Colorado Opens 2024-25 Season Monday

Game 1 - Eastern Washington, Monday, November 4, 2024
CU Events Center, Boulder, Colo.

Tip: 7:01 p.m. MT

Watch: ESPN+ (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)

Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Nate Kreckman)

Listen Online: Sirius XM 383, SXM App 973

Live Statistics: http://statb.us/b/546195

OPENERS: Colorado is 86-35 (.711) in all-time season openers and has won its last eight. The Buffaloes are 12-2 under head coach Tad Boyle and 39-5 in overall season openers since 1980-81.

The Buffaloes are 97-24 (.802) all-time in home openers, have won their last 16 and 22 of their last 23. Boyle's teams are 14-0 in home openers.

NONCONFERENCE NUMBERS: Colorado is 127-39 (.765) in nonconference regular season games under head coach Tad Boyle including an 80-22 mark (.784) since the beginning of the 2014-15 season.

Colorado is 96-8 (.923) in nonconference home games under Boyle, a record which includes a 7-2 mark in postseason action.

RIGHT AT HOME: At the CU Events Center, the Buffaloes have won:

- 16 of their last 17 (16-1 in 2023-24)

- 29 of 35 (29-6)

- 52 of 65 (52-13)

- 65 of 81 (65-16)

- 80 of 98 (80-18)

- 92 of 113 (92-21)

- 113 of 138 (113-25)

In the Tad Boyle era, Colorado is 193-40 at home (.828). The Buffaloes are 506-191 (.726) all-time at the CUEC. The Buffaloes have won at least 10 games at home each of the last 15 seasons.

Colorado was 16-1 at the CU Events Center in 2023-24, tying for the most regular season home wins in a season joining the 2015-16 (16-1) and 2013-14 (16-2) teams at that mark (the 2010-11 team won a school-record 18 home games, which included three postseason NIT victories).

BOYLE MILESTONES: Head coach Tad Boyle, entering his 15th season, has 298 wins at Colorado, the most in program history.

Boyle-led teams own 10 of the 14 20-win seasons in team history, the top five single-season win totals and seven of the top eight. With a record of 298-183 at CU, his 62.0 winning percentage is second all-time just behind Forrest "Frosty" Cox at 62.3 from 1936-50.

During Colorado's 13-year stint in the Pac-12 Conference, Boyle won 131 regular season league games, tying with Ernie Kent (Oregon 1998-2010 & Washington State 2014-19) for 17th in conference history.

Boyle owns the most wins at a state of Colorado NCAA Division I institution. He is 354-249 (.587) in his 19th year between Colorado and Northern Colorado (four seasons, 2006-10). Boyle is currently sixth in career wins for a head coach at any Colorado four-year school.

EXHIBITION RECAP: Colorado secured a 95-62 victory over Pomona-Pitzer on Oct. 19 at the CU Events Center in its first and only exhibition of the 2024-25 campaign.

Transfers Elijah Malone (Grace College) and Trevor Baskin (Colorado Mesa) had solid performances, combining for 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. Baskin came off the bench and had six rebounds, four assists and two steals to complement his 11 points.

Freshman forward Sebastian Rancik also played well with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists in his first collegiate action.

Julian Hammond III notched eight points and five assists along with two steals and four boards. Bangot Dak scored 16 while adding five rebounds, three assists and one steal in 21 minutes played.

Within the first three minutes of the game, four different starters for Buffs showed up in the scoring column to get the offense going. Once it got going it didn't stop as Colorado put up its most points in an exhibition game since scoring 109 vs. Tsinghua University (China) in 2019.

The Buffs out shot the Sagehens 58.5% to 38.6% from the field and outrebounded them 44 to 20. Pomona-Pitzer couldn't keep up with Colorado's pace of play as the Buffs scored 13 more points in transition and 13 more points off turnovers.

ABOUT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington was 21-11 in 2023-24 and won the Big Sky Conference regular season title with a record of 15-3.

Much like Colorado, the Eagles are a vastly different team in 2024-25. Eastern Washington has only two players on its roster from last year's team and just one that played significant minutes. Sophomore Sebastian Hartmann saw action in all 32 games averaging 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds in just under 13 minutes per contest.

The Eagles are led by Dan Monson in his first year at EWU. Monson is in his 28th year as an NCAA Division I head coach with stops at Gonzaga, Minnesota and most recently Long Beach State where he led The Beach on a memorable run to the 2024 Big West Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament bid.

Eastern Washington was picked sixth in the media version of the Big Sky preseason poll and ninth in the coaches preseason poll.

Eastern Washington won its lone exhibition game, an 84-52 decision over NCAA Division III Whitworth University (Wash.).

THE SERIES: This will be the fifth meeting between Colorado and Eastern Washington. The Buffaloes have won all four previous meetings with all four coming in Boulder. In the last meeting, Colorado edged the Eagles 60-57 on Dec. 8, 2021. Current Colorado senior Julian Hammond III appeared in that game as a freshman, scoring three points with a rebound and an assist in 13 minutes off the bench.

Colorado University Athletics

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Trevor Baskin

Bangot Dak

Julian Hammond III

Elijah Malone

Sebastian Rancik

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