Colorado
1-0,0-0Pac-12
Towson
0-1,0-0CAA
Boyle's Buffs Roll Past Towson In Opener
November 06, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado's defense set the tone in the first half and the Buffaloes' offense came alive in the second Monday as CU rolled to a 75-57 win over Towson in the season opener at the CU Events Center.
The Buffs led by four at the half but exploded with a 17-1 run to open the second half and Towson never threatened again, as CU pushed its lead to as much as 28 down the stretch.
Colorado improved to 14-0 in home openers in the Tad Boyle era.
KJ Simpson led the Buffs with 22 points and Tristan da Silva added 13, all in the second half. J'Vonne Hadley added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds and Luke O'Brien had seven points and seven boards.
Dylan Williamson led Towson with 15 points.
Colorado shot 52 percent from the floor, including 8-for-17 from 3-point range. The Buffs missed all seven attempts from beyond the arc in the first half but then hit eight in a row in the second half to build their lead.
CU held the Tigers to 35 percent shooting and had a 38-26 edge on the boards. The Buffs are now 85-6 under Boyle when holding an opponent to 40 percent or less shooting and having at least a plus-8 rebounding edge.
Colorado finished with 21 assists on 26 baskets, with the only downside of the night 16 turnovers.
"That was a good first game," Boyle said. "A tale of two halves, obviously. I thought we fought adversity in the first half offensively and came out in the second half and figured things out a little bit. I was really proud of our defensive effort that first 20 minutes. We really guarded at a high, high level and we did that pretty much the whole game. I'm really happy with this team's defense and rebounding."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado led 28-24 at the half after the Tigers sliced a 13-point deficit to four with a late 11-2 run.
"It's not how we wanted to start offensively," Simpson said. "There was a lot of standing around and not moving the ball. But we got better in the second half."
Indeed, the Buffs needed just a few minutes after intermission to blow the game open.
After missing all seven of their 3-point tries in the first half, the Buffs drained eight in a row to start the second half. Simpson hit two in the first three minutes of the period and da Silva and O'Brien each hit one in the span as Colorado quickly rebuilt its lead to double digits, 40-24.
Towson never threatened again as Colorado steadily built its lead. Another da Silva 3-pointer pushed Colorado's edge to 20 less than six minutes into the period and the cushion ballooned to 28 with 5:26 to play.
"Three-point shooting, much like free throw shooting, can be a little contagious," Boyle said. "We were 0-for-7 from three in the first half. And I thought we had good looks. But we held them to 24 points in the first half, and when the shots do start falling you can break that thing open, and that's what happened."
Boyle had no gripes about the Buffs' defense in this one. Colorado held Towson to just four points in the first seven minutes of the second half and limited the Tigers to under 30 percent shooting for much of the period.
"We have a chance to be a really good defensive team," Boyle said.
Colorado's defense established the tempo early as the Buffs jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first eight minutes. The Buffs forced a 6-minute scoring drought from the Tigers in that stretch and got six points from KJ Simpson on the offensive end.
The Buffs continued to apply the pressure and with 6:39 left in the half, pushed their lead to 13 when an Eddie Lampkin Jr. bucket inside gave Colorado a 24-11 edge.
But CU's offense then went stagnant and Towson put together an 11-2 run, thanks in part to a handful of Colorado turnovers. A 3-pointer from Messiah Jones with 1:34 left in the half pulled the Tigers to within 26-22 and the two teams traded buckets in the final minute to send Colorado into the break with just a four-point lead, 28-24.
Along with eight turnovers in the opening half the Buffs also shot 0-for-7 from 3-point range.
TURNING POINT: After Towson cut Colorado's lead to four at the end of the first half, the Buffs responded by going on a 12-0 run to open the second half and the Tigers were never within single digits again.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado is now 12-2 in season openers under Boyle and 14-0 in home openers during his tenure.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs held Towson to 35 percent shooting (19-for-54) and held a 38-26 rebound edge … CU shot 52 percent from the floor (26-for-50), including 8-for-17 from 3-point range … Colorado had 21 assists and no Buff took more than nine shots.
NEXT UP: The Buffs return to action Friday when they play host to Grambling State in a 6 p.m. game at the CU Events Center (Pac-12 Mountain).
