In the first matchup between the two schools in a decade, the Colorado Buffaloes (2-0) pulled away in the second half on Tuesday night, beating the Denver Pioneers (0-2), 89-62. CU was propelled by 42 bench points and a dominant performance on the glass, out rebounding the Pioneers, 46-23. Colorado has now won 18 of their last 19 non-conference games.
Redshirt-junior wing Namon Wright led the Buffaloes with 14 points, making four of his five shots from the floor and five of seven at the free throw line. It was the second-straight game that Colorado’s offensive attack was very balanced. Four Buffs, including Namon, registered double-digit scoring efforts and eight players scored five or more points.
Colorado won the game on the glass as the performance tied for the seventh-best single-game rebounding margin in the Tad Boyle era, +23. The Buffaloes improved their defense dramatically in the second half, limiting Denver to just nine makes on 30 attempts from the field.
CU wrapped up a two-game homestand to begin 2017 and now travels to Lynchburg, VA for the 2017 Paradise Jam. The tournament was to originally be held in St. Thomas, however, due to the devastating hurricane season, organizers were forced to relocate the event. Colorado is guaranteed three games in three days, win or lose.
The Buffs opening round matchup is with the Qunnipiac Bobcats (1-1), who were the media’s preseason pick to finish 10th in the MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). Tipoff is slated for 4pm MST on Friday, November 17th. The winner will face the winner of Wake Forest (0-2) and Drake (1-0) on Saturday, the 18th at 6:30pm MST. Hypothetically, if the Buffs win in the second round, they would play in the tournament championship game on Sunday, the 19th at 6:30pm MST. A loss in the second round would slate CU for a 4pm MST tip off time on Sunday.
*PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Paradise Jam is only being streamed live online on FloHoops’ website. There is no television broadcast. It is a subscription service that charges $29.99 per month according to their website. They offer a “FloSports TV app on Roku and Apple TV 4”, in addition to a “FloSports iPhone app”.
Essentially, if you want to follow along yourself with the action in Virginia, it costs $30 to watch three Buffs games (*remember, it is win or lose, it’s not like you are paying $30 in the hopes that they can survive and advance, they are guaranteed three games). Unless you want their service past this weekend, don’t forget to cancel your subscription otherwise you will be automatically billed at the beginning of the next billing cycle according to their “Terms and Service” page.