Buffs Meet Cardinal In Hall Of Fame Series

Saturday, December 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Colorado

Stanford

Photo by: Tony Harman

December 19, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Colorado Notes Stanford Notes Buy Tickets Donate To Men's Basketball

By: Troy Andre, Associate Director/Athletic Communications

Game 12 - Stanford, Saturday, December 20, 2025
Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix, Ariz.
Tip: 6:05 p.m. MT
Watch: ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein, Corey Williams) https://buffs.me/4jfTp1O
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Listen Online: Sirius XM 382, SXM App 972 https://sxm.app.link/SXM972
Live Statistics: http://statb.us/b/610259

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 10-1 overall, winners of its last two after an 84-73 decision over Portland State on Dec. 17 at the CU Events Center. The Buffaloes are off to their best start through 11 games since the 2015-16 team was also 10-1 en route to an 11-1 start. Colorado, which was 9-2 during the nonconference schedule a year ago, didn't win its 10th game last season until Feb. 15.

Colorado's offense has been strong during nonconference play, ranking among the nation's best in several categories. The Buffaloes are 17th in the nation in 3-point shooting at 39.7 percent, while also not relying on that shot. Colorado is attempting the 26th-fewest 3-pointers in the nation at only 18.1 per game.

Overall, the Buffaloes are shooting 51.5 percent from the field, ranking third in the Big 12 Conference and 18th in the country. Colorado is averaging 88.0 points per game, ranking fifth in the Big 12 and 32nd in the nation.

Much of Colorado's offensive success has come with dominant second half performances. The Buffaloes are averaging 47.5 points on a whopping 55.8 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from 3-point range over the final 20 minutes of games, compared to 38.9 points on 47.6 percent overall and 36.1 percent from downtown in the first half.

Against UTSA, Colorado shot just 33.4 percent in the first half (11 of 32), its worst half of the season. The Buffaloes regrouped and shot 62.2 percent in the second half. It was the sixth time in 10 games Colorado has shot 60 percent or better in the second half.

Colorado has been taking care of the ball. The Buffaloes are 25th in the nation in turnovers at just 9.7 per game and 20th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8). Colorado committed just six turnovers at CSU, its fewest since giving up four against Utah on Feb. 24, 2024. Colorado has four games this season with single-digit turnovers, compared to just one in 35 games in 2024-25. The program has a long-standing single-game team goal of 11 turnovers or fewer and has hit that mark in 10 of 11 contests.

SCORING BALANCE: Colorado had at least four players score in double figures in its first nine and 10 out of 11 games. In four of those contests, Montana State, Alabama State, UC Davis and Washington, five Buffaloes had at least 10 points.

Colorado had only four games with four players scoring in double figures in 35 contests last year (3-1 record) and none with five. Prior to this season, the NCAA Tournament win over Florida on March 22, 2024 was the last instance of five double-digit scorers.

The Buffaloes have had five different players lead the team in scoring this season and four have had 20-point games. Freshman Isaiah Johnson picked up his second 20-point game, scoring 20, to lead Colorado over Portland State.

Colorado is averaging 36.2 points per game from its bench accounting for 41 percent of the team's scoring. The Buffaloes' reserves are shooting 51.0 percent from the field while also pitching in 12.9 rebounds per game.

Colorado's 36.2 bench points per game is lead the Big 12 and ranks 19th in NCAA Division I.

Freshman Isaiah Johnson is Colorado's leading scorer while coming off the bench in all 11 games. His 15.2 points per game average off the bench leads all Power 4 Conference players and is second in NCAA Division I overall, trailing only Loyola Marymount's Myron Amey Jr. (15.5 ppg).

Johnson led the Buffaloes in scoring for the fourth time this season with 20 points in the win over Portland State, including a perfect 11 of 11 showing from the free throw line. Johnson also dished out three assists against the Vikings and is averaging 3.8 over the last four games. He had a career-high six against UTSA.

Junior Barrington Hargress leads Colorado in both assists (53) and steals (13) while ranking third on the team in scoring at 12.7 points per game.

Hargress recorded a CU-best 23 points in the win over UTSA, the 25th overall 20-point game in his collegiate career. He tied an overall career-high and a team season high with five 3-point field goals.

On the Big 12 charts, Hargress ranks fifth in field goal percentage (.571) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3) and 11th in assists. He has made eight of his last 10 from 3-point range over the last three games.

Sophomore Sebastian Rancik is second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg), assists (28) and rebounding (5.3 rpg).

His rebounding numbers have picked up, averaging 6.1 rebounds over the last seven games. Rancik tied a career-high with nine against San Francisco.

Rancik leads the team and ranks seventh in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 84.5 percent. He has made 49 of 58 from the line, which includes a string of 25-straight made between the Eastern Washington and UC Davis games.

Junior forward Bangot Dak leads the Buffaloes and is 13th in the Big 12 at 7.1 rebounds per game and seventh in blocks at 1.8 per outing. He is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game while shooting 51 percent from the field.

Dak recorded his second career double-double in the win over Portland State with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He had a pair of blocks, marking his sixth straight game with at least two blocked shots.

Freshman Alon Michaeli is averaging 10.8 points on 51.9 percent shooting in his 10 games off the bench. He has scored in double figures in seven of those contests. Michaeli had a team-high 19 points at Colorado State, hitting 8 of 12 from the field. He just missed a double-double against Portland State with a career-high 10 rebounds and nine points.

CU IN THE NET: A snapshot of Colorado's NET rankings in 2025-26 (through games of Dec. 19).

Current: 49 | Highest: 39 (Dec. 2) | Lowest: 49 (Dec. 19)

Opponent Net Rank: 117 | Opponent Avg. Net: 163

Quad 1: 0-1 | Quad 2: 1-0 | Quad 3: 4-0 | Quad 4: 5-0

ABOUT THE CARDINAL: Stanford is 9-2 overall and heads to Phoenix on a two-game winning streak after beating UT Arlington 76-60 at home. The Cardinal are averaging 81.7 points per game, shooting 44.5 percent from the field. Stanford has been solid getting to the foul line, leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in free throw attempts with 25.6 per game. Defensively, the Cardinal are allowing 72.0 points per game, and have held opponents to 46.2 percent shooting. Stanford is also toward the top of the ACC in turnovers forced, ranking third at 15.0 per game.

Freshman guard Ebuka Okorie leads the Cardinal at 21.0 points per game which ranks second in the ACC and 18th in the entire country. Okorie also leads Stanford in minutes per game, field goal percentage, and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Cardinal have three other players who average double-digits in points: Chisom Okpara (15.4), Benny Gealer (11.0), and AJ Rohosy (10.5). Graduate forward Rohosy leads the team on the glass with 68 total rebounds this season. Gealer is the top 3-point shooter, making 2.36 per game, the ninth most in the ACC.

THE SERIES: This will be the 32nd meeting between Colorado and
Stanford with the Buffaloes holding a 20-11 series lead. Colorado dominated the series during the Buffaloes 13-year run in the Pac-12, winning 17 of the 21 meetings from 2012-24, including the final seven. Stanford has the advantage two neutral court meetings. The first was a 46-35 decision in the 1942 NCAA Final Four in Kansas City. The other neutral site meeting was also in Kansas City, on Dec. 29, 1951, in the Big Seven Christmas Tournament, a 62-60 Stanford win.