Undefeated Buffs Ready For Rocky Mountain Showdown\

Saturday, December 6

Fort Collins, CO

3 p.m.

Colorado

Colorado State

Josiah Sanders

December 05, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Colorado Notes Colorado State Notes Buy Tickets Donate

By: Troy Andre, Associate Director/Athletic Communications

Game 9 - Colorado State, Saturday, December 6, 2025
Moby Arena, Fort Collins, Colo.
Tip: 3:05 p.m. MT
Watch: CBS Sports Network (Jack Gordon, Tre Demps)
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Listen Online: Sirius XM 387, SXM App 977
Live Statistics: https://buffs.me/4oCCfMR

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 8-0 for the first time in 76 years after rallying to defeat California Baptist 78-70 on Dec. 1 at the CU Events Center. The 8-0 start is tied for the second-best in school history, last achieved in the 1949-50 season. The Buffaloes still have a way to go to reach the all-time record. Colorado's 1941-42 team started the season 14-0 en route to its first of the program's two NCAA Final Four appearances.

Colorado's offense has been strong during its winning streak, ranking second in the Big 12 Conference in 3-point shooting (.416) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8), third in overall field goal percentage (.509) and fourth in scoring (88.8 ppg). The Buffaloes are sixth in the nation in 3-point percentage and 19th in assist-to-turnover ratio.

The Buffaloes have also gotten to the free throw line in bunches. Colorado's 21.9 free throws made rank eighth and 29.1 attempts per game rank 11th on the early-season NCAA Division I leaderboard.

NOTING STREAKS: Colorado's eight-game winning streak is the program'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 attempt to make it nine in a row on Saturday, its first true road game of the season. A win at CSU would elevate Colorado's winning-streak by itself among the top 10 runs in team history. The Buffaloes have a pair of double-digit win streaks that span over two seasons:

Colorado Win Streaks
Rk          Wins    Season(s)        Notable
1.           14          1941-42             Started 14-0, NCAA Final Four
2.           13          1928-30             Won last 9 in '28-29, first 4 of '29-30
3.           12          1939-40             NIT Champions; first NCAA Tournament
                12          1961-62             NCAA Regional Final
5.           11          2015-16             NCAA First Round, lost opener, won next 11
6.           10          2013-14             NCAA First Round
                10          1944-45             First year back after 2-year WWII layoff
                10          1920-22             8-0 in '20-21, won first two in '21-22
9.            9             2005-06             NIT First Round
10.        8             Multiple            Current streak, first since 2023-24

SCORING BALANCE: Colorado has had at least four players score in double figures in each of its eight 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 10th in the Big 12 at 7.4 rebounds per game and eighth in blocks at 1.8 per outing. He is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field.

HARGRESS DISHING: Junior Barrington Hargress is averaging 5.1 assists per game, leading the Buffaloes and ranking ninth in the Big 12. He has just 12 turnovers on the season, with his 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio ranking fourth in the conference.

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 (13.0 ppg), assists (22) and rebounding (5.4 rpg).

His rebounding numbers have picked up, averaging 7.0 rebounds over the last four 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.

Rancik leads the team and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 87.5 percent. He has made 42 of 48 from the line, which includes a string of 25-straight made between the Eastern Washington and UC Davis games.

BENCH STRENGTH: Colorado is averaging 35.4 points per game from its bench accounting for 40 percent of the team's scoring through eight contests. The Buffaloes' reserves are shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 71.2 percent from the free throw line while also pitching in 12.1 rebounds per game.

Colorado's 35.4 bench points per game is second in the Big 12 and ranks 28th in NCAA Division I.

Freshman Isaiah Johnson is Colorado's leading scorer while coming off the bench in all eight games. He is averaging 15.1 points, while shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from 3-point range. He has made 47 of 57 from the free throw line, with his 82.5 percent accuracy ranking 10th in the Big 12.

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

Michaeli is averaging 10.9 points on 52.7 percent shooting in his seven games off the bench. He has scored in double figures in all but one game. Michaeli had 11 points and a career-high seven rebounds against California Baptist..

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 64.3 percent of his field goals, hitting on 27 of 42 from the floor. He is averaging 8.4 points and is third on the team in rebounding at 5.3 boards per game.

Malone had made at least 50 percent of his shots in all eight games this season and overall in his last 11 contests dating back to last year.

Kossaras is averaging 8.5 points and has made 62 percent from the field (24-39) and 55 percent from 3-point range. He's third on the team in 3-pointers made with 11. Kossaras is averaging 10.0 points over the last four games, including a career-high 17 in the win over UC Davis.

ABOUT THE RAMS: Colorado State is 6-2 overall, winning two of three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis event in the Bahamas last week. The Rams are a great offensive team, averaging 84.0 points per game. CSU leads the nation in 3-point shooting, hitting on 45 percent of its attempts from deep. The Rams are third in the country in free throw shooting at 81.4 percent.

Sophomore forward Kyle Jorgensen leads Colorado State at 14.9 points per game, hitting 64.4 percent from the field and 52.0 percent from 3-point range. The Rams' top three scorers are within six points of each other. Junior guard Josh Pascarelli is averaging 14.4 points per game and leads the team with 27 3-pointers made. Junior forward Carey Booth averages 14.1 points and tops the Rams in rebounding at 7.4 per game.

THE SERIES: This will be the 133rd meeting between Colorado and Colorado State with the Buffaloes holding a commanding 93-39 series lead. Colorado has won four of the last five encounters, including a 72-55 decision nearly one year ago in Boulder on Dec. 7, 2024. Colorado State won the last meeting at Moby Arena, and 88-83 classic on Nov. 29, 2023, in a match up of two eventual NCAA Tournament teams. Colorado holds an 37-29 all-time series advantage in Fort Collins.