Head coach Tad Boyle and the Buffs are trying to find the right flow through three games, and Wednesday night's 83-53 win over Cal State Fullerton was the best example of that yet.

Better ball management, a high shooting percentage and much improved defense allowed Colorado to keep Cal State Fullerton in check Wednesday. Against Northern Colorado, the Buffs (3-0) turned the ball a season-high 21 times, but they were able to keep that number under 20 with 16 total turnovers against the Titans.

On offense, CU went from shooting 47% from the field on Friday to converting a season-high 57% from the field on Wednesday. Cal State Fullerton (0-3) had plenty of problems on the scoring end throughout the evening and ended up shooting 31% from the field (18 of 58) and 12% from 3 (2 of 17) while Colorado only allowed 18 made field goals.

Colorado has yet to assert its dominance this season after being down at the half against Eastern Washington and needing double overtime to earn a win against Northern Colorado. However, Wednesday night’s performance featured a more commanding Buffs squad by beating CSUF by 30 points.

“Win by 30 at home, and you defend pretty well, you rebound the ball pretty well, a lot to be pleased with,” Boyle said. “I thought we really took a step forward offensively tonight.”

Even with the difference in opponent — Cal State Fullerton is now 0-3 and the Golden Bears at 2-1 — the Buffs were able to play with better cohesion, especially in the second half Wednesday, than they were against UNC. Colorado outscored the Titans 48-24 in the second half to eventually pull away.

The Buffs also emphasized sharing the ball against Cal State Fullerton. After recording a total of nine assists against UNC, the Buffs flipped that stat by posting 22 assists with more effective ball movement. Julian Hammond led the charge in that category as he recorded a career-high four assists.

“We had 22 assists on 30 baskets, which is phenomenal,” Boyle said. “We'll take that every night. That was a pretty common occurrence with last year's team, but with this year's team, it hasn't been, so it's nice to see that.”

Andrej Jakimovski recorded a season high for CU with 17 points and five 3-pointers. He got hot early hitting 4 of his 7 3-point attempts in the first half. Building from his 2-of-9 shooting performance with nine points against UNC, Jakimovski’s productive start on Wednesday, with 14 first-half points, allowed him to finish as the Buffs’ leading scorer.

“I made my first shot and then I got an extra boost,” Jakimovski said. “My main focus is on defense, rebound, take care of the ball and then take good shots. I think all the shots that I took are great shots and my teammates were great finding me open.”

While Jakimovski helped carry the offensive load in the first half, every player became involved in the second half to keep the Titans from making any kind of comeback as they finished 7 of 33 (21.2%) from the field and 0 of 8 from 3-point range. No CU player played for more than 22 minutes Wednesday, and even with the deep rotation, Colorado stayed locked in on the Titans' offense to keep their shot selection low and limit them to only four assists in the game.

Hammond and Sebastian Rancik provided a boost in the frontcourt as the both recorded 11 points Wednesday night. Rancik banged his knee after getting tied up with a CSUF player that resulted in him limping to the bench in the second half, but he returned shortly after that and drained the Buffs’s last two baskets with a 3-pointer and a statement dunk.

“He's unbelievably gifted offensively,” Boyle said. “I don't have to worry about talking to Sebastian about his 3-point shot, or his ability to run the floor, score the ball and shoot the ball. Sebastian's really gifted there. What I've got to talk to Sebastian about is how to guard and how to rebound. … He had two rebounds in 18 minutes. You should have at least six rebounds in 18 minutes. So that's areas of improvement for him.”

Assane Diop made his first start of the season as Bangot Dak came off the bench for the Buffs. Diop’s zero points and zero assists on the stat sheet might imply his lack of contribution, but it’s quite the opposite as he was the game's unsung hero with eight rebounds and a +25 plus-minus in the Buffs’ win.

“Assane Diop deserves a lot of credit,” Boyle said. “Guy plays almost 19 minutes, didn’t take a shot, he’s plus 25, leads us in rebounding. That is the epitome of being unselfish and being a team guy.

“You look at the stats, nobody's going to talk about that, but it's important that I mention it because I think if we can have everybody approach the game the way Assane approaches the game, there's a selflessness about him and and he plays it extremely hard, and he's just a great teammate that we can all learn from.”

Colorado’s high turnover rate through three games is an area that Boyle and the Buffs are continuing to work out in practice. Despite the turnovers, this CU squad is beginning to put the competitive pieces together.

“If we're playing hard and rebounding and not turning the ball over … like we can be a really, really good team. It's just going to take time,” Hammond said.