst loss since making the move up to the NCAA Division I level.

They didn't win Saturday, either, but they were darn close and had possession of the ball and a chance to knock off the Sooners (8-3, 0-0 Big 12) with 5.6 seconds left before a Devon Beitzel turnover ended a crazy final two minutes that nearly saw Northern Colorado dig itself out of 10-point deficit.

"It was a heck of a game. Our guys never gave up, I know that," Boyle said. "I told our team before we took the floor that when we leave this arena, let's leave all of our effort on the floor and be able to look each other in the eye and feel good about our effort and the way we played. I feel that way. I can't ask any more of my team, as a coach. Sometimes you get beat. I think Oklahoma won this game and I don't think Northern Colorado lost it. We showed a lot of heart.

Beitzel finished with a team-high 17 points and five assists, and Mike Proctor tied his career high with 14 points for the Bears, who have now played 10 of their 12 games away from Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion this season.

Taylor Montgomery added 13 points in the loss -- all in the first half -- while Will Figures scored 12 and Chris Kaba had 10.

Cade Davis scored 25 points for Oklahoma -- with 20 coming in the first half -- and Tony Crocker added 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Davis, Crocker and Tommy Mason-Griffin each missed the front ends of one-and-one opportunities down the stretch Saturday as Northern Colorado scored the final seven points of the game, including Proctor's put-back with 6.8 seconds left to pull the Bears within one.

Moments later, Beitzel retrieved the ball after Mason-Griffin's missed free throw with 5.6 seconds left, but Davis intercepted his outlet pass to finish the game.

"We haven't been a good come-from-behind team this season," Boyle said, "so, especially in this environment, that was great to see out there tonight. We've been a pretty good shooting team ever since I got here, and that seems to be coming around. We made some great shots all game. I think we grew up a little tonight."

Oklahoma sophomore star Willie Warren, who was The Sporting News' college basketball Preseason Player of the Year this season, scored just four points and had five turnovers Saturday. He connected on just two of his six field-goal attempts and wasn't on the floor in the final 23 seconds, when the game was most on the line for OU.

Northern Colorado senior Yahosh Bonner drew the defensive assignment on Warren when both players were on the floor, and added another mark to his 2009-10 defensive resume -- which already includes similar lockdown performances against Southern Utah, Hawai'i, Air Force, Montana and Louisiana Monroe.

Bonner scored just a point Saturday, but he had five rebounds, a game-high two steals and had a career-most five assists for the second game in a row.

"Yahosh Bonner is as good as anybody I've seen in college basketball," Boyle said. "I'm not saying he's the best, but he's in the top five. He can really pressure the ball. Will Figures did a great job tonight on (Tommy Mason-Griffin). Looking back, I wish we would've pressured more in the full court. I was a little afraid of their athleticism and giving them wide open 3's. We went more with a half-court defense tonight, but the pressure was good. It's something we hang our hat on as a defense. We did good tonight."

Northern Colorado surged ahead with a 14-2 run late in the first half. Montgomery scored six straight points to get it going, and Beitzel and Figures each added 3-pointers to push the Bears' lead to 31-24. Neal Kingman's layup put NC ahead 38-27.

"Sometimes when you're Northern Colorado coming in to play Oklahoma, you may not get their best shot," Bears coach Tad Boyle said. "So, we might have woken up a sleeping dog a little bit."

Davis then hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions to get Oklahoma within two, and Crocker cut the deficit to 40-39 at halftime with a three-point play.

The Sooners went ahead for good when Crocker put back Davis' missed 3-pointer to make it 48-46 early in the second half. Oklahoma grew its lead to 10 but still had to hold off two separate charges by the Bears in the final 11 minutes.

Northern Colorado, which will return home for a 7:35 game Monday against the San Jose State Spartans (5-4, 0-0 WAC), were relentless in defeat Saturday and represented themselves against a powerhouse program probably better than most believed possible.

Count Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel as one of those left impressed by the Bears' performance."

"We didn't deserve to win," he said. "I feel bad for this Northern Colorado team because they outplayed us, they deserved the win. They had their guys ready to play."