The Colorado Buffaloes kicked off their 2024-2025 campaign against the Eastern Washington Eagles Monday night at the CU Events Center. The Buffs beat the Eagles 76-56 in a come-from-behind victory.
The first starting five for the Colorado Buffaloes this season featured Julian Hammond III (guard), Bangot Dak (forward), Javon Ruffin (guard), Andrej Jakimovski (forward), and Elijah Malone (center).
The Buffs’ first bucket of the season was a mid-range jumper from grad transfer Elijah Malone. The Buffs started slow and head coach Tad Boyle was forced to call a timeout just over five minutes into the game.
"I just kept begging them to take care of the ball, take great shots, and try to get stops. We got three kills, which is three stops in a row in the first half. The only way you're going to get back in a game when you're down 16 points is getting stops. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well in the first half. I thought our ability to take care of the ball in the second half was better." Boyle said.
At the timeout, the Buffs subbed in transfer Trevor Baskin (forward) and Assane Diop (forward), but the substitutions didn’t make a difference, as Eastern Washington went on a quick 7-0 run.
Eventually, the Buffs were able to get going with a three-pointer from Sebastian Rancik for his first career bucket. Another jumper from Ruffin cut the Eagles’ lead to 31-21 with just under two minutes left in the first half.
The half ended with a buzzer-beater layup from Hammond to cut the Eagles’ lead to 31-25.
The Buffs shot 9-for-27 from the field and 1-for-9 from three in the first half. Ruffin led the Buffs in points at the half with six.
The Buffs had an electric start to the second half as Jakimovski tied the game one minute into the second half at 31-31 with a mid-range jumper.
At the media timeout midway through the half, the Buffs trailed by four and were shooting 5-for-12 from the field and 2-for-5 from distance.
Colorado followed the timeout with important baskets from Ruffin and Rancik to tie the game up at 46. The Buffs weren’t satisfied with a tie ball game.
They took the lead at 48-47 just minutes after thanks to a Ruffin layup. Eastern Washington was forced to take a timeout after an Assane Diop layup to make the score 53-47.
Colorado then went on a 14-2 run which made the score 58-49 with five minutes left in the game.
The black and gold finished the game with buckets from Baskin and Rancik to give the Buffs their first win of the season.
“He’s not phased at all. He’s never scared to be aggressive. That’s one of the reasons he was out there and one of the reasons he was able to make an impact,” Ruffin said about Rancik’s impact. “He’s a super-talented player. The fact that he can step up when no one’s making shots and our offense is struggling, and actually make some shots and get us going is huge. That kind of turned the corner for us offensively at times.”
Rancik led the team in points with 13 in his first career game in Colorado’s win.
The Buffaloes (1-0) will face the Northern Colorado Bears (1-0) on Friday, November 8th, at the CU Events Center at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
Cover photo by Brody Rector/Sko Buffs Sports
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