Colorado
2-0
Denver
0-2
Buffs Top DU To Improve To 2-0
November 14, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Dominant rebounding and a strong perimeter game added up to Colorado's second win of the season Tuesday night as the Buffs dealt visiting Denver an 89-62 defeat at the Coors Events Center.
CU junior Namon Wright led the Buffs with 14 points, sophomore Deleon Brown scored 13 off the bench and freshman McKinley Wright IV added 12 in his second start for Colorado. George King chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds as Colorado improved to 2-0 while Denver fell to 0-2.
The Buffs dominated the Pioneers on the boards, finishing with a 46-23 rebounding edge, while also limiting the Pioneers to just 42 percent shooting (24-for-57) from the floor. But the Buffs didn't put the game away until midway through the second half, when they pushed the lead to double digits and never let the Pioneers back in the game after that.
"I like this team and I like our upside," head coach Tad Boyle said. "Right now we're functioning probably on a scale of 1 to 10, probably around a six, and that's exciting. … This is going to be a fun team to watch"
Tuesday night's game also marked the return of Rodney Billups to the Coors Events Center. Now in his second year as DU's head coach, Billups served on Boyle's staff for six years.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs took the lead at the 17:09 mark of the first half and never trailed again, but couldn't shake the Pioneers until the second half.
Denver managed to cut a 10-point CU halftime lead down to six, 51-45, four minutes into the second half before the Buffs took control for good with a 12-1 run that saw the Pioneers go without a field goal for almost four minutes.
McKinley Wright started the run with a driving layup before Lucas Siewert added a pair of free throws and Brown drove the lane on a fast break bucket, getting an assist from Lazar Nikolic.
The Buffs then finished the run in style, getting a thunderous alley-oop dunk from Tyler Bey on a beautiful feed from McKinley Wright. Bey then added a free throw and Colorado's lead ballooned to 63-46 with 12:20 still to go in the game.
In that stretch, the Pioneers missed six straight field goal tries, a major reversal from the 56 percent shooting from the floor they had produced up to that point.
"When we contest shots high, good things happen," Boyle said. "I thought our defense helped our offense get out and run. That lob from McKinley to Tyler was pretty special."
Namon Wright said the Buffs wore the Pioneers down.
"Our big guys did a great job rebounding and contesting shots tonight," Wright said. "Defense is always our first priority, and we have a lot of depth where we can get fresh minutes from to support it."
The Buffs then slowly built their lead the rest of the game, pushing it past the 20-point mark on a King bucket.
The Buffs slowly pulled away midway through the first half, breaking away from a 16-16 tie with 8:40 to go to carve out a 43-33 lead at the half.
Dominique Collier sparked the late-half run with seven points, getting two free throws early, then a short jumper at the 7:12 mark before hitting a long 3-pointer with 5:40 to go. Namon Wright added another trey just 20 seconds later, followed by a Siewert three that bumped Colorado's edge to 35-27. Brown (nine points in the first half) then boosted the Buffs' edge to double digits, 39-29, with a driving layup and the Buffs held that cushion to the half, taking a 43-33 lead into intermission.
TURNING POINT: Just after the Pioneers closed to within six early in the second half, McKinley Wright sparked a 12-1 run with a driving layup that gave the Buffs a comfortable 63-46 cushion with just more than 12 minutes to play.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs continue to get balanced scoring from a variety of sources and are also displaying good depth, something that will no doubt be a key this weekend when they travel to the Paradise Jam for three games in three days.
CU STANDOUTS: Junior Namon Wright had 14 points and four rebounds. … Sophomore Deleon Brown had 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting. … Freshman McKinley Wright had 12 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists. … Senior George King had 11 points and seven rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs held a dominating 46-23 edge on the boards, leading to a 15-3 edge in second-chance points.
NEXT UP: The Buffs head to Lynchburg, Va., to take part in the Paradise Jam at Liberty University. The Buffs will play three games in three days, beginning with a 4 p.m. matchup Friday vs. Quinnipiac.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
