Colorado
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Eastern Washington
0-1,0-0Big Sky
Buffs Overcome Slow Start To Thump EWU In Season Opener
November 04, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — 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."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs were plagued by turnovers from the outset. Colorado committed six miscues in the first six minutes and with 13:54 to play in the first half, Colorado trailed 14-4.
CU's troubles continued over the next seven minutes. The Buffs hit just five of their first 21 field goal attempts, including an 0-for-8 effort from 3-point range, and with 6:45 remaining in the half, the Eagles held a 27-10 lead.
But the Buffs finally found their footing and began to narrow the gap.
Hammond started a 9-2 CU run with a drive to the hoop, followed by a Ruffin field goal and Baskin free throw.
EWU momentarily stopped the run with a basket inside but Colorado quickly responded with a 3-pointer from Rancik and a free throw from Jakimovski to complete a 9-2 surge.
Colorado continued to chip away at the deficit over the final two minutes. Ruffin hit another bucket in the paint before Jakimovski connected on two free throws to pull the Buffs to within single digits, 31-23.
The Buffs then cut the EWU to six just before halftime. Baskin made a nice hustle play on the baseline to keep a loose ball alive and flipped it back to Hammond, who scored just before the buzzer to send the Buffs into the break trailing 31-25.
Colorado opened the second half with a 6-0 run, getting a Baskin bucket and free throw and a Jakimovski 3-pointer to tie the score at 31-31. But the Eagles answered with a 6-0 run of their own and held onto the lead over the next six minutes.
But the Buffs finally shifted momentum in their favor. After pulling to within 44-40 on a Bangot Dak 3-pointer and Ruffin basket inside, Colorado hit seven straight field goal attempts coming out of a timeout to take the lead.
Rancik started the surge with a free throw before following with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 44-44. EWU temporarily regained the lead before Ruffin scored to tie it again at 46-46.
EWU once again regained the lead with a free throw but Ruffin finally gave CU its first lead of the game, 48-47, with a basket inside.
Colorado then followed with five points in a row to take control. Hammond hit a 3-pointer off a nice feed from Diop and Diop followed with a basket off the glass. That completed a CU 7-0 run and elicited a timeout from EWU with the Buffs holding a 53-47 lead with 8:29 to play.
Defensively, the Buffs were also much better in the second half, holding EWU to just 9-for-28 shooting after the break. The Buffs forced six straight empty Eagles possessions in the decisive stretch.
"Everything starts on the defensive end," said Baskin, a transfer from Colorado Mesa who had six rebounds and two assists to go with his 12 points. "We kind of were able to climb back in it towards the end of the first half, and I think we really emphasized that. And then obviously the last 10 minutes we were getting stops, getting out and running, and we were able to get into our actions early on in the possession and get paint touches."
The Buffs then pushed their run to 12-0 after the timeout. Rancik hit another 3-pointer and Baskin scored off an offensive rebound, and with just under six minutes to play, Colorado was in control with a 58-47 lead.
The Buffs continued to exert their will over the next three minutes. Jakimovski scored in the paint, RJ Smith hit a 3-pointer and Baskin hit a layup to complete a 17-2 Buffs run and give CU a 63-49 lead with 3:43 to play.
The Buffs then maintained control over the final minutes. Another Smith 3-pointer with 2:34 to play gave the Buffs a 17-point lead, 68-51, and Colorado kept the Eagles at bay down the stretch for the season-opening win.
"The strength of this team is the depth of this team," Boyle said. "Right now, we go 11 deep. It's hard to play 11 guys. It might be different guys on different nights, and if they don't buy into that, we're going to have problems. If they do buy into it, we'll be fine, but we're going to watch a lot of film. There's a lot of improvements to be made."
DECISIVE MOMENT: A 17-2 run midway through the second half turned a tight game into a CU runaway down the stretch.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado is 96-8 (.923) in non-conference home games under Boyle,
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs had a dominating 45-28 edge on the boards … After missing their first eight 3-point tries, the Buffs hit nine of their next 15.
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to Northern Colorado on Friday in a 7 p.m. game at the CU Events Center (ESPN+).
