Colorado
9-2,0-0Big 12
Bellarmine
3-10,0-0ASUN
Buffaloes Roll Past Bellarmine In Final Nonconference Tuneup
December 21, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado took care of business Saturday at the CU Events Center as the Buffaloes rolled past Bellarmine, 79-55, in their final tuneup before Big 12 play.
Tad Boyle's Buffs improved to 9-2 with their fourth straight win while the overmatched Knights dropped to 3-10.
Colorado used a 25-4 run in the first half to cruise to a 45-16 edge at the break and the Knights never threatened to make it a game after halftime.
CU led by as much as 37 early in the second half but the Buffaloes' defense let up down the stretch, allowing the Knights to outscore Colorado 39-34 in the final 20 minutes.
The Buffs put three players in double figures, led by a career-high 15 points from sophomore forward Assane Diop on 7-for-11 shooting. Sophomore guard RJ Smith had 11 points and a team-high five rebounds while senior point guard Julian Hammond III had 10 points, five assists and four rebounds.
Dezmond McKinney led Bellarmine with 12 points.
Colorado shot 29-for-62 (47 percent) from the floor while the Knights were 21-for-53 (39.6 percent). CU also had a 38-30 edge on the boards, making the Buffs 95-6 in the Boyle era when hitting the "gold standard" of holding a team to 40 percent or less shooting and collecting at least a plus-8 rebound edge.
But despite the lopsided win, Boyle wasn't pleased with CU's second-half effort. Bellarmine outscored Colorado in the second half by five points while shooting almost 62 percent from the floor (16-for-26, including 6-for-12 from 3-point range).
"I was really, really disappointed in the second half," said Boyle, whose Buffs open Big 12 play on Dec. 30 at home against No. 3 Iowa State. "I thought we kind of mailed it in at halftime, and that was a challenge I gave to our team — don't play the scoreboard, play the possession — and we didn't do that at all … (The Knights) scored more points in the first eight minutes of the second half than they did the whole first half. That means our defense really took a step backwards and for us to be successful in the league we're going to play in starting December 30, that ain't good enough. You have to play for 40 minutes, not 20."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The second-half lapse came after the Buffs put the game away in the first 20 minutes. After Bellarmine took a quick 6-4 lead Colorado responded with a 25-4 run to take control.
Diop started the surge with his third bucket of the game, part of an 8-0 CU surge. Hammond added a three-point play, Trevor Baskin scored inside and Bangot Dak tallied a free throw to give CU a 12-6 edge.
Bellarmine momentarily stopped the run with a free throw and 3-pointer but Colorado then answered with a 15-0 surge to basically put the game away.
Dak scored on a dunk, Diop scored five in a row and Smith buried a corner 3-pointer to give CU a 24-10 lead. Elijah Malone then got into the act with three points and Diop scored again to give Colorado a 29-10 cushion with just more than five minutes to play in the half.
Defensively, the Buffs held Bellarmine to 1-for-11 shooting in the run, with the Knights going almost seven minutes without a point.
Colorado kept the pressure on after a timeout, building its lead to 45-16 by halftime. Hammond added a 3-pointer, Felix Kossaras scored four in a row and Sebastian Rancik and Smith each hit 3-pointers in the final two minutes to give the Buffs their 29-point halftime cushion.
Colorado shot 16-for-31 from the floor in the opening half, with 13 assists on the 16 baskets. The Buffs held the Knights to just 6-for-27 shooting, including 1-for-14 from long range, while also recording eight steals.
Boyle clearly liked what he saw from his squad in the first half, particularly on the defensive end.
"It's got to be that way for 40 minutes," he said. "Defense does not have possessions off, it doesn't have games off, doesn't have nights off. We don't understand that. We think, 'Oh, well, we were up by 29, game's over.' Well, the game's not over. They beat us. They scored 39 in the second half, and beat us."
Colorado built its lead to as much as 37 early in the second half before the Knights found their shooting eye and managed to cut the deficit into the 20s.
Boyle emptied his bench with just more than three minutes to play, giving several walk-ons a chance for court time down the stretch.
DECISIVE MOMENT: Colorado put this one away with a 15-0 run midway through the first half, turning a narrow 14-10 lead into a 29-10 cushion and the Knights never came close to cutting the deficit to single digits again.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado is now 136-41 in non-conference games in the Boyle era, including 104-8 in home non-conference games.
NEXT UP: The Buffs get a short holiday break before returning to action on Monday, Dec. 30, when they open Big 12 play with a 7 p.m. home game against Iowa State (CBSSN).
