The competition, overall, hasn’t been spectacular. But the Colorado men’s basketball team can’t do anything about that, and for the most part the Buffaloes have taken care of business.
CU is off to its first 9-2 start since the 2019-20 season, and after what has been an underwhelming run through nonconference play for most Pac-12 teams not named Arizona, the Buffs have as good a chance as any team to stake a claim to being next in line behind the Wildcats.
Of CU’s two losses, the Nov. 21 neutral-floor loss against Florida State (NET No. 125) will remain a lost opportunity the Buffs regret, but Colorado made partial amends with an impressive win in Brooklyn, N.Y., against then-No. 15 Miami.
As the Buffs take a few days off before the start of Pac-12 play at home on Friday against Washington (7 p.m., ESPNU), a look at CU’s nonconference report card.
Offense: A
The pace is certain to slow in Pac-12 play. Nevertheless, the numbers posted by the Buffs through the 9-2 start are among the program’s best under Boyle, now in his 14th season at CU.
Through Saturday’s games, the Buffs ranked first nationally in field goal percentage (52.62%, decimals ahead of Wright State’s 52.48%), seventh in 3-point percentage (.407), eighth in free throw percentage (.789) and ninth assists per game (19.4).
CU has a chance to make a run at the program and/or Boyle-era records in field goal percentage (overall record: .502 in 1985-86; Boyle-era: .473 in 2010-11); 3-point percentage (Boyle’s 2015-16 team owns the all-time mark at .389); and total field goals (Boyle’s first CU team in ’10-11 holds the program record with 1,058). The Buffs are averaging 86.2 points per game. The Boyle-era record is 79.6 in 2010-11; the all-time record is 82.3 in 1990-91.
Colorado also currently trails only Boyle’s 2020-21 NCAA Tournament team among the program’s all-time free throw leaders, and CU is on pace to crush the Boyle-era assists record of 13.9 per game in 2016-17 (the program record is 19.0 in 1982-83). KJ Simpson has played like an elite point guard, and CU has taken full advantage of the weapons at its disposal. Prior to the season the Buffs hadn’t had a game with six double-digit scorers since the 2018 Pac-12 tournament. They’ve had four such games his season, plus two others with five double-digit scorers.
CU will go into the Pac-12 opener having reached 90 points in four consecutive games for the first time in program history. If there has been a blemish, it has been CU’s 14.0 turnovers per game. At the current shooting pace, even cutting that total by two would lead to another two-to-three points per game.
Defense: B-minus
Overall, the work has been solid. CU has held its opponents to a .420 mark overall and a .320 mark from 3-point range. The Buffs gladly will take the latter number and could probably live with the former during Pac-12 play.
However, CU nonetheless has displayed significant lapses. Five different opponents have enjoyed a half with at least 50% shooting against the Buffs, with Colorado State doing it in both halves of a Nov. 29 Rams win in Fort Collins. In those five games, CU is just 3-2, and in conference play that sort of 20-minute breakdown could prove far more costly. The Buffs are forcing 13.5 turnovers per game, the fourth-most among Pac-12 teams.
Rebounding: B-plus
As expected, it has been a committee approach for the Buffs, with 6-foot-11 TCU transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr. leading the way with 7.5 per game. Four other players are grabbing at least four per game — J’Vonne Hadley (5.8), Tristan da Silva (5.4), KJ Simpson (4.5) and Luke O’Brien (4.2). The Buffs have outrebounded all 11 opponents and rank second among Pac-12 teams with a plus-11.5 average rebounding margin. Yet much like the scoring totals, it will be a challenge to continue the glass work against the bigger frontcourts in Pac-12 play.
Outlook: The win against Miami showed the Buffs can be plenty effective without standout freshman Cody Williams. Without Williams, a veteran core led by Simpson and da Silva is more than enough to make an NCAA Tournament push. However, Williams can turn the Buffs from a very good team with very good prospects to a dangerous team capable of making noise in March. Williams has missed the past three games due to a left wrist injury and also missed the second game of the season due to an unrelated lower leg. Williams is expected to return in the early stages of Pac-12 play, and the Buffs need him to be on the floor consistently in order to reach their intriguing potential.
