Battle Of Undefeated Teams Monday In Boulder

Monday, December 1

Boulder, Colo.

7 p.m.

Colorado

California Baptist

Tickets From $18 - $73

Jalin Holland

November 30, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Colorado Notes Buy Tickets Donate

By: Troy Andre, Associate Director/Athletic Communications

Game 8 - California Baptist, Monday, December 1, 2025
CU Events Center, Boulder, Colo.
Tip: 7:01 p.m. MT
Watch: ESPN+ (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke) https://buffs.me/3XWWhXg
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Jerry Schemmel)
Listen Online: Sirius XM 385, SXM App 975
Live Statistics: http://statb.us/b/611113

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 7-0 for the first time in six years after claiming the 2025 Acrisure Holiday Classic title in Palm Desert, Calif. The Buffaloes defeated San Francisco in the first game, 79-69 on Nov. 27, and then just over 24 hours later defeated former conference rival Washington, 81-68, for its ninth multi-team event preseason tournament and first since 2019-20.

Overall the seven-game winning streak is Colorado's best since an eight-game run at the tail end of the 2023-24 season where the Buffaloes set the single-school record for wins with 26. Colorado will be looking for its first 8-0 start to a season since 1949-50.

Colorado's offense has been clicking, ranking third in the Big 12 Conference in scoring and field goal percentage and first in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Buffaloes are averaging 90.3 points per game, the 31st best mark in the nation. Colorado is 11th in NCAA Division I in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9) and 25th in field goal percentage (.516).

For the first time in school history, Colorado 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 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 21.6 free throws made rank 11th and 28.9 attempts per game rank 13th on the early-season NCAA Division I leaderboard.

SCORING BALANCE: Colorado has had at least four players score in double figures in each of its seven games and four of those contests, Montana State, Alabama State, UC Davis and Washington, 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 was the first repeat scoring leader of the season, topping the Buffaloes with 16 against Alabama State and a season-high 18 against UC Davis.

BD MVP: Junior forward Bangot Dak earned most valuable player honors at the Acrisure Holiday Classic. Dak averaged 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 blocks with zero turnovers at the two-game classic. Against San Francisco, Dak had 13 points, five rebounds and a career-high six assists. In the championship game, Dak recorded his first career double-double, leading the Buffaloes with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.

On the season, Dak leads the Buffaloes and is tied for ninth in the Big 12 at 7.4 rebounds per game and seventh in blocks at 1.7 per outing. He is third on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game while shooting 51 percent from the field.

HARGRESS DISHING: Junior Barrington Hargress is averaging 5.6 assists per game, leading the Buffaloes and ranking sixth in the Big 12. He has just eight turnovers on the season, with his 4.9 assist-to-turnover ratio ranking second in the conference and 13th in the nation.

Hargress has three games with at least eight assists this season. Last year, the Buffs didn't have any player reach eight in a single game. He scored 15 points and dished out a career-high 11 assists in the win over Providence. It was his second-career double-double and double-figure assist game. Hargress had 22 points and 10 assists with UC Riverside against Montana State on Dec. 18, 2024.

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.

Hargress dished out eight assists, with seven points and three steals, in the Acrisure Holiday Classic title game vs. Washington.

SEBI'S ALL-AROUND GAME: Sophomore Sebastian Rancik is second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and assists (22) and third in rebounding (5.4 rpg).

His rebounding numbers have picked up, averaging 7.7 rebounds over the last three games. Rancik tied a career-high with nine against San Francisco.

Rancik dished out a career-high five assists against UC Davis, along with 15 points and seven rebounds. He has had at least three assists in each of the last four games (3.5 apg). His 22 season assists are against just 10 turnovers, his 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio is 12th in the Big 12.

Rancik leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 86.4 percent. He has made 38 of 44 from the line, which includes a string of 25-straight made between the Eastern Washington and UC Davis games.

BENCH STRENGTH: Colorado is averaging 35.1 points per game from its bench accounting for 39 percent of the team's scoring through five contests. The Buffaloes' reserves are shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 72,2 percent from the free throw line while also pitching in 11.4 rebounds per game.

Colorado's 35.1 bench points per game is second in the Big 12 and ranks 34th in NCAA Division I.

Freshman Isaiah Johnson is Colorado's leading scorer while coming off the bench in all seven games. He is averaging 14.9 points, while shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range. He has made 38 of 44 from the free throw line, with his 82.6 percent accuracy ranking 11th in the Big 12.

The bench has accounted for the leading scorer three times, Johnson vs. Montana State and San Francisco and Alon Michaeli vs. Providence.

Michaeli is averaging 10.8 points on 53.2 percent shooting in his six games off the bench. He has scored in double figures in all but one game, coming off a 12-point performance against Washington in the Acrisure Holiday Classic title game.

SHARP-SHOOTING DUO: Graduate Elijah Malone and sophomore Felix Kossaras are 1-2 in field goal shooting for the Buffaloes who collectively shoot 51.6 from the field.

Malone has made two-thirds of his field goals, hitting on 24 of 36 from the floor. He is averaging 8.7 points and is second on the team in rebounding at 5.7 boards per game.

Malone had made at least 50 percent of his shots in all seven games this season and overall in his last 10 contests dating back to last year.

Kossaras is averaging 8.9 points and has made 60 percent from the field (21-35) and 57.9 percent from 3-point range. He's second on the team in 3-pointers made with 11. Kossaras is averaging 11.3 points over the last three games, including a career-high 17 in the win over UC Davis.

ABOUT THE LANCERS: California Baptist is 7-0, the best start to a season in the program's NCAA Division I era. CBU started off a five-game road trip in fine fashion, defeating Oregon State, 75-69 on Nov. 29. The Lancers will also face BYU and Utah on this trip. CBU averages 75.4 points on 45 percent shooting. The Lancers are one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, ranking fourth in the country in rebounding margin (+14.3) and 17th in offensive rebounds at 15.0 per game. CBU allows 63 points per game, ranking 18th in the nation.

Graduate guard Dominique Daniels Jr leads California Baptist at 17.8 points and 4.5 assists per game. Senior guard Martel Williams averages 15.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Williams led the Lancers against Oregon State with 19 points. CBU has five players averaging at least five rebounds per game led by Thomas Ndong (7.3 rpg) and Jonathan Griman (7.0 rpg).

THE SERIES: This will be the first meeting between Colorado and California Baptist.