BOULDER — If fans think first-year Colorado coach Tad Boyle can’t get a read on his basketball team toasting a long string of marshmallows at home, they’re wrong.
Take Wednesday night’s 92-65 rout of Maryland-Eastern Shore, a win impressive in score only. Against a team whose front line of 6-foot-6, 6-6 and 6-2 players was barely larger than CU’s backcourt, the Buffaloes (9-4) couldn’t put the Hawks (3-9) away until midway through the second half.
Guards who don’t even start for UMES, like JoJo Swift and Josh Bright, flew by CU guards as if they were melting snowmen. The read: CU’s defense must improve fast.
“That wasn’t our best effort,” Boyle said. “But I’d rather learn from a win than a loss.”
One positive is Austin Du-fault. But if he ever becomes an inside force in the Big 12, it’s doubtful the 6-9 junior will say the turning point was scoring a game-high 18 against Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Although picked as a contender in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Hawks have beaten only one Division I team and had just given up 86 points to Division III member Washington (Md.).
“I know we’re going to play a lot bigger guys, tougher competition coming forward,” Dufault said. “You can’t get too excited about it. You can’t get too happy with yourself.”
A letdown was natural. Colorado just came off a big win over Indiana in Las Vegas and Wednesday was its first game after Christmas. But the Buffaloes’ home schedule doesn’t have many opportunities to build optimism.
Their 8-0 home record is against teams that had a combined record of 33-65 entering Wednesday and an average RPI of 263. Watching Maryland-Eastern Shore reserve guards fly by his players won’t help Boyle sleep with Big 12 games approaching.
“Guarding the ball is something we’ve worked on and will continue to work on,” Boyle said. “We’ll work on it (this) morning and it was on the board before we took the floor. It is a concern for this team.”
Colorado looked strong offensively, shooting 60 percent, with Marcus Relphorde, Alec Burks and Cory Higgins all scoring 15 points.
MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORE (3-9)
Hines 3-5 0-2 6, White 5-10 2-2 12, Burns 2-10 2-2 7, Bradshaw 5-10 0-3 11, Haley 7-12 2-2 18, Obame Obame 0-0 0-0 0, Swift 0-2 3-4 3, Bell 2-6 0-0 5, Bright 0-1 0-0 0, Spence 0-0 0-0 0, Robertson 1-4 0-0 3, Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 9-15 65.
COLORADO (9-4)
Dufault 7-9 3-3 18, Tomlinson 1-1 0-0 3, Relphorde 7-9 1-4 15, Burks 5-10 5-5 15, Higgins 5-8 5-5 15, Sharpe 3-4 3-3 9, Coney 0-1 2-2 2, Roberson 2-5 0-2 4, Knutson 2-5 0-1 6, Mills 0-2 0-0 0, Eckloff 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 34-57 19-25 92.
Halftime — Colorado 46-33. 3-point goals — Md.-Eastern Shore 6-21 (Haley 2-5, Robertson 1-2, Burns 1-3, Bell 1-4, Bradshaw 1-6, Bright 0-1), Colorado 5-12 (Knutson 2-4, Tomlinson 1-1, Dufault 1-1, Eckloff 1-2, Sharpe 0-1, Roberson 0-1, Higgins 0-2). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Md.-Eastern Shore 25 (Hines 7), Colorado 39 (Roberson 8). Assists — Md.-Eastern Shore 7 (White 3), Colorado 19 (Tomlinson 6). Total fouls — Md.-Eastern Shore 25, Colorado 15. A — 3,896.
