Buffaloes Stampede Past Providence

Friday, November 14

Boulder, Colo.

7 p.m.

Colorado

3-0,0-0Big 12

Providence

2-2,0-0Big East

Providence

Colorado

Barrington Hargress and Alon Michaeli

November 14, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: CUBuffs.com

BOULDER - Colorado freshmen combined for 45 points as the Buffaloes outlasted Providence 97-88 Friday night at the CU Events Center.

Tad Boyle's Buffs improve to 3-0 while Providence falls to 2-2 on the season.

Colorado led for all but two minutes and 11 seconds, but couldn't break the game open. The Buffs used the free-throw line to ice the game, with 15 of the final 18 points coming at the charity stripe, and it was an efficient effort as they made 15 of 16 attempts over the final four minutes.

Freshman forward Alon Michaeli led the way for the Buffs with a team-high 20 points, shooting 5-of-5 from the line, while guard Barrington Hargress put up his first double-double at Colorado and the second of his career with 15 points and 11 assists. Elijah Malone chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds, and freshman guard Isaiah Johnson finished with 15 points, scoring 13 in the second half.

"Look, his 11 assists, the one turnover we see his assist-to-turnover ratio in practice," said Boyle on Hargress' performance. "I thought Barrington really played within himself. Here's a guy who averaged 20 points a game and had the burden of scoring the ball the last two years on his team at (UC) Riverside, and that burden has been lifted off him. He's obviously capable of shooting the ball. We saw that tonight. His mid-range game is pretty elite."

Jason Edwards led the way for the Friars with 24 points and six assists. Oswin Erhunmwunse made his presence felt on the defensive end with seven blocks and five rebounds.

Colorado dominated in the paint, scoring 54 points inside, shooting 19-of-33 on layups and dunks. CU also used 15 second-chance points on 12 offensive rebounds to control the pace of the game.

Though the final point total might not look like it, Colorado's defense improved tonight from the opening two games. After failing to hold the opponents below 50% shooting in either half in the first two bouts, the Buffs held Providence to 29-of-65 (44.4%) from the field and 6-of-25 (24%) from deep. Both are the lowest marks for an opponent this season.

"I felt like our scouting report defense took a major step forward tonight," Boyle said. "So that's the good news, now we have to talk about playing defense without fouls, because now again, some nights are going to be like that, and Providence has really good guards. They know how to score and how to get to the free throw line. We have to figure out now how to guard without fouling, and when we figure that out, we have a chance to be pretty good. But again, the other thing I like about our team is just our attention to the scouting report tonight, and you could see it, you could sense it, you could feel it. It's one of the things about coaching this team,their willingness and their desire to get better. We got better tonight defensively, even though 87 points doesn't look like it, but I thought we took a step in the right direction."

HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado jumped out to a 9-2 lead with four early points from Bangot Dak. The Buffaloes were moving the ball well early with six assists on their first seven field goals hovering around 50 percent from the field over the first seven minutes.

Freshman Jalin Holland had back-to-back layups and Michaeli scored on a pair of baskets as the Buffaloes stayed on the attack with a 15-8 lead at the 13:36 mark of the first half.

Providence made just 2 of 9 from the field at the start but managed to stay close. Stefan Vaaks and Edwards had early 3-pointers as Friars narrowed the gap to 17-13 with 12:30 left. That margin stayed consistent over the next seven minutes as the teams traded baskets throughout.

Colorado scored six-straight to take its largest lead of the game at 37-28. After a Hargress jumper, Josiah Sanders made a pair of free throws. Malone scored as the Buffaloes had a nine-point lead with 2:30 left

Providence closed the half on a 10-2 run. Edwards, who made all eight of his free throw attempts, sank three of those after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. Erhunmwunse finished the half with a dunk, cutting Colorado's lead to 39-38 at the break.

Providence took its first lead of the game in the opening minutes of the first half but Colorado responded with six-straight to build its lead back up to 45-40.

The Buffaloes never relinquished that lead, but Providence kept it close. A Jamier Jones bucket and two Corey Floyd Jr free throws knocked the lead back to one. Michaeli hit a 3-pointer, but Edwards answered with one of his own. Rancik put Colorado back up by four with a 3-pointer, but that was met with another response by Edwards as CU led just 51-49 with 15:53 remaining.

Colorado extended its lead back to seven, at 67-60, after a Sanders steal turned into a Sebastian Rancik 3-pointer off a fast break.

Jaylin Sellers cut the lead to four with four free throws but Malone hit his second 3-pointer of the season at the top of the key to put the Buffaloes back up 70-64 with 7:19 remaining.

Michaeli scored five straight points for the Buffaloes with a layup with 4:37 left giving Colorado a 79-71 lead. The Buffaloes would go nearly four minutes without a field goal, but it didn't matter as they got to the line often and cashed in. During that nearly four minute stretch the Buffaloes made 11 of 12 from the line while the Friars could only counter with nine points of their own.

Johnson then sealed the deal with a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to ice the game.