Colorado
7-2,0-0Big 12
Colorado State
5-4,0-0Mountain West
Boyle's Buffs Roll Past Rival Colorado State
December 07, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado used a 16-0 run to take control in the first half Saturday and the Buffaloes went on to collect a 72-55 win over in-state rival Colorado State at the CU Events Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs improved to 7-2 while Colorado State fell to 5-4.
Colorado never trailed in the game, taking the lead for good early on a Bangot Dak 3-pointer. The Buffs then used a 16-0 run to build a 30-11 cushion with just under 8 minutes to play in the first half and extended the margin to 43-21 by the break.
CU pushed its lead to as much as 26 early in the second half, 56-30, before the Rams managed to shave the deficit into the teens down the stretch. But CSU never managed to get back within single digits and the Buffs held on for the win.
Bangot Dak led the Buffs in scoring with a career-high 16 points, Julian Hammond III added 13 and Elijah Malone chipped in 10. Trevor Baskin scored nine points and grabbed 11 boards and Assane Diop had eight rebounds.
Jalen Lake led CSU with 18 points while the Buffs held Rams leading scorer (and former Buff) Nique Clifford to just 10 points — two in the first half — on 4-for-15 shooting.
CU shot 50 percent (28-for-56) while holding the Rams to just 31 percent (20-for-64). The Buffs had a dominant 44-33 edge on the boards, finishing with 11 second-chance points on eight offensive rebounds, and also recorded 18 assists.
"Really a step in the right direction tonight for our team, our program," Boyle said "I thought we brought the fight to Colorado State from the get-go defensively. I felt like we exerted our will and they felt our presence a little bit in that first half … The (defensive) job that Andrej Jakimovski did on Nique Clifford I thought was the individual defensive performance of the game, but I thought our team defense was really good as well. When you hold someone to 31 percent shooting, you're going to live with that every night."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs jumped out to an early lead and never trailed.
An Assane Diop 3-pointer broke a 5-5 tie and the Buffs quickly built the lead to seven on a Malone bucket inside.
CSU managed to shave the Colorado lead to three, 14-11, with a basket inside at the 12:15 mark but the Buffs then broke the game open with their decisive 16-0 run.
Trevor Baskin started the surge with a baseline drive and dunk, followed by a pair of Dak baskets inside.
CU continued to pour it on after a timeout. Malone scored five in a row, getting a dunk inside before draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key, then handed out an assist to Harrison Carrington to push the run to 14-0.
Dak then finished the run with another basket inside and Colorado had a 30-11 lead with 7:38 still to play in the half.
CSU finally ended a five-minute scoring drought and 10 straight misses from the floor with a Keshawn Williams 3-pointer, but the Buffs didn't stop, pushing their lead to 35-14 on an Jakimovski offensive rebound and basket.
Colorado's offense then hit a brief lull that saw the Buffs commit three straight turnovers, allowing the Rams to cut CU's lead to 16.
But the Buffs finished the half on a strong note, out-scoring the Rams 8-2 over the final three minutes, with an RJ Smith 3-pointer just before the buzzer giving the Buffs a 43-21 lead at the break.
CU finished the half shooting 18-for-33 from the floor with 11 assists on those 18 buckets. The Buffs defense held CSU to 9-for-34 shooting and Colorado also had a 24-12 rebound edge in the first 20 minutes.
"I feel like we put a big emphasis on making them feel our pressure," Dak said. "We thought we made them feel our pressure from the start and that got them off their game. So I think that helped us all throughout the game."
Colorado then quickly built its lead to 26 early in the second half as five unanswered points from Dak gave CU a 56-30 cushion at the 12:10 mark.
The Rams then managed to cut the Buffs' edge to 14 down the stretch but the Buffs kept CSU at bay in the final minutes to secure the win.
Neither Dak nor Hammond received scholarship offers from CSU, a point they both mentioned in their post-game press conferences.
"(The win) feels good, being from here," said Hammond, who played prep ball at Cherry Creek. "Everybody comes up to watch it. It feels good to beat them and also feels a little bit better because they didn't offer me, so it feels a little bit better to beat them."
DECISIVE MOMENT: The Buffs turned a 3-point lead into a 19-point edge in the first half with a 16-0 run and their cushion never dipped into single digits again the rest of the game.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado now holds a 93-39 all-time edge in the series, including a 56-9 lead in Boulder … CU is now 102-8 in home non-conference games under Boyle … The Buffs have now won nine straight at the Events Center.
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to South Dakota State next Friday in a 7 p.m. contest at the CU Events Center (ESPN+).
