DES MOINES, Iowa — The tears that marred Josh Scott’s face as he made his final arena exit in a Colorado Buffaloes uniform will fade before long.

The impact he made on the CU men’s basketball program will not.

Although he surely would have gladly accepted his worst-ever statistical game for an NCAA Tournament victory, Scott nonetheless made certain he put on a show in his final game with CU. Scott finished with game-highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds, providing one of the few individual highlights for the Buffs in a 74-67 first-round defeat against UConn.

“I don’t think I’ve ever coached a young man I felt this way about at the end of his career in terms of him deserving to move on in this tournament,” head coach Tad Boyle said. “It’s not going to happen and we have to live with it.”

This season, Scott became just the 28th CU player in the 115-year history of the program to record 500 points in a season. His standout final game allowed Scott to inch further up CU’s lists of all-time leaders

Scott surpassed the 1,700-point mark on Thursday, with his final tally of 1,709 good for eighth-place in Buffs history. With 11 rebounds, Scott passed Cliff Meely for third-place all-time, finishing with a total of 974.

Scott became the second CU player to make at least 500 free throws in his career, finishing second all-time with 504. His final double-double was the 36th of his career, matching Stephane Pelle for the fifth-most in Buffs history. Though he didn’t add to his career blocked shot total on Thursday, Scott also finishes second all-time in that category with 162.

“I’m extremely proud,” Scott said. “The teammates I’ve had, the experience I’ve had. I’ve been to three NCAA Tournaments, so I’m very proud of that. I came here to try and help this program be on the national radar, and we made it to the NCAA Tournament. So I’m very proud.”

While it also was the final game for fellow seniors Xavier Talton, Eli Stalzer, and Brett Brady, the Buffs lose only Scott and Talton from their regular rotation. Talton went just 1-for-5 from 3-point range, finishing with seven points and five rebounds.

Talton needed a CU win to match Austin Dufault’s team record of 136 games played. Instead, the native of Sterling will be in second place by himself at 135.

“It’s kind of like the story of our season where we just didn’t finish out games,” Talton said. “I think if we would’ve finished those games we would have been in a different place.”

Pat Rooney: rooneyp@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/prooney07