Exhibition Recap: Buffs beat Colorado School of Mines, 78-48
On Wednesday, the 2021-2022 Colorado Buffaloes got their first taste of an opponent, as Colorado School of Mines came to the CU Events Center for an exhibition match.
The youthful Buffaloes won the game, 78-48.
Below is a brief recap of the game.
While it certainly will vary as the season goes on, Tad Boyle's first starting lineup to kick off the season featured sophomore forwards Jabari Walker and Tristan da Silva, senior forward Evan Battey, senior guard Eli Parquet and redshirt sophomore guard Keeshawn Barthelemy.
Barthelemy, who finished the evening with nine points (4-of-11), scored the Buffs' first five; he drained a three-pointer for the opening basket of the game and later made a very long shot for two points.
Colorado took an 11-4 lead after da Silva sank three free throws following being fouled on a shot from long range.
Three-point shooting was a weak spot for the Buffaloes Wednesday; the team went a icy cold 2-of-17 from deep in the win, with freshman guard K.J. Simpson's converted shot at the 12:19 mark of the first half going for the last three-point basket of the night for CU.
With a bit under nine minutes to play before halftime, the Buffs had racked up seven turnovers, but from there, in the final 29 or so minutes of play, Colorado had just three more.
A layup by Battey that was followed by one via Walker gave Colorado its first lead of double digits, 23-12, with 7:38 left before halftime.
Around that time, Walker, whose struggles with getting into foul trouble were well-documented last year, had already been whistled for three.
He ultimately would foul out with 6:31 left in the game.
Barthelemy flexed his transitional prowess late in the first half, completing a left-handed layup with a bit over four minutes to go.
The Orediggers came within six points, trailing 33-27, with less than a minute before halftime, but freshman center Lawson Lovering hit the last basket of the half, putting the Buffs up by eight.
By game's end, Lovering was a board shy of his first collegiate double-double, finishing with 10 points (tied for second on the team with Battey) and a team-high nine rebounds.
Colorado Mines played a respectable first half, hitting a number of fadeaway jumpers and contested shots. However, the Orediggers posted just a 30.3% make rate over the first 20 minutes of play.
CU was not much better, hitting 33.3% (11-of-33) shots in the first half, but the Buffaloes heated up as the game went on, turning in an impressive 49% conversion rate (17-of-35) in the final half.
As the Buffs warmed up, the Orediggers cooled down; Mines went on to shoot just under 26% from the floor in the second half.
Mines' subpar shooting became apparent as the second half went on. For the opening minutes, the Orediggers battled to keep their deficit within 10 points, but a scoreless period of about six minutes saw them fall into a 53-34 hole following a pair of Lovering free throws.
From the 15:55 mark of the second half until the clock read 5:48, Colorado Mines managed only seven points.
During that time, the Buffaloes built up their lead through a number of players contributing offensively: Walker, freshman guard Julian Hammond III and Simpson all scored points on fast break opportunities.
With under four minutes to play, Simpson hit a pair of free throws and shortly thereafter, had a pickpocket steal at halfcourt of Mines' Grant Pressley, quickly finishing the play with an emphatic dunk.
Simpson went on to score nine of his team-high 12 points in the second half. By that point, with 2:27 to play, CU led, 43-74.
Boyle then inserted his walk-ons, where freshman forward Cody Mains scored an additional four points for good measure, giving the Buffaloes a 30-point victory, 78-48.
