Colorado University Athletics
Friday, November 11
Boulder, Colo.
7:00 PM
Colorado
1-0
90
vs
53
Sacramento State
0-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento State | 19 | 34 | 53 |
| Colorado | 42 | 48 | 90 |
Buffs Go Long, Bury Hornets 90-53 In Season Hoops Opener
November 11, 2016 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
CU shoots 61.9 percent from 3-point range, 53.3 percent overall
BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes shot down Sacramento State 90-53 on Friday night at the Coors Events Center, opening the 2016-17 men's basketball season with an impressive display of long-range shooting and overall balance.
CU, which shot 38.9 percent from 3-point range last season, hit 13 of its 21 3-point attempts (61.9 percent) and finished opening night at 53.3 percent overall from the field (32-of-60).
Dominique Collier (12 points), Josh Fortune (11) and George King (10) reached double figures on a night when 10 of Tad Boyle's 12 players who suited up scored.
Collier, coming off the bench, hit four of his six 3-point attempts while 6-10 freshman Lucas Siewert made all three of his shots from beyond the arc.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs rolled to a 23-point halftime lead (42-19), shooting 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from the field while holding the Hornets to 20.6 percent (7-of-34).
CU took a 3-0 lead on Derrick White's trey – the first field goal attempt of his Buffs career – and steadily pulled away over the next 8 minutes. White, who sat out last season after transferring from UCCS, finished the half with a team-high seven points and nine for the night.
Boyle said White "was about 70 percent" after suffering a twisted ankle in a midweek practice and Collier also was recovering from a foot injury.
Boyle used 10 players in the first half and nine of them scored. He cleared his bench in the final minutes.
The Buffs opened their first double-figure lead (16-6) on a 3-pointer by Fortune with just under 12:30 to play in the opening half. Fortune's trey was one of seven in the first half by CU, as the Buffs shot 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from behind the arc.
From that point, CU increased its lead to 17 points on two occasions before a layup by White at the first-half buzzer produced the 23-point bulge at intermission.
The Buffs kept up the pressure in the second half, building a 73-36 advantage with 7:47 remaining and coasting to their final margin. The Hornets never led and managed just one early tie.
TURNING POINT: After a 6-6 tie, the Buffs went on an 18-1 run to go up 24-7. CU hit four of its seven first-half treys during that surge, with Collier, Fortune, Tory Miller and Deleon Brown knocking down the four long-range shots.
CU STANDOUTS: Collier – 12 points (4-of-6 3-pointers); Fortune – 11 points (4-of-5 from the field, 2-of-2 3-pointers); Wes Gordon – 12 rebounds, 7 points; White – 9 points, 4 assists; George King – 10 points; Thomas Akyazili, 8 points, 6 assists.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs held the Hornets to seven first-half field goals in 34 attempts (20.6 percent) in building a 23-point halftime lead. Sac State's final shooting percentage was 29.4 percent (20-of-68) . . . . CU finished with 20 assists on 32 made field goals and committed only 10 turnovers . . . . The Buffs outrebounded the Hornets 47-40 but Boyle wasn't pleased with Sac State's 17 offensive rebounds.
WHAT IT MEANS: The best thing to be gleaned from most openers is a 'W' – and that's what the Buffs took from this one. But that was far from the lone takeaway; Boyle's seventh CU team offered plenty of opening-night upside. It demonstrated depth, athleticism and every bit of the offensive firepower that was expected. As always, though, Boyle's emphasis in the coming weeks will be on ratcheting up his defense and board work.
NOTEWORTHY: CU's opening night starters: F – Wesley Gordon, F Xavier Johnson, G – Derrick White, G – George King, G – Josh Fortune . . . . The Buffs' first three players off the bench: G – Dominique Collier, F Tory Miller, G Thomas Akyazili . . . . First true freshman to play: Siewert . . . . Freshman Deleon Brown's first college field goal attempt was a 3-pointer from the left corner. Swish . . . . Freshman guard Bryce Peters sat out Friday night's game, the first of a two-game suspension for violating team rules . . . . With 12:09 left in the first half, Miller hit his first career 3-pointer, giving the Buffs their largest lead (19-6) to that point. Miller might not have planned to bank in the straight away trey attempt – or maybe he did . . . . Boyle coached against Sacramento State head coach Brian Katz in the Big Sky Conference when Boyle was coaching Northern-Colorado. Katz is in his ninth season at Sac State . . . . New at the Coors Events Center this season: Hand rails in the upper reaches of all aisles . . . . Friday night marked the first of three consecutive home games for the Buffs. Their first road trip features a pair of neutral site games on Nov. 21-22 at the Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in the Legends Classic . . . . CU's first real road game isn't until Dec. 3 when the Buffs play at Portland.
QUOTEWORTHY: "As home openers go this was a good one . . . we lost (intensity) at times in the second half, but overall it was good. – Boyle on the Buffs' opening-night effort
"I hope we can expect it . . . it helps when we play inside-out. The defense collapses and then we kick it out. We have a lot of different guys who can shoot. If we continue to play unselfishly and shoot it like that we'll be tough to guard." – Boyle on CU's 3-point shooting
"It was awesome . . . I'm blessed to be back on the court. You can't take anything for granted." – Xavier Johnson on his return after sitting out last season with a torn Achilles tendon
"We can all score the ball, that's what you're going to see a lot of this year." – 'XJ' on the Buffs' firepower
"It was a cool feeling playing with my teammates . . . scoring the first points was awesome." – Derrick White on opening his CU career by scoring the first points of the season
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to Seattle University (7 p.m., Coors Events Center) on Monday in the first game of the Legends Classic. The tournament continues on Thursday night at CEC (7 p.m.) when Louisiana-Monroe visits. Both games will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
CU, which shot 38.9 percent from 3-point range last season, hit 13 of its 21 3-point attempts (61.9 percent) and finished opening night at 53.3 percent overall from the field (32-of-60).
Dominique Collier (12 points), Josh Fortune (11) and George King (10) reached double figures on a night when 10 of Tad Boyle's 12 players who suited up scored.
Collier, coming off the bench, hit four of his six 3-point attempts while 6-10 freshman Lucas Siewert made all three of his shots from beyond the arc.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs rolled to a 23-point halftime lead (42-19), shooting 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from the field while holding the Hornets to 20.6 percent (7-of-34).
CU took a 3-0 lead on Derrick White's trey – the first field goal attempt of his Buffs career – and steadily pulled away over the next 8 minutes. White, who sat out last season after transferring from UCCS, finished the half with a team-high seven points and nine for the night.
Boyle said White "was about 70 percent" after suffering a twisted ankle in a midweek practice and Collier also was recovering from a foot injury.
Boyle used 10 players in the first half and nine of them scored. He cleared his bench in the final minutes.
The Buffs opened their first double-figure lead (16-6) on a 3-pointer by Fortune with just under 12:30 to play in the opening half. Fortune's trey was one of seven in the first half by CU, as the Buffs shot 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from behind the arc.
From that point, CU increased its lead to 17 points on two occasions before a layup by White at the first-half buzzer produced the 23-point bulge at intermission.
The Buffs kept up the pressure in the second half, building a 73-36 advantage with 7:47 remaining and coasting to their final margin. The Hornets never led and managed just one early tie.
TURNING POINT: After a 6-6 tie, the Buffs went on an 18-1 run to go up 24-7. CU hit four of its seven first-half treys during that surge, with Collier, Fortune, Tory Miller and Deleon Brown knocking down the four long-range shots.
CU STANDOUTS: Collier – 12 points (4-of-6 3-pointers); Fortune – 11 points (4-of-5 from the field, 2-of-2 3-pointers); Wes Gordon – 12 rebounds, 7 points; White – 9 points, 4 assists; George King – 10 points; Thomas Akyazili, 8 points, 6 assists.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs held the Hornets to seven first-half field goals in 34 attempts (20.6 percent) in building a 23-point halftime lead. Sac State's final shooting percentage was 29.4 percent (20-of-68) . . . . CU finished with 20 assists on 32 made field goals and committed only 10 turnovers . . . . The Buffs outrebounded the Hornets 47-40 but Boyle wasn't pleased with Sac State's 17 offensive rebounds.
WHAT IT MEANS: The best thing to be gleaned from most openers is a 'W' – and that's what the Buffs took from this one. But that was far from the lone takeaway; Boyle's seventh CU team offered plenty of opening-night upside. It demonstrated depth, athleticism and every bit of the offensive firepower that was expected. As always, though, Boyle's emphasis in the coming weeks will be on ratcheting up his defense and board work.
NOTEWORTHY: CU's opening night starters: F – Wesley Gordon, F Xavier Johnson, G – Derrick White, G – George King, G – Josh Fortune . . . . The Buffs' first three players off the bench: G – Dominique Collier, F Tory Miller, G Thomas Akyazili . . . . First true freshman to play: Siewert . . . . Freshman Deleon Brown's first college field goal attempt was a 3-pointer from the left corner. Swish . . . . Freshman guard Bryce Peters sat out Friday night's game, the first of a two-game suspension for violating team rules . . . . With 12:09 left in the first half, Miller hit his first career 3-pointer, giving the Buffs their largest lead (19-6) to that point. Miller might not have planned to bank in the straight away trey attempt – or maybe he did . . . . Boyle coached against Sacramento State head coach Brian Katz in the Big Sky Conference when Boyle was coaching Northern-Colorado. Katz is in his ninth season at Sac State . . . . New at the Coors Events Center this season: Hand rails in the upper reaches of all aisles . . . . Friday night marked the first of three consecutive home games for the Buffs. Their first road trip features a pair of neutral site games on Nov. 21-22 at the Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in the Legends Classic . . . . CU's first real road game isn't until Dec. 3 when the Buffs play at Portland.
QUOTEWORTHY: "As home openers go this was a good one . . . we lost (intensity) at times in the second half, but overall it was good. – Boyle on the Buffs' opening-night effort
"I hope we can expect it . . . it helps when we play inside-out. The defense collapses and then we kick it out. We have a lot of different guys who can shoot. If we continue to play unselfishly and shoot it like that we'll be tough to guard." – Boyle on CU's 3-point shooting
"It was awesome . . . I'm blessed to be back on the court. You can't take anything for granted." – Xavier Johnson on his return after sitting out last season with a torn Achilles tendon
"We can all score the ball, that's what you're going to see a lot of this year." – 'XJ' on the Buffs' firepower
"It was a cool feeling playing with my teammates . . . scoring the first points was awesome." – Derrick White on opening his CU career by scoring the first points of the season
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to Seattle University (7 p.m., Coors Events Center) on Monday in the first game of the Legends Classic. The tournament continues on Thursday night at CEC (7 p.m.) when Louisiana-Monroe visits. Both games will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Team Stats
SAC
COLO
FG%
.294
.533
3FG%
.091
.619
FT%
.524
.722
RB
40
47
TO
9
10
STL
3
1
Game Leaders
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
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G/F
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