The Colorado men’s basketball team began their competitive play this weekend against Pomona-Pitzer, a Division III school from California. The CU-Pomona matchup isn’t an uncommon one for head coach Tad Boyle.
“I've been watching that program for the last seven years,” Boyle said when asked about the program.
Boyle’s first son attended Pomona when they played the Buffs back in 2019. This year, Boyle took on his second son, Pete, in a low-stakes match in which Colorado won, 95-62.
The game began with a starting lineup that wasn’t played at last week's team scrimmage, which made sense today due to the game being exhibition-style and not showing on records. The Buffaloes are still figuring out who will be playing where in the preseason, but some trends stayed the same. Rancik and Jakimovski were used to stretch the floor, while the main ball handlers were Hammond, Ruffin, Smith and Kossaras.
Starting Lineup
No. 3 Senior Guard Julian Hammond III
No. 8 Sophomore Forward Bangot Dak
No. 23 Grad Student Forward Andrej Jakimovski
No. 35 Sophomore Forward Assane Diop (DNP in team scrimmage)
No. 50 Grad Student Elijah Malone
The Buffs won the tip to get the contest underway. CU held Pomona off early in their tight man defense, taking a quick 8-3 lead. Colorado’s motion offense is a spectacle to watch when shots get knocked down. Hammond scored a floater off a double pick-and-roll. However, Pomona-Pitzer responded with a bucket and two quick threes to tie the lead at eight. The game was at a standstill until high flier Bangot Dak got a pass in transition and rose above the rim for a highlight slam, giving the Buffs a four-point lead into the 16-minute mark media timeout.
PPU looked sloppy on offense, and CU looked sloppy in transition, a negative combination if the goal is a two-way, high-scoring basketball game. At the 15-minute mark, the first subs were made. Grad student Trevor Baskin, Freshman Sebastian Rančík, and Junior Javon Ruffin were brought in for the Buffs.
Coming out of the break, CU returned to work getting Dak active in the post, a role they are looking for the sophomore to fill this year with the tall roster.
“That's more options for us offensively, and that's just more powerful,” Dak said when asked about his new role.
Rančík got the team to work with an and-1 opportunity. He couldn’t sink the free throw but quickly made it up, hustling to the floor and grabbing a loose ball. Rančík got the ball to Dak, who found an open Ruffin in the corner for three, opening the lead to 17-9.
The game began to take its shape with Colorado’s lead. More CU subs came in, this time Sophomore RJ Smith and Freshman Felix Kossaras. Kossaras made an immediate impact on a slashing drive from the top of the key, getting to the rim for another Buffs basket.
Further into the first half, The black and gold’s man defense forced Pomona into making mistakes on the offensive end. Midway through the first half, PPU found themselves turning the ball over on a shot-clock violation. CU countered with steam, netting six straight points. Hammond’s defensive pressure forced a turnover. The senior got the ball and quickly found Kossaras dashing downcourt for a two-handed transition jam. This forced P-P into another timeout.
Out of the timeout, PPU had a converted and-1 opportunity. The Buffs quickly struck back on a Rančík corner three. Colorado was moving the ball well towards the end of the half. Pass, pass, Pass, Pass into a Hammond missed floater, but the offense was clicking and firing on all cylinders. PPU and CU traded buckets until the 8-minute media mark.
CU then began to air out the scene, pushing the lead from nine to 18. After a Baskin and-1 and a couple more buckets from Dak and Malone the Buffaloes found themselves leading 49-36 at the half.
The second half was all CU. After the break the Buffaloes came out quick and fixed their transition struggles, scoring quickly. Colorado was not only countering in transition but also playing well controlling tempo in the half court too, finding Jakimovski open in the corner for a missed three-point shot. Regardless of the shot, the Buffs were controlling the tempo of the game.
The Buffaloes post game also looked very polished with Malone, Baskin, and Rančík all controlling the low post at different times in the game. Combined with Dak’s role on the arc and the high post, the Buffaloes looked unstoppable. The Dak-Malone combination gave CU another six points until Hammond stole the show, banging two 3-pointers in a row to give Colorado a 59-38 lead, forcing PPU into another timeout.
The timeout didn’t seem to help Pomona as they turned the ball over on a 10-second violation instantly. By this point, CU’s win seemed inevitable and more importantly got everybody involved. Ruffin had a string of nice plays, forcing two tie-ups on back to back plays and also knocking down a couple of 3s.
Pomona-Pitzer found themselves with two scoring droughts in the last 12 minutes, each lasting three minutes or more. It couldn’t be broken until PPU’s Pete Boyle knocked down a 3 ending the drought. However, The Buffs' offense was too much for P-P to handle and Ruffin came down and knocked down another three-point shot.
The last five minutes saw all of the freshmen playing.
“I mean, it's great, but I think we have a really good freshman class that can impact winning this year and moving forward,” Rančík said of how he feels after his first collegiate game.
Kossaras and Rančík each went 5-for-7 from the field today, a highlight for CU’s freshman recruiting class this year.
The Buffaloes did what they were supposed to Saturday, beating Pomona-Pitzer by 33 points. The Buffs shot 58.5% from the field, 43.5% beyond the arc, and 56.3% on free throws.
Head coach Tad Boyle met the media alongside Dak and Rančík after the game.
“I think over the last two weeks, we've made strides,” Boyle added when asked on week-to-week progress. “These guys are coachable. They're listening. They're trying to do what we ask them to do.”
The Buffaloes continue their season on Monday, November 4th Vs. Eastern Washington at the CU Events Center at 7 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
Cover photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports
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