Tad Boyle and Colorado improved to 2-0 on Friday night with a dominant 95-63 win over Grambling, avenging an ugly road loss from a year ago down in Louisiana.

“We definitely had this game marked on the calendar for quite some time,” wing J’Vonne Hadley said postgame. “Maybe even after the loss last year, we had that one marked.”

Colorado jumped all over the Tigers from the opening tip, racing out to a 14-2 lead in the first seven minutes and never looking back. The Buffs were locked in on both ends from the start, getting good looks on the offensive end and forcing contested, late-clock prayers on defense.

Julian Hammond came off the bench and instantly gave the Buffs a spark early on, knocking down three 3-pointers in the opening 12 minutes to keep the Tigers at arm’s length. From there, Tristan da Silva put in work in the post and popped open for a few threes, finishing the opening 20 minutes with a game-high 16 points.

“We want him to be aggressive,” Boyle said. “It doesn’t mean he has to shoot it all the time, but he can be a playmaker for us as well. Teams are gonna start scouting him and game planning to take him out of the game, but the thing that makes it so hard to take Tristan out of the game is he’s so darn versatile.”

Meanwhile, the Tigers struggled mightily on the offensive end in the first half, as they lacked both ball movement and player movement and couldn’t beat the bigger, more athletic Buffs in isolation. Time and time again Grambling was forced into difficult, contested looks at the end of the shot clock, and finished the first half shooting just 6 for 26 from the floor and facing a 30-point deficit.

The Buffs took their foot off the gas defensively in the second half, giving up 43 points to the Tigers after halftime, but were able to keep pace offensively and cruise to a 32-point win, their second blowout in as many games to open the year.

The story of this one without a doubt was the ball movement and the assists for the Colorado offense. The Buffs finished the game with 28 assists on 35 made baskets, marking their highest assist total in a game since December 2005 against Mercer. KJ Simpson had eight assists to set a career high, and Julian Hammond tied his own personal best off the bench with six. Colorado is now averaging 25 assists per game as a team after its 22 against Towson in the season opener Monday.

“Twenty two (assists on Monday) and then 28. What’s that, an average of 25? I wasn’t a math major but I was a business major. No, those are good numbers,” Boyle said. “Obviously, you’ve gotta make shots to get assists, and we’ve made enough shots these last two games.”

The Buffs were playing without freshman Cody Williams in Friday’s game, who didn’t dress due to a “nagging injury” that he’s been dealing with, per Boyle. He didn’t practice over the last few days and therefore wasn’t ready to play, but the Buffs are expecting him back next week.

In his place, TCU transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr. got his first start in a CU uniform, and contributed 10 points and eight rebounds in just 22 minutes manning the middle.

“I feel like I’ve got the most energy in the country,” Lampkin said after the game. “If I bring it every day, the fans are gonna come, and that’s gonna turn up our team.”

Leading the Buffs in scoring with 21 points in this one was da Silva as he was one of six players to finish the game in double figures. Simpson added to his eight assists with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three steals to stuff the stat sheet, while Hadley continued to do it all for Colorado, tallying 17 points and eight boards.

Guard Tra’Michael Moton carried a lot of the load for Grambling offensively in Friday’s contest, and finished with a game-high 26 points on 15 shots. Terrence Lewis added 13 off the bench as the only other Tigers player to reach double figures.

The Buffs have a few days off before their third consecutive home game, this one against Milwaukee Tuesday in Boulder, before heading off to the Sunshine Slam. Tip against the Panthers will be at 7 p.m. MST.