Buffs' Namon Wright Looks To Continue Hot Start
November 14, 2018 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER — When the Colorado Buffaloes scored 100 points in their 100-71 season-opening win over Drake on Tuesday, a fourth of those points came from Namon Wright.
The CU senior came off the bench to score 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range, to produce CU career highs in both categories. (He had 28 points and six 3-pointers as a freshman at Missouri against Florida.)
Wright logged 29 minutes of playing time against the Bulldogs.
"I told Namon, 'The better you play, the more you're going to play,'" head coach Tad Boyle said after the game. "Tonight was a testament to that."
Wright finished the first half with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor. Near the end of the first half sophomore guard McKinley Wright IV found Wright on a backdoor cut and Wright slammed it on home. After that dunk, both CU and Wright found their mojo. The Buffs went on a 10-2 run to close the first half and Wright went on to conclude his stellar night with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the second half.
"I'm just trying to let the game come to me honestly," Wright said. "McKinley (Wright IV) found me on a back cut and to me that's what pretty much got me going to be aggressive. … It's about having a good point guard and having good teammates. It's also about being confident in shooting the ball when I'm open and just playing defense. A few of my baskets I got were from playing defense and getting in the lane."
Along with his CU career-highs, he claimed eight rebounds on the night, six of them coming on the defensive end, while also getting a steal that led to a layup.
"I haven't seen Namon play defense like that for an extended period of time," Boyle said. "He's shown it certainly in flashes but I thought defensively, he got himself going. … I think his defense got his offense going, which I was really proud of."
Wright's previous CU career-highs came against Oregon last season in Eugene, when he scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting (3-for-6 from beyond the arc).
Now the Los Angeles prep product is looking to build off his excellent performance Tuesday night and carry it over to Friday night, when the Buffs take on Omaha at 7 p.m.
"I'm going to have the right focus mentally," Wright said. "Starting off the bench doesn't really matter to me. As long as we win ball games."
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