Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU shot .615 in the second half while knocking down eight consecutive 3-pointers after halftime. The Buffs also outrebounded Towson 38-26 and held the Tigers to a .352 field goal percentage.
Three stars1. CU’s KJ Simpson: The junior guard went 7-for-9 from the field and 5-for-5 at the free throw line, finishing with a game-high 22 points, three assists and no turnovers.
2. CU’s Tristan da Silva: After a slow start, the senior forward scored all 13 of his points after halftime, going 5-for-5 in the second half while also recording four assists and two blocked shots.
3. CU’s J’Vonne Hadley: After missing the second half of last season due to a fractured finger, Hadley went 5-for-7 in his return with 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Up next: CU completes a home-and-home series with Grambling State at the Events Center on Friday (6 p.m., Pac-12 Mountain).
As the two clear and established leaders of the Colorado men’s basketball team, Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson had different objectives as they prepared to lead the Buffaloes into a promising 2023-24 season.
Simpson, a dynamic scorer last season until injury and illness derailed him down the stretch, set out to become a more efficient scorer. For da Silva, the goal was to become the sort of senior leader who can alternately facilitate the offense while taking over when needed.
It was just the opening game, but both players offered a tantalizing preview of what could be in store for the Buffs this year.
Led by Simpson and da Silva, CU turned in a solid all-around performance in its opener on Monday night, using a torrid shooting effort from long range after halftime to bury Towson in a 75-57 victory at the CU Events Center.
CU improved to 12-2 in season openers under head coach Tad Boyle and a perfect 14-0 in home openers.
“In the first half, we were more stagnant and kind of not moving as much. Thatap why we had a lot of turnovers,” Simpson said. “In the second half, we got guys cutting and we were just making the easy, simple plays. One more pass, getting easy shots. Just simple basketball. So we played with more pace in the second half and thatap all coach was really trying to talk about.”
Simpson finished 7-for-9 overall, with a 3-for-4 mark on 3-pointers and a perfect 5-for-5 effort at the free throw line. He finished with a game-high 22 points along with three rebounds, three assists and no turnovers in 26 minutes.
Da Silva put up only one shot attempt in the first half — an off-balance heave from the 3-point line at the halftime buzzer — but erupted for 13 points in the second half. Da Silva knocked down all five of his field goal attempts after the break and also recorded four assists, a total he reached just once in 35 games last season.
“Ain’t no strategy,” da Silva said of his lone first half shot attempt. “I just wasn’t playing like myself. I wasn’t being aggressive out there. I know these guys want me to be out there and take shots and stuff. I was really frustrated with myself in the halftime break. But these guys picked me up, talked to me, made me feel like I should go out there and be aggressive. Thatap what itap all about.”
Towson took advantage of a 4 minute, 24 second scoring drought for CU late in the first half to put together an 11-2 run that helped cut what had been a 13-point Buffs lead to 28-24 at the break. But Colorado wasted little time in taking control after halftime.
CU went 0-for-7 on 3-pointers during the first half but quickly caught fire, knocking down the first eight long-range attempts in the second half. Simpson and da Silva had three 3-pointers apiece during that flurry, leading the Buffs on a 25-4 run that blew the game open.
As he did for much of the first half of last season before getting injured, J’Vonne Hadley quietly put together an efficient all-around game, going 5-for-7 with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
“Good first win,” Boyle said. “I thought we fought the adversity in the first half we had offensively and came out in the second half and figured things out a little bit. I was really proud of our defensive effort that first 20 minutes. We really guarded at a high, high level. And we pretty much did that the whole game. We had some breakdowns a little bit here and there, but I’m really happy with this team’s defense and rebounding.”
TOWSON (0-1)
Jones 2-6 3-3 8, Thompson 6-11 1-2 13, Hicks 1-3 0-0 3, May 0-7 2-4 2, Tejada 3-7 1-3 9, Williamson 6-12 1-1 15, Sulaiman 1-2 4-5 6, Lowery 0-1 0-0 0, Ch.Paar 0-2 1-2 1, Coleman 0-2 0-0 0, Held 0-0 0-0 0, Co.Paar 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 13-20 57.
COLORADO (1-0)
Williams 1-4 2-4 4, da Silva 5-6 0-1 13, Hadley 5-7 3-4 13, O’Brien 3-7 0-0 7, Simpson 7-9 5-5 22, Hammond 3-6 0-1 7, Lampkin 2-7 0-0 4, Diop 0-1 2-2 2, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Dak 0-1 2-2 2, Carrington 0-0 1-2 1, Hurlburt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 15-21 75.
Halftime — Colorado 28-24. 3-point field goals — Towson 6-13 (Tejada 2-2, Williamson 2-4, Jones 1-1, Hicks 1-2, May 0-4), Colorado 8-17 (Simpson 3-4, da Silva 3-4, Hammond 1-2, O’Brien 1-3, Diop 0-1, Smith 0-1, Williams 0-2). Fouled out — Lowery. Rebounds — Towson 26 (May 6), Colorado 38 (Hadley 9). Assists — Towson 5 (Williamson 3), Colorado 22 (da Silva, Hammond 4). Total fouls — Towson 20, Colorado 17. A — 6,078.
