Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Fort Hays State
Buffs Return To Action Saturday, Host Fort Hays State
December 16, 2016 | Men's Basketball
THE GAME: The University of Colorado hosts Fort Hays State University on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 12 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.
WATCH/LISTEN:
TV: Pac-12 Network (Chris Fisher, Dan Belloumini)
Radio: Newsradio 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Watch Online: Pac-12.com/now
Listen Online: CUBuffs.com, CU Gameday App
Live Statistics: CUBuffs.com
OPENING TIP: The Pac-12 Conference has four wins over ranked opponents during the nonconference schedule. Two of those have been by Colorado, vs. then No. 22/21 Texas and No. 13/14 Xavier. UCLA, over No. 1/1 Kentucky, and Arizona, over No. 12/9 Michigan State, are the others.
ABOUT THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 7-3 overall, returning to the court after a week-long break for finals at the university. The Buffaloes will be looking to bounce back from a 79-71 loss at BYU in their last outing. Despite the loss, Colorado has won four of its last six including victories over ranked Xavier and Texas squads.Â
Colorado is averaging 74.5 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the field. The Buffaloes are outrebounding their opponents by just under five boards per game. Defensively, Colorado has held the opposition to 66.1 points per game. The Buffaloes are third in the Pac-12 Conference in 3-point defense (.291) while ranking fourth in overall field goal percentage defense (.383), offensive rebounds (12.9 orpg) and overall boards (41.3 rpg).
Depth and balance have been a key for Colorado. Three Buffaloes are averaging double-digits in scoring while four more are averaging between five and eight an outing. Four players have at least four rebounds per game while five have at least eight assists.
Senior Derrick White is averaging 15.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while hitting a team-best 52.9 percent from the field. He is the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 22.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in games against Xavier and BYU. White shot 55.2 percent from the field overall (16-of-29) while hitting 6-of-12 from 3-point range.
He was named to the Legends Classic All-Tournament team averaging 18.0 points, 5.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds, shooting 54 percent against Notre Dame and Texas. He scored 20 points and dished out a team-season high nine assists against the Fighting Irish. The nine assists are the most by a Buffalo since Askia Booker had 12 against UCLA on Feb. 13, 2014. White had a team-high 16 points with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks against Texas.
White is ninth in steals, 10th in assists, 12th in scoring, 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1) and 14th in field goal percentage on the Pac-12 charts.
Xavier Johnson is second on the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game while ranking third in rebounds at 6.2 an outing. He had 17 points at BYU, scoring in double figures for the third straight game, fourth in his last five and seventh overall. Johnson had 18 points and seven rebounds in the win over Xavier, hitting 7-of-11 from the field including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. His second 3-pointer against the Musketeers was the 100th of his career. Johnson has made 17 of his last 35 field goal attempts (.486).
He averaged 19 points over three-game span which included the Legends Classic and Wofford, putting in a pair of 20-point performances. Johnson matched a career high with a team season-best 27 points against Wofford. He also had a season-high 12 rebounds against the Terriers, logging his seventh career double-double. Johnson had a game-high 23 points in the Legends Classic semifinal against Notre Dame.
Johnson ranks 16th in scoring on the Pac-12 leaderboard.
George King is third on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game and second in rebounding at 7.6 per contest. King recorded his fourth double-double of the season and fifth of his career with 14 points and 12 rebounds at BYU. It was his second straight double-double after his 16-point, 10-rebound effort vs. Xavier. His four double-doubles this season have come in the last seven games.
King had a fantastic Legends Classic, recording back-to-back double-doubles and averaging 14.5 points and 13.0 rebounds over the two-day series. He tallied a personal-best 13 rebounds in both contests. King scored 17 points against Notre Dame while pitching in 12 in the win over Texas. He had 10 rebounds in the first half alone against Texas.
King is 10th in defensive rebounds (5.7 drpg) and 14th in overall rebounds on the Pac-12 leaderboard.
Guard Josh Fortune is Colorado's fourth leading scorer at 8.5 points per game. He tied a season-high with 14 points at Portland. He leads the Buffaloes and ranks second in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting at 88.6 percent, hitting on 31-of-35 attempts. Fortune saw his consecutive free throws made streak end at 19 against Portland. That streak included a perfect 10-of-10 game against ULM, the program's best performance without a miss since Askia Booker was 14-of-14 against DePaul on Dec. 22, 2014.
Wesley Gordon tops Colorado in rebounding at 8.5 per game. Gordon is pitching in 6.5 points per game while leading the squad in blocks (15) and ranking third in assists (22). After being held to three blocks in his first four games, he has 12 in the last six, allowing him to climb into sole possession of second place on CU's all-time list at 171.
He has corralled at least nine rebounds in 7-of-10 games with his averaging upping to 10.3 over those contests. Gordon recorded his 11th career double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds against Seattle U. He hit double-figures in rebounding for the 23rd time in his career with 10 at Portland.
On the Pac-12 charts, Gordon is fourth in offensive rebounding (3.1 orpg), ninth in overall rebounding and blocked shots (1.5 bpg) and 12th in defensive boards (5.4 drpg).
Sophomore Thomas Akyazili is second on the team in assists (2.5 apg) while scoring 3.4 points per contest. He made his first 3-pointer of the year at BYU, snapping an 0-for-11 slump. He dished out four assists, recording his third game of the season with four or more. Akyazili dished out a career-best six assists in the season-opener against Sacramento State.
Junior Tory Miller is fourth on the team in blocks (5) and sixth in rebounds (3.4 rpg) while pitching in 5.4 points an outing. He had a season-high 10 points against ULM, the ninth double-figure scoring game of his career. He also added his first career 3-pointer (in five attempts) against Sacramento State.
Dominique Collier has missed the last eight games with a foot injury. He had a team-high 12 points in the opener against Sacramento State, hitting 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He saw limited minutes in the game against Seattle U due to that injury.
Colorado's freshman class, with a wealth of experience in front of them, have picked their spots to contribute. As a group they are averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Bryce Peters played a personal-best 21 minutes off the bench at BYU with three points, two rebounds, and assist and a steal. Deleon Brown has shot well on limited attempts, hitting 48 percent overall including 6-of-14 from downtown (.429). Lucas Siewert scored for the first time in five games with five points at BYU. He's averaging just under 2.0 rebounds per game.
TICKETED FOR REDSHIRT: The Buffaloes are planning to redshirt two freshmen. Dallas Walton, a 7-0 forward and Alexander Strating a 6-7 forward. Walton earned All-Jefferson County Conference first team honors for Arvada (Colo.) West High School in 2015-16. Strating hails from the Netherlands and played for the Canarias Basketball Academy in Spain last year. Those plans could change early in the season if needed, but not later.
Namon Wright, a 6-5 guard, will sit out the 2016-17 season after transferring from Missouri and will have two years of eligibility remaining. He averaged 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds and made 79 3-pointers in 61 games with the Tigers.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: Fort Hays State is a NCAA Division II school located in Hays, Kan., and plays in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The Tigers are 7-4 overall and have opened up their league season at 2-2. Fort Hays State is averaging 79.5 points per game shooting 49 percent from the field, including 43 percent from 3-point range. Defensively, the Tigers allow 71.7 points while opponents shoot 43.7 percent.
Junior guard Rob Davis leads Fort Hays State averaging 24.0 points while shooting 58 percent from the field. He is coming off a 30-point performance against Bethel, his fourth game of 30 or more this season. Junior forward Hadley Gillum is averaging 14.0 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field. Senior forward JaQuan Smith paces the Tigers in rebounding at 7.2 per game while pitching in 6.6 points per contest. Sophomore guard Kyler Kinnamon tops Fort Hays State in assists at 3.2 per game.
Mark Johnson is in his 16th season as the head coach at Fort Hays State with a record of 311-142. The all-time wins leader at Fort Hays State, Johnson has led the Tigers to seven NCAA II Tournaments.
SERIES RECORDS: This will be the first meeting between Colorado and Fort Hays State. The Buffaloes have played three other times against MIAA competition, winning all three, including the last matchup a 72-58 decision over Washburn (Mo.) on Dec. 16, 1981.
Saturday's game will count as a regular season game for Colorado but will be considered an exhibition for Fort Hays State. Differences in NCAA Division I and II rules dictate it be called an exhibition for the Tigers.
RIGHT AT HOME: Colorado has won 13 of its last 14 and 23 of 25 in the friendly confines of the Coors Events Center.
The Buffaloes had a streak of 14-straight home wins against non-league opponents snapped in the loss to Colorado State. When Pac-12 play begins, Colorado will bring an eight-game win streak against league opposition at home, tied for the 12th best run in team history.
In the Tad Boyle era, Colorado is a sparkling 93-16 at the Coors Events Center (.853). The Buffaloes are 406-167 (.709) all-time at the CEC, picking up win No. 400 in style as Colorado defeated No. 9/10 ranked Arizona 75-72 in front of the third-largest crowd in facility history (11,309) on Feb. 24, 2016.
IN THE POLLS: Colorado received votes for the six straight week in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll on Dec. 12. The Buffaloes received votes in the first four Associated Press polls.
Eight 2016-17 opponents have been or are currently ranked in one of the Top 25 polls including Oregon, UCLA, Arizona and Xavier who have each made a Top 10 appearance this year. Texas was ranked in both polls before dropping out Nov. 28. California had a one-week run at No. 25 in the AP poll. No. 21/21 Notre Dame debuted in the Dec. 5 edition of both polls. No. 24/25 USC earned its initial ranking this week.
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS: Colorado has won two straight and three of its last five against ranked opponents. This is the first season with two wins over ranked teams since 2013-14 (2-6 overall).
The Buffaloes have back-to-back wins against ranked opponents for the first time since winning three straight in February-March 2013:Â Feb. 7 at #19/19 Oregon (48-47), Feb. 14 vs. #9/9 Arizona (71-58), March 7 vs. #19/25 Oregon (76-53).
With its win over No. 13/14 Xavier, Colorado defeated its highest ranked nonconference opponent since its 75-72 win over No. 6/7 Kansas on Dec. 7, 2013. Colorado claimed a win in its first game against a ranked opponent this season with its 68-54 win over No. 22/21 Texas on Nov. 22. It was Colorado's first win over a ranked opponent away from Boulder since a 76-53 win over No. 19 Oregon on March 7, 2013.
Colorado's 14 wins over ranked opponents in Boyle's six-plus seasons is by far the best streak in team history. In fact Boyle coached teams, with a record of 14-24, have accounted for 24 percent of wins over ranked opponents (58) since 1949-50.
