BOULDER– After a worrisome first half performance, the Colorado Buffaloes defeated the Towson Tigers 75-57 in their season opener on Monday night thanks to an unreal second half shooting surge.
“Good first win,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said, “a tale of two halves, obviously.”
Going into the match, the Buffs garnered the expectations of no Colorado team Boyle has coached before. With Towson as the first opponent, a win seemed guaranteed.
For the first few minutes, it was.
After winning the opening tip, senior J’Vonne Hadley found junior KJ Simpson on a backdoor cut for the first points of the season. An and-one by Hadley and a drive by senior forward Luke O’Brien gave the Buffs an early 7-0 lead.
Simpson’s opening basket sparked a 22-point night for the Buffs’ starting point guard. He shot 7-of-9 from the field, ripping the net on 3-of-4 three-point attempts. The junior added three rebounds, three assists, and a steal to his performance while committing zero turnovers.
“That’s been a big focal point that I’ve been trying to focus on,” Simpson said about his zero turnovers. “It’s good to go out there and kinda show it. I’m capable of doing that every night.”
Riding the momentum, Boyle looked towards the bench to continue the opening play. As former Texas Christian University big man Eddie Lampkin Jr. subbed into the game, the Events Center welcomed him with a resounding cheer. On his first play, the senior scored his first points as a Buffalo.
“He just wants to see this team win,” Simpson said about Lampkin. “He doesn't care how he does it, he just wants to have a good time out there.”
The senior center scored four points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out two assists in his Colorado debut. Although, Lampkin committed four fouls and turned the ball over five times. He came off the bench and played 18 minutes in his debut after undergoing a back procedure this offseason.
As the Buffs reached the 13-minute mark of the first half, they enjoyed a 12-point lead. Their defensive presence forced tough shots for the Tigers and kept Towson out of the paint.
“I was really proud of our defensive effort that first 20 minutes,” Boyle said. “We really guarded at a high, high level and we pretty much did that the whole game.”
After Boyle subbed out his leading scorer on the night in Simpson, the lead started to unravel. A quick four points by Towson forward Charles Thompson ignited the late first half run for the Tigers. As the Buffs tried to retaliate, a three-pointer by redshirt freshman Dylan Williamson and an and-one by freshman Tyler Tejada led the way for Towson.
Come halftime, the Buffs' 12-point lead was brought to four. Across the last 5:34 of the half, Towson outscored Colorado, 13-4.
CU shot 10-of-24 from the field and 0-of-7 from deep and they turned the ball over eight times in the first 20 minutes of play.
“In the first half, you know, we were kinda more stagnant and we were just not moving as much,” Simpson said. “That’s why we had a lot of turnovers.”
The Buffs’ leading scorer from last year, Tristan da Silva, was scoreless with only one attempted field goal.
“I just wasn’t playing like myself, I wasn’t being aggressive out there,” da Silva said about his scoreless first half. “I was really frustrated with myself in the halftime break.”
Coming out of the half, the Buffs were unconscious.
“In the second half, we got guys cutting– shoutout J’Vonne rolling hard– and we’re just making the easy, simple plays,” Simpson said. “You know, one more passes, getting the easy shots, just simple basketball. So we played with more pace in the second half and that’s all coach was trying to talk about.”
On the first play, some smooth ball movement opened up Simpson for Colorado’s first three of the night. A play later, da Silva knocked down a three of his own for his first points of the contest.
As the Colorado collective let out a sigh of relief, Simpson got open for the Buffs’ third straight three-pointer. With the crowd in a frenzy, Towson looked to respond. But after a block by da Silva made the crowd even louder, it was the O’Brien three a few seconds later that blew the top off the Events Center.
In their first four possessions of the second half, Colorado shot 4-of-4 from deep while allowing zero points on the defensive end. Up 40-24, the Buffs didn’t look back.
“When the shots do start falling you can break that thing open and that’s what happened,” Boyle said. “But we kept guarding and that was the key.”
Colorado proceeded to nail four more threes before their first miss of the half on their ninth attempt. Da Silva poured in 13 points in the second half.
“You know, that’s why you got teammates for,” da Silva said in regard to what he did during halftime before his second half turnaround. “Picking you up, talking to you, getting you motivated to step out there and fight with them. You know, I’d do anything for them.”
As the game wrapped up, Boyle looked towards his bench. Freshmen forwards Assane Diop and Bangot Dak entered the game and hit free throws for the first points of their collegiate career. Their highly-touted freshman counterpart, Cody Williams, also scored his first points in a Buffs’ uniform from the line.
“I feel like these freshmen are way more experienced and calm than I was a freshman,” da Silva said. “Props to them.”
Williams, ESPN’s No. 7 recruit in the class of 2023, finished with four points on 1-of-4 shooting along with four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in 30 minutes of play.
In the 18-point win, the Buffs took care of business. Their defense shined with its suffocating nature, forcing 11 turnovers and keeping Towson out of the paint for most of the night.
“Our goal is to hold opponents to under 40% field goal and then outrebound them by at least eight,” da Silva said. “That’s what we did tonight and that’s basically the recipe to success for us.”
Towson shot 19-of-54 (35.2%) from the field on the night while Colorado won the rebound battle by 12 rebounds (38-26).
The Buffs play again Friday night at the CU Events Center against the Grambling State Tigers. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MST.
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