Johnson Leads Buffs Past Montana State Season Opener

Monday, November 3

Boulder, Colo.

7 p.m.

Colorado

1-0,0-0Big 12

Montana State

0-1,0-0Big Sky

Montana St.

Colorado

November 03, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: Aiden Tank, Athletic Communications

BOULDER – Colorado overcame a seven-point second-half deficit Monday night, led by true freshman Isaiah Johnson's 24 second-half points, to outlast Montana State 84-78 in the season opener at the CU Event Center.

Colorado improved to 14-2 in season openers and 16-0 in home openers under head coach Tad Boyle.

With the game tied at 62 with 7:09 remaining, Johnson scored 16 of the next 18 points for the Buffs, including the game-winning free throws to put Colorado up for good.

All of Johnson's game-leading 24 points came in the second half. He went 6-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 from deep, and 10-of-12 from the line all in the final 20 minutes.

"I just kept wanting to be aggressive," Johnson said on the second half. "My teammates, my coaches, they kept telling me to be aggressive, even though I struggled in the first half."

Johnson was one of five true freshmen to see minutes, along with Jalin Holland, Fawaz "Tacko" Ifaola, Ian Inman, and Josiah Sanders, who all made contributions.

Four other Buffs reached double-figures in points, transfer Barrington Hargress and returners Bangot Dak, Elijah Malone, and Sebastian Rancik. Malone added 13 rebounds for his first double double of the season and his second at Colorado.

"Ian Inman didn't get minutes in the second half," Boyle commented on the freshman class. "He's going to be a hell of a player. Jalin Holland, really good defender, not afraid or scared of anything or anybody. He's going to be a terrific player. Josiah Sanders, tough, strong, a good finisher. I want to play more guys regular minutes. I really shrunk the rotation in the second half there. Taco [Fawaz "Tacko" Ifaola] came in, got two rebounds for us. This freshman class is going to be special. It's going to be special. We got to hold them together. This is going to be a fun team to watch grow and develop. And I told them, I'd rather grow and develop after a win than after a loss."

Patrick McMahon led Montana State in scoring with 24 points, including 20 of his own in the second half.

Colorado's offense improved in the second half after struggling to end the first half. After shooting just 42 percent on the first half, CU shot 62 percent in the second half to finish the game 27-of-52 (51.9%).

HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado opened up the 2025 season by making its first three shots and scoring on the opening four possessions. Malone got the Buffs started, knocking down two free throws. A Rancik 3-pointer, followed by a layup by Dak, and a Felix Kossaras mid-range jump shot led to an early 7-0 run to give a 12-5 lead.

Sanders made the first shot of his career after an offensive rebound to push the lead to eight points. He was one of four true freshmen to play in the first eight minutes of the game.
Fellow true freshman Inman made his impact on both sides of the court, diving on the floor for a steal before kicking it ahead to Kossaras for the fastbreak dunk to go up 22-14 with 10:45 left in the first half.

After going up nine points, Montana State started to stifle the Buffs, leading to a 13-1 run to take the lead 31-28 with three minutes left in the opening half. The Buffs ended the half, making only two of their final 13 shots, going into the break down 33-32.

Colorado struggled shooting the ball in the first half, going 1-of-7 from behind the arc and 7-of-14 from the free-throw line. They used turnovers and the fast break to score early. They forced eight Bobcat turnovers and turned that into eight points. The Buffs outscored Montana State 10-0 in points of turnovers and 5-0 in fastbreak points in the opening 20 minutes.

Malone again started the half scoring, this time on a layup from a Dak pass. He followed that up by picking up his third foul, leading to the fifth true freshman to make his debut in Ifaola.
After some back-and-forth, Dak put down an and-1 followed by a Johnson layup, the fifth straight make to cut the Bobcat lead to 50-47.

Johnson added a 3-pointer to his night, putting one down on a kickout from Malone after an offensive rebound for only the second shot from deep.

As the intensity ramped up, Rancik completed the third and-1 of the half for the Buffs to retake the lead 56-54 for the first time since 28-27 with six minutes left in the first half.

After trading baskets, the scoring for the Buffs came from Hargraves and Johnson, who scored eight straight, leading to a 70-69 advantage.

Montana State scored two straight baskets and Johnson responded with three free throws after being fouled on a shot from deep to cut the lead back to 74-73 with 3:07 remaining.

Johnson continued his scorching hot second-half with a pull-up transition 3-pointer and a circus layup to put the Buffs up 78-76.

Following a Bobcats basket to tie the game, Johnson hit two game-winning free throws to up his total for the night to 24 points. After a stop, Rancik and Kossaras each hit free throws of their own to ice the game 84-78.

UP NEXT
The Buffs play host to Eastern Washington on Saturday in a 2 p.m. game at the CU Events Center (ESPN+).