Colorado Basketball

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Colorado Basketball

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November 17th – Game Day!

… CU in the Arena … 

Buffs pull away from Harvard to improve to 4-0 with 88-66 win

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado put four players in double figures Sunday and the Buffaloes pulled away from Harvard down the stretch to take an 88-66 win at the CU Events Center.

Tad Boyle‘s Buffs improved to 4-0 as Colorado won its seventh straight game at home and 20th in the last 21. Harvard dropped to 1-4.

Andrej Jakimovski led CU with 20 points. Elijah Malone scored 16 and added seven rebounds, Javon Ruffin scored 15 and Trevor Baskin added 13 points and seven boards.

Evan Nelson and Chandler Pigge each scored 11 for the Crimson.

Colorado led by 12 at the half and pushed the lead to 17 early in the second period. Harvard managed to cut the deficit to just six midway through the half before the Buffs put the game away with a 21-4 run that gave Colorado a 77-54 cushion with 5:42 to play.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Harvard led early before the Buffs took the lead for good on an Elijah Malone bucket inside, the beginning of a 9-0 run that gave the Buffs a 14-6 edge eight minutes into the game.

But the Crimson managed to stay close, cutting the deficit down to three, 18-15, with a 3-pointer at the 8:38 mark.

Colorado, though, pushed its lead to 10 three minutes later on the heels of a 10-4 run. Malone tallied a three-point play, Andrej Jakimovski scored inside, Julian Hammond III drained a 3-pointer and Trevor Baskin connected from the lane to give the Buffs a 31-21 edge.

Harvard answered one more time, putting together a 7-0 run to pull back within three, 31-28.

But Colorado finished the half with a 15-6 run to take control. Javon Ruffin hit two treys in the surge and Jakimovski added five points and the Buffs took a 46-34 lead into the break.

The Buffs threatened to blow the game open early in the second half with a quick 5-0 run. Malone hit two free throws and Baskin swished a 3-pointer to give Colorado a 17-point edge, 51-34.

But the Crimson answered with a 14-3 run that included two 3-pointers while the Buffs endured a 1-for-7 shooting stretch. With 11:41 to play, Colorado’s lead had dwindled to just six, 56-50.

Colorado’s shooting woes contributed to Harvard’s brief surge as as the Buffs hit just five of their first 21 field goal tries of the half.

But just as quickly as Harvard pulled back within range, the Buffs put the game away with a 21-4 run that saw CU hit seven of eight field goal tries.

… Continue reading story here …

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November 14th

… CU in the Arena … 

Buffs pull away from winless Cal-State Fullerton for an 83-53 victory – Tad Boyle: “A lot to be pleased with”

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado drained 12 3-pointers and the Buffaloes ran away from Cal State Fullerton in the second half Wednesday night for an 83-53 win at the CU Events Center.

Tad Boyle‘s Buffs improved to 3-0 with the win while the Titans dropped to 0-3.

The Buffs led by just six at the half, 35-29, but used a decisive 16-6 run midway through the second half to push their lead to 20, then slowly built the cushion down the stretch.

CU’s Andrej Jakimovski, a grad transfer from Washington State, tied his career best with five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Freshman Sebastian Rancik came off the bench to tally 13, Julian Hammond III had 11 points and four assists and Elijah Malone had nine points and four rebounds. Assane Diop led the Buffs on the boards with eight rebounds.

Donovan Oday led the Titans with 13 points.

Colorado finished with a season-best 22 assists while shooting 30-for-53 from the field (56.6 percent), including 12-for-27 from long range. The Buffs also had a 38-28 edge on the boards while holding the Titans to 31 percent shooting (18-for-58), including 2-for-17 from beyond the arc.

“You win by 30 at home and you defend pretty well, you rebound the ball pretty well, a lot to be pleased with,” said Boyle, whose Buffs are now 99-8 in non-conference home games in his tenure. “I thought we really took a step forward offensively tonight in terms of our ball movement and the ball not sticking in people’s hands. We had 22 assists on 30 baskets, which is phenomenal. We’ll take that every night.”

… Continue reading story here …

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November 13th – Game Day!

… CU in the Arena …

Signing Day: Tad Boyle signs five freshmen 

From the Daily Camera … Tad Boyle is willing to adapt with some of his old school ideals.

Others, not so much. And one of those embedded philosophies is on full display with the class of 2025 signing day haul for the Colorado men’s basketball team.

In an era when many programs lean heavily into more experienced spring acquisitions via the transfer portal, Boyle, in his 15th season at CU, remains devoted to the sign-and-develop approach to program-building. The Buffs added plenty of additional talent to work with on Wednesday’s national signing day, making it official with five new recruits.

That class — Colorado Prep standout Josiah Sanders, Texas wing Ian Inman, Los Angeles-area guard Isaiah Johnson, and prep teammates Jalin Holland and big man Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola — was ranked as the No. 32 class in the nation on signing day, per 247Sports. It’s ranked fourth in the 16-team Big 12, behind Iowa State (8), West Virginia (20) and BYU (30), though those numbers are certain to fluctuate.

Between a potential shift to 15 scholarships in NCAA men’s basketball and a possible reduction of power-conference level talent available in the transfer portal with the pending end of the extra COVID seasons of eligibility, Boyle and the Buffs opted to stockpile young talent.

“The whole key, I think, is you get good players, and you retain them. And then you develop them as retention happens. I think that’s how we can be successful at Colorado,” Boyle said. “Not to say we’ll never use the transfer portal. We used it this year. We signed three graduate transfers. But this is the last year of the COVID fifth-year guys. There will be graduate transfers, guys that graduated in three years or redshirted somewhere and graduated in four and still have one year of eligibility left. Those guys will still be around. I just think you can’t retain them if you don’t get them.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Buffs taking on Cal-State Fullerton (7:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+)

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado is 2-0 after its 90-88 double overtime win over instate rival Northern Colorado on Nov. 8. The Buffaloes knocked off Eastern Washington in their opener, 76-56, on Nov. 4th.

Colorado has had the flair for the dramatic to open the season. Along with the double-overtime win over UNC, the Buffaloes rallied from a 17-point first half deficit to collect the win over Eastern Washington.

In the comeback win over Eastern Washington, Colorado trailed 27-10 at the 6:44 mark of the first half but was able to cut the margin to six at halftime thanks to a 10-2 run over the last 3:30 of the period. The Buffaloes then took over in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 51-25.

The 17-point deficit tied for the Buffaloes’ eighth-best comeback since 1947. Colorado had overcome a 17-point deficit on three other occasions, with one being another game against Eastern Washington on Dec. 22, 2016. The Buffaloes trailed 19-2 right out of the gate in that contest before fighting back for a 76-68 victory.

IN THE OT: Colorado improved to 56-57 (.496) all-time in overtime games and 33-23 (.589) at home and are winners in its last six OT contests at the Events Center. The Buffaloes moved to 10-5 in double overtime games. It was the first double overtime home game since a 112-103 win over South Dakota State on Dec. 15, 2017

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November 9th

… CU in the Arena … 

Buffs struggle (again), needing two overtimes to defeat Northern Colorado, 90-88

From CUBuffs.com …  It took two overtime periods, but Colorado finally gave head coach Tad Boyle his 300th victory as the Buffaloes head coach Friday with a 90-88 win over Northern Colorado at the CU Events Center.

The Buffs improved to 2-0 while UNC fell to 1-1.

The Buffs trailed by six midway through the second half but fought back to take a six-point lead with just more than a minute remaining in regulation.

The Bears, though, rallied to force overtime, hitting a 3-pointer with just a half-second left on the clock to tie the game at 67-67. The Buffs couldn’t get the potential game winner to go down in the final seconds of the first extra period but finally came up with some key defensive stops and crucial free throws in the final minute of the second overtime to collect the win.

Elijah Malone led CU with 27 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor and 10-for-12 from the free throw line. Javon Ruffin and Julian Hammond III each chipped in 12 points, Trevor Baskin had nine points and nine rebounds and Assane Diop had a career-high 10 rebounds.

The Buffs were once again plagued by turnovers, committing 21 miscues that led to 20 UNC points while finishing with just nine assists.

Isaiah Hawthorne led the Bears with 19 points, including two of UNC’s 13 3-pointers.

“Good win,” Boyle said. “It wasn’t easy. I told the team I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty. I have to tip my hat to Northern Colorado … We had opportunities to close it out a couple times but we couldn’t get a stop. Like I said, a good win but we have to get better.”

Boyle is in his 15th season in Boulder, where he has accumulated a 300-183 mark. His  overall head coaching record is 356-249.

“It means I’ve been here a long time and we’ve had a lot of good players,” Boyle said. “It means I’ve had a lot of good assistant coaches. But I know when I wake up tomorrow I’ll be thinking of how we get to 301.”

… Continue reading story here …

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November 8th – Game Day!

… CU in the Arena … 

Tad Boyle looks for win No. 300 as Buffs take on Northern Colorado

… Tip-off: 7:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … KOA radio … Listen Online: Sirius XM 383 … 

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado is 1-0 after its season-opening 76-56 win over Eastern Washington on Nov. 4 at the CU Events Center.

The Buffaloes rallied from a 17-point first half deficit to collect their ninth-straight season-opening win. Colorado trailed 27-10 at the 6:44 mark of the first half but was able to cut the margin to six at halftime thanks to a 10-2 run over the last 3:30 of the period. The Buffaloes then took over in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 51-25.

The 17-point deficit tied for the Buffaloes’ eighth-best comeback since 1947. Colorado had overcome a 17-point deficit on three other occasions, with one being another game against Eastern Washington on Dec. 22, 2016. The Buffaloes trailed 19-2 right out of the gate in that contest before fighting back for a 76-68 victory.

GRAND GRAD DEBUTS: Colorado’s three graduate transfers, spanning all levels of collegiate basketball, had successful debuts as Buffaloes on opening night.

Trevor Baskin, an NCAA Division II All-American at Colorado Mesa, played a key role in Colorado’s comeback win with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in 22 minutes.

Elijah Malone, the 2024 Bevo Francis Award winner as the best small college player in the nation, made his Division I debut with seven rebounds, four points and two blocks in just under 13 minutes.

Andrej Jakimovski, a four-year standout at old Pac-12 rival Washington State, had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

ABOUT THE BEARS: Northern Colorado opened the 2024-25 season with a 75-55 home win over Colorado College on Nov. 4. The Bears shot 45.8 percent from the field and dominated the class, outrebounding the NCAA Division III Tigers 48-27.

Junior guard Langston Reynolds led all scorers with 21 points hitting 7 of 11 from the field and 7 of 9 from the free throw line. Graduate guard Jaron Rillie grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and dished out five assists. Junior forward Brock Wisne just missed a double-double with 15 points, on 7 of 9 shooting, with nine rebounds. Junior guard Marcell McCreary added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

THE SERIES: This will be the 43rd meeting between Colorado and Northern Colorado in a series that dates back to a 35-20 Buffaloes win on Jan. 25, 1918. Colorado holds a 24-18 edge in the series and has won the last 12. All 18 of UNC’s wins in the series came in the 1920s and 1930s when the schools were rivals in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Head coach Tad Boyle is 6-0 against UNC, the program he coached from 2006-10.

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November 5th

… CU in the Arena … 

Buffs rally for 76-56 season-opening win over Eastern Washington (down 27-10 in first half) 

Related … “Halftime lineup shuffle pays off for CU Buffs” … from the Daily Camera

From CUBuffs.com …  Colorado overcame a 17-point first-half deficit Monday night to take control in the second half and collect a 76-56 win over Eastern Washington in the Buffaloes’ season opener at the CU Events Center.

Colorado improved to 13-2 in season openers under head coach Tad Boyle and 15-0 in home openers in the Boyle era.

But this one didn’t come easily. The Buffs were plagued by turnovers and poor shooting early and trailed, 27-10, with just under seven minutes to play in the first half.

But Colorado shaved the deficit to six points, 31-25, at the break, then slowly erased the deficit in the second half. The Buffs took their first lead of the game, 48-47, with just under 10 minutes to play, then cranked up the pressure with a 17-2 run to take control down the stretch and collect the win.

Colorado put four players in double figures, led by 13 points from freshman Sebastian Rancik, who was 4-for-5 from long distance. Javon Ruffin and Trevor Baskin each tallied 12 and Andrej Jakimovski added 11.

Nic McClain led EWU with 16.

The Buffs had 13 turnovers in the first half but just five after the break. After shooting just 33 percent in the first half, CU shot 56 percent after the break to finish the game 27-for-59 (45.8 percent).

Colorado held the Eagles to 36 percent shooting (21-for-58) and the Buffs also held a commanding 45-28 edge on the boards. Jakiovski and Elijah Malone each had seven rebounds for CU while Julian Hammond III led CU with four assists.

Even though the Buffs ended up winning by 20, Boyle was less than pleased with the overall effort.

“We obviously weren’t ready to play out of the gate tonight for whatever reason, and that’s very unusual for a team like this,” Boyle said. “We turned that thing over like it was nobody’s business and then started feeling sorry for ourselves … Eastern Washington was the better coached team and they played better than us. Thank God they got tired and they were playing at altitude. Otherwise it would have been a loss for us, but our guys finally woke up defensively. We got some stops, strung some stuff together and  got out in transition.”

… Continue reading story here …

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November 4th – Game Day!

… CU in the Arena … 

Can’t tell the players without a scorecard

From the Daily Camera … The Buffs’ three graduate transfers — Elijah Malone, Trevor Baskin and Andrej Jakimovski — are all but certain to make their CU debuts against Eastern Washington. Buffs fans might also get a glimpse of the team’s three true freshmen (Sebastian Rancik, Felix Kossaras, Andrew Crawford) in addition to redshirt freshman Courtney Anderson, whose preseason has been limited by a groin injury.

“This will be a work in progress,” Boyle said. “Again, we’ve got a lot of depth on this team. I had individual meetings with all these guys (last week) and talked to each player about kind of where I see them now and today. Now, where they are now and today might be completely different than where they are two weeks from now, or a month from now. What I want the freshmen to do is just come to work every day and learn and grow and get better. I don’t know how much they’ll play early. We’ll see.

“Now, I’m going to try and play 10 guys, maybe 11, on Monday. But we’ll see. I may get down to eight.”

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The CU men’s basketball team opens its 2024-25 season Monday night with a home date against Eastern Washington at the CU Events Center (7 p.m., ESPN+). Both teams sport overhauled rosters, Eastern Washington even more so than the Buffs.

The Eagles won the regular season crown in the Big Sky Conference last year before getting upset in the league tournament, but former coach David Riley parlayed that success into his new job as the leader at Washington State. Eastern Washington turned to veteran coach Dan Monson, best known for his time at Gonzaga who also is coming off a 17-year run at Long Beach State, which fired Monson last spring despite leading Long Beach to the Big West tournament championship and the NCAA Tournament.

… Read full story here …

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November 3rd

… CU in the Arena … 

Tad Boyle hopes to play ten players in opener (in search of a starting five)

From the Daily Camera … There are a whole bunch of lost points for Colorado to recover from last year’s high-scoring squad.

But the Buffaloes lost the bulk of their rebounding total, too.

With opening night for the 15th season under head coach Tad Boyle closing in for the CU men’s basketball team, plenty of questions remain for a new-look team that makes its season debut on Monday at home against Eastern Washington (7 p.m., ESPN+).

Boyle said he’s still uncertain who will fill the starting lineup and the top spots off the bench, although he also indicated he hopes to play up to 10 players in the opener. On a team with an abundance of question marks, Boyle expects to base the bulk of his personnel decisions on defense and rebounding, as he has throughout his CU tenure.

“I think this is a team, that we’ve got a lot of different guys that can start a game,” Boyle said following Friday’s practice. “To me, the question is who is going to finish the game. To me, that’s what I’m battling and considering, the finishers and not the starters. Quite frankly, I don’t think it matters. We don’t have that one dude, when he’s on the floor his team wins. We’ve had that in the past. We don’t have that with this team. The strength of this team is our depth, our ability to play together. It’s going to be different guys on different nights.”

While Colorado lost nearly 89% of the production that led to the second-highest point total in program history (2,935) there is a confidence the versatile Buffs will score enough points to compete. Boyle might be a little less confident in filling the holes on the glass.

… Continue reading story here …

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November 2nd

… CU in the Arena … 

Julian Hammond III and Javon Ruffin represent the old guard for new look CU

From the Daily Camera … It has been nearly four years since the Colorado men’s basketball team signed the most highly-regarded recruiting class in program history.

The group certainly has enjoyed its moments, thanks mostly to KJ Simpson. Yet as a unit the group has suffered significant attrition, and the five players signed in November of 2020 have collectively brought mixed reviews to Boulder.

Julian Hammond III and Javon Ruffin still have an opportunity to script the final chapters for the 2021 class.

That pair of senior guards, along with graduate transfer Andrej Jakimovski, represented the Buffaloes on Wednesday at the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball media day. Hammond and Ruffin have been productive when on the floor, but both have battled injury setbacks. This year, with the rest of their recruiting classmates now long gone, Hammond and Ruffin will be tasked with leading the way for a new-look Buffs rotation that will be thin on Division I experience beyond the trio that made the trip to Kansas City.

“I haven’t gotten a ton of opportunities to show what I can do, but I’m proud to be part of that class,” Ruffin said. “I think us being here, in this era, shows who we are. We’re loyal to where we came from. That’s the biggest part of being part of this class. There’s not many four-year guys left.”

Simpson put together one of the greatest seasons in program history last year before getting selected by Charlotte in the second round of this year’s NBA Draft. But that counts as the most significant, and nearly solitary, achievement by the 2021 class, which was ranked as the top group in the Pac-12 and 13th nationally by 247Sports.

… Continue reading story here …

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November 1st 

… CU in the Arena … 

Associated Press preseason poll: Five Big 12 teams in Top Ten (new record)

From USA Today … If the initial Associated Press poll is to be believed, the 2024-25 college basketball season could prove to be a monster season for fans of Big 12 men’s basketball.

The conference boasts not only the No. 1 overall team in the preseason rankings, released Monday afternoon, but also three of the top five teams and five of the top 10 teams. Led by coach Bill Self, the Kansas Jayhawks were the top-ranked team. Houston (No. 4) and Iowa State (No. 5) joined Kansas in the top five, while Baylor (No. 8) and newcomer Arizona (No. 10) also seem poised to make noise.

No. 20 Cincinnati was the other Big 12 team ranked in the top 25, while Texas Tech, Kansas State, BYU and Arizona State were all good enough to garner votes.

The Jayhawks were picked to win the 16-team Big 12 in the preseason poll released last week by coaches, while graduate center Hunter Dickinson was named the conference’s preseason player of the year. Kansas basketball also opened the 2023-24 season ranked No. 1 overall, but finished 23-11 and lost in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

The Big 12 tied the SEC with eight total bids in the 2023-24 NCAA Tournament, also a conference record. A ninth team, Oklahoma, was among the tournament’s “First Four out.” The Sooners and Texas ― which also qualified last season ― have since moved to the SEC.

Last season, the Big 12 had a tournament-high five teams reach the second round, but had only two teams reach the Sweet 16 and none in the Elite Eight. Houston and Iowa State reached the Sweet 16, as did Arizona, but it was in the Pac-12 last season.

1. Kansas (30)
2. Alabama (14)
3. UConn (11)
4. Houston (4)
5. Iowa State
6. Gonzaga (1)
7. Duke
8. Baylor
9. North Carolina
10. Arizona
11. Auburn
12. Tennessee
13. Texas A&M
14. Purdue
15. Creighton
16. Arkansas
17. Indiana
18. Marquette
19. Texas
20. Cincinnati
21. Florida
22. UCLA
23. Kentucky
24. Ole Miss
25. Rutgers

Others receiving votes: Illinois 92, St. John’s 91, Xavier 73, Texas Tech 58, Wake Forest 37, Kansas State 30, Michigan State 29, Ohio State 29, Michigan 19, BYU 14, Oregon 12, McNeese State 11, Miami 11, Boise St. 9, Saint Louis 9, Clemson 9, Providence 9, Mississippi State 6, VCU 6, Wisconsin 5, Saint Mary’s 5, Louisville 4, UAB 4, Arkansas-Little Rock 3, Grand Canyon 3, Arizona State 2, San Diego State 2, Princeton 2, High Point 1, Maryland 1.

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October 31st 

… CU in the Arena … 

CU picked 15th in Big 12 preseason poll

Press release from the Big 12 … Kansas was selected as the favorite in the Big 12 men’s basketball preseason poll, marking the 20th time in 28 seasons the Jayhawks have sat atop the preseason poll. KU’s Hunter Dickinson was voted as Preseason Player of the Year by the Conference’s head coaches for the second consecutive year.

Baylor’s Jeremy Roach and K-State’s Coleman Hawkins shared Preseason Co-Newcomer of the Year honors. The Bears’ VJ Edgecombe was Preseason Freshman of the Year.

The Jayhawks enter the season as the preseason favorite for the second consecutive year and were closely followed by Houston, who has ranked second in the preseason poll in both of its seasons in the Big 12. Iowa State, Baylor and Arizona rounded out the top five.

All awards were voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.

Preseason Big 12 Poll

1. Kansas (9 first-place votes) – 215 points
2. Houston (5) – 211
3. Iowa State (1) – 194
4. Baylor – 185
5. Arizona (1) – 179
6. Cincinnati – 140
7. Texas Tech – 135
8. Kansas State – 133
9. BYU – 116
10. TCU – 90
11. UCF – 83
12. Arizona State – 64
13. West Virginia – 62
14. Oklahoma State – 46
15. Colorado – 37
16. Utah – 30

Tags: Andrej Jakimovski, Assane Diop, Elijah Malone, Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola, Ian Inman, Isaiah Johnson, Jalin Holland, Javon Ruffin, Josiah Sanders, Julian Hammond, Julian Hammond III, Trevor Baskin
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