Buffs Meet Dons In Acrisure Holiday Classic

Thursday, November 27

Palm Desert, Calif.

12 p.m.

Colorado

San Francisco

Buffs Meet Dons In Acrisure Holiday Classic Image

Sebastian Rancik

Photo by: Tony Harman

November 26, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Colorado Notes Buy Tickets Donate

By: Troy Andre, Associate Director/Athletic Communications

Game 6 - San Francisco, Thursday, November 27, 2025
Acrisure Arena, Palm Desert, Calif.
Tip: 12:05 p.m. MT
Watch: CBS Sports Network (Justin Kutcher, BJ Taylor)
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Listen Online: Sirius XM 387, SXM App 977
Live Statistics: http://statb.us/b/608084

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 5-0 for the first time in six years after its 95-79 win over UC Davis on Nov. 21, which capped off a five-game home stand to open the season. The Buffaloes will be looking to move to 6-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 team won their first seven.

Colorado's offense has been clicking, leading the Big 12 Conference in scoring, field goal percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Buffaloes are averaging 94.4 points per game, the 13th best mark in the nation. Colorado is 18th in NCAA Division I in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9) and eighth in field goal percentage (.534).

For the first time in school history, Colorado has scored at least 80 points in each of the first five games of a season. The 1985-86 season was the only time the Buffaloes had scored at least 80 in the first four.

Colorado has scored at least 90 points in the last four games. It's the first time the Buffaloes have scored at least 90 in four straight since the 2023-24 team did it four times in mid December that season.

Colorado shot a season-high 59.6 percent from the field against UC Davis, marking the first time since 1985-86 the Buffaloes have shot at least 50 percent in five-straight games to open the season. The percentage against UC Davis was the team's best since shooting 63.0 percent in the NCAA Tournament win over Florida on March 22, 2024. Colorado is 121-11 since 2010-11, the Tad Boyle era, when shooting at least 50 percent.

The Buffaloes have also gotten to the free throw line in bunches. Colorado's 24.6 free throws made and 32.4 attempts per game rank sixth on the early-season NCAA Division I leaderboard.

Percentage wise, Colorado started slow from the line, but has bounced back strong in the last three outings. After shooting 69.2 percent over the first two contests (54 of 78) the Buffaloes have sank 69 of their last 84 (.821) to climb to 75.9 percent for the season. Against Providence, Colorado was 23 of 27 (.852) from the line, making 17 of 18 in the second half (.944), including 15 of 16 in the final four minutes of the game.

SCORING BALANCE: Colorado has had at least four players score in double figures in each of its five games and three of those contests, Montana State, Alabama State and UC Davis, the Buffaloes had five with at least 10 points.

Colorado had only four games with four players scoring in double figures in 35 contests last year (3-1 record) and none with five. Prior to this season, the NCAA Tournament win over Florida on March 22, 2024 was the last instance of five double-digit scorers.

The Buffaloes had a different leading scorer in each of its first four games. Freshman Isaiah Johnson led the way against Montana State with 24 points. Sophomore Sebastian Rancik equaled that output against Eastern Washington. Freshman Alon Michaeli had 20 points to lead the way against Providence. Junior Bangot Dak is the first repeat scoring leader of the season, topping the Buffaloes with 16 against Alabama State and a season-high 18 against UC Davis.

BENCH STRENGTH: Colorado is averaging 38.0 points per game from its bench accounting for 40 percent of the team's scoring through five contests. The Buffaloes' reserves are shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 72.9 percent from the free throw line while also pitching in 12.4 rebounds per game.

Colorado's 38.0 bench points per game leads the Big 12 and ranks 24th in NCAA Division I.

The bench has accounted for the leading scorer twice, Isaiah Johnson vs. Montana State and Alon Michaeli vs. Providence.

HARGRESS DISHING: Junior Barrington Hargress dished out a career-high 11 assists in the win over Providence. He had a 10-assist game with UC Riverside against Montana State on Dec. 18, 2024. Hargress pitched in 15 points to record his second career collegiate double-double. He scored 22 points along with his 10 assists last year against Montana State.

Hargress is averaging 5.6 assists per game, leading the Buffaloes and ranking fifth in the Big 12. He has just five turnovers on the season, with his 5.6 assist-to-turnover ratio ranking second in the conference and 16th in the nation. Hargress turned the ball over just once against Providence.

Against UC Davis, Hargress had nine assists with zero turnovers. It was the most assists by a Buffalo without a turnover since McKinley Wright IV had 13 assists with no turnovers in the NCAA Tournament win over Georgetown on March 20, 2021.

SEBI'S CAREER NIGHT: Sophomore Sebastian Rancik scored a career-high 24 points and dished out four assists in the win over Eastern Washington. He hit 11 of 12 from the free throw line, both career highs. Rancik missed his first attempt and then proceeded to hit his next 11.

Rancik recorded his first career 20-point game and led the Buffaloes in scoring for the fourth time in his career. He had three 3-pointers, his third career game with multiple 3-point field goals, just one off his personal best of four, which came in last year's game with Eastern Washington, in his collegiate debut. His 11 free throws made are the most by a Buff since KJ Simpson had 13 against Washington State on Dec. 31, 2023.

Rancik hit all 10 free throw attempts against Alabama State, the most by a Buff without a miss since Tristan da Silva was 10 of 10 vs. Pepperdine on Dec. 3, 2023. He is second in the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.939) and has made his last 25.

JOHNSON'S MONSTER DEBUT: Isaiah Johnson's 24 points against Montana State marked the second-most by a Colorado freshman in a debut. Johnson made 6 of 9 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, while hitting 10 of 12 free throw attempts.

The record for a CU freshman debut is 31 points by Emmett Lewis, who had 31 against New Mexico on Nov. 29, 1975. Lewis would go on to become the first of seven Buffs to ever lead the team in scoring for a season, averaging 15.0 in 1975-76.

Overall, his 24 points ties for the 13th best single-game total by a Colorado freshman. The last to reach that mark was current Philadelphia 76ers forward Jabari Walker, who scored 24 against Georgetown in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

All 24 of Johnson's points came in the second half, the most in any one half by a Colorado freshman. Overall his 24 points in one half ties for the 12th-best mark by a Buff, regardless of class.

MALONE'S IMPRESSIVE LINE: Graduate center Elijah Malone filled up the stat line nicely against Montana State finishing with 10 points and a trio of CU personal-bests with 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Through the first three weeks of the season, he is the only player in NCAA Division I basketball to have a game with at least 10 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The double-double was his second as a Buffalo, and actually is second in a row as he finished off the 2024-25 season with a 17-point, 10-rebound performance against Villanova in the College Basketball Crown Tournament. Overall it's the 28th double-double of his collegiate career (26 at Grace).

Malone's 13 rebounds are his best at Colorado and fifth overall; he had 17 with Grace against Cornerstone on Dec. 30, 2021. His four steals are a career-high, both CU and Grace. Malone's five assists are one off his Grace best, as he dished out six at Taylor (Ind.) on Feb. 13, 2021.

NONCONFERENCE NUMBERS: Colorado is 141-41 (.775) in nonconference regular season games under head coach Tad Boyle including a 94-24 mark (.797) since the beginning of the 2014-15 season.

Colorado is 109-8 (.932) in nonconference home games under Boyle, a record which includes a 7-2 mark in postseason action.

ABOUT THE DONS: San Francisco is 5-1 overall and has won its last four, including a 77-65 win over Minnesota on Nov. 22 in a neutral site game in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Dons average 80.7 points per game, shooting 48.3 percent from the field. USF averages 10.5 3-pointers per game, leading the West Coast Conference and ranking 40th in the nation. The Dons are 17th in the country in 3-point percentage (.412). Defensively, the Dons allow 65.3 points per game while opponents shoot 38.3 percent. Like Colorado, USF gets good production from its bench at 39.2 points per game.

Junior guard Ryan Beasley leads San Francisco at 16.0 points per game shooting 51.9 percent from the field. Junior forward Mookie Cook averages 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds off the bench while shooting 63.3 percent. Junior David Fuchs is USF's top rebounder at 6.5 per game while pitching in 10.3 points on 52.9 percent shooting.

THE SERIES: This will be the sixth meeting between Colorado and San Francisco with the Dons holding a 3-2 edge. It's the first meeting since Dec. 3, 2014, when the Buffaloes took a 72-55 decision in Boulder. The most notable game in series history happened on March 18, 1955, in NCAA Final Four semifinal game. Led by the legendary Bill Russell, San Francisco defeated the Buffaloes 62-50 en route to the 1955 NCAA championship.

PRESEASON TOURNAMENTS: Colorado has won eight preseason tournaments - also called MTE's or multi-team events - most recently the 2019 MGM Resorts Main Event in Las Vegas by defeating Wyoming (56-41) and Clemson (71-67). Four of Colorado's preseason tournament titles have been won on a neutral court.

Preseason Tournament Titles
2019-20            MGM Main Event, Las Vegas, Nev. (2-0)
2017-18             Paradise Jam, Lynchburg, Va. (3-0, 3 in 3 days)
2012-13             Charleston Classic, Charleston, S.C. (3-0; 3 in 4 days)
2002-03            Pepsi Classic, Charlotte, N.C. (3-0; 3 in 3 days)
1994-95            Mile High Classic, Boulder (2-0)
1993-94            Mile High Classic, Boulder (2-0)
1992-93            Mile High Classic, Boulder (2-0)
1991-92            Mile High Classic, Boulder (2-0)