Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU shot .625 in the second half, outrebounded Montana State 33-26, and committed only nine turnovers.
Three stars
1. CU’s Isaiah Johnson. The freshman guard turned in an all-time debut, scoring all 24 of his points after halftime. It was the second-highest scoring for a CU player in a freshman debut, trailing only the 31 scored by Emmett Lewis in his freshman debut to start the 1975-76 season.
2. CU’s Elijah Malone. The sixth-year center posted his second double-double with the Buffs, scoring 10 points with a CU career-high 13 rebounds.
3. MSU’s Patrick McMahon. Nearly shot the Bobcats to an upset victory, going 10-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-3 at the free throw line with 24 points.
Up next: CU continues a season-opening five-game homestand against Eastern Washington on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
His coaches have seen it. His teammates have seen it, too.
Isaiah Johnson finally had a chance to show the rest of Buff Nation all the poise and skill he has brought to Boulder. And he delivered big-time.
Colorado’s freshman guard put on a dazzling show in the second half and the Buffaloes survived a close call with disaster in the season opener, holding off Montana State for an 84-78 victory on Monday at the CU Events Center.
CU improved to 16-0 in home openers under head coach Tad Boyle, while extending an overall home-opening win streak to 18 games.
“Our players know how good Isaiah is. They see him at practice every day,” Boyle said. “Our coaches do. Whatap great now is our fans are going to get a chance to see it. And I think you saw it tonight. He wasn’t himself in the first half, I didn’t think. I don’t know if it was nerves or what. But Isaiah’s one of those guys, when the game’s on the line, you feel really comfortable with the ball in his hands.”
Johnson might not have been himself during a scoreless first half, but in the second half he looked every bit like his close family friend, basketball Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, who was sitting courtside with Johnson’s family.
Johnson scored all 24 of his points in the second half, and he scored 12 of CU’s final 14 points as the Buffs rallied past, and then held off, a hot-shooting Montana State club.
CU trailed by seven points with 15 minutes left and still trailed 74-70 at the final media timeout with 3 minutes, 7 seconds remaining before Johnson took over. After getting fouled on a 3-point attempt, Johnson knocked down all three free throws to cut CU’s deficit to one point. The freshman out of Los Angeles then knocked down a pull-up 3-pointer that briefly gave the Buffs a two-point lead.
Montana State’s Patrick McMahon, who went 10-for-13, scored the last of his 24 points to pull the Bobcats into a 76-76 tie. Johnson went coast-to-coast to put the Buffs back in front, and after Montana State pulled into yet another tie, Johnson and Sebastian Rancik combined to go 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the final minute to seal the win.
Johnson was just 0-for-2 from the field in the first half, but he went 6-for-7 after the break while knocking down both of his second-half 3-point attempts. It was an embarrassing showing for most of the night at the free throw line for the Buffs, but CU finished with a more palatable .692 mark thanks almost entirely to Johnson, who went 10-for-12 while drawing a team-high seven fouls out of Montana State.
“Itap something I dreamed about since I was a kid, playing in front of a college crowd,” Johnson said. “I just kept wanting to be aggressive. My teammates, my coaches, kept telling me to be aggressive even though I struggled in the first half. I just kept that mentality.”
Boyle will have plenty to address defensively with his club, as Montana State shot at least 50% in each half before finishing with a .518 mark. CU also struggled from the 3-point line, as every player not named Johnson combined to go just 1-for-9.
But, CU outrebounded Montana State 33-26, with center Elijah Malone punctuating his 10-point, 13-rebound double-double with eight offensive rebounds. And a Buffs squad that led the Big 12 in turnovers last season finished with just nine. CU had only one single-digit turnover total in 35 games last year.
“Hard-fought win,” Boyle said. “They’re a good team. Itap a great lesson for our guys. Especially our young guys, and even some of our older ones, that there’s good players throughout college basketball. There’s good players everywhere. Our guys need to understand that.”
Colorado 84, Montana State 78
MONTANA STATE (0-1)
Hodges 4-6 0-3 8, King 3-10 2-2 10, Holden 5-11 2-2 14, McMahon 10-13 3-3 24, Miller 3-6 3-3 10, Mbatch 1-1 3-4 5, Brown 2-4 0-0 5, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Steppe 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-55 13-17 78.
COLORADO (1-0)
Dak 5-8 2-3 12, Rancik 3-9 6-7 13, Malone 2-3 6-9 10, Hargress 5-11 1-2 11, Kossaras 3-5 2-2 8, Johnson 6-9 10-12 24, Holland 1-3 0-0 2, Sanders 2-3 0-4 4, Inman 0-1 0-0 0, Ifaola 0-0 0-0 0, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 27-39 84.
Halftime: Montana State 33-32. 3-point field goals: Montana State 7-20 (Holden 2-5, King 2-5, McMahon 1-1, Brown 1-2, Miller 1-4, Davis 0-1, Steppe 0-2); Colorado 3-12 (Johnson 2-3, Rancik 1-4, Holland 0-1, Inman 0-1, Sanders 0-1, Dak 0-2). Fouled out: Mbatch. Rebounds: Montana State 26 (Hodges, McMahon, Miller 4), Colorado 33 (Malone 13). Assists: Montana State 7 (Holden 3), Colorado 17 (Malone 5). Turnovers: Montana State 11 (King 3); Colorado 9 (Johnson 3). Total fouls: Montana State 27, Colorado 18. A: 5,771.
