Colorado Continues Tour With First Game At West Virginia

Saturday, January 17

Morgantown, W.Va.

4 p.m.

Colorado

West Virginia

Photo by: Tony Harman

Colorado Continues Tour With First Game At West Virginia

January 15, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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By: Troy Andre, Associate Director/Athletic Communications

Game 18 - West Virginia, Saturday, January 17, 2026
Hope Coliseum, Morgantown, W.Va.
Tip: 4:05 p.m. MT
Watch: CBS Sports Network (Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas)
Radio: KHOW 630 AM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Listen Online: Sirius XM 381, SXM App 971 https://sxm.app.link/SXM971
Live Statistics: https://buffs.me/49uD1Ws

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 12-5 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play, dropping its second-straight conference game, 77-68, at Cincinnati on Jan. 14. The Buffaloes enjoyed a 2-0 start to league play for the second time in three seasons (2023-24 Pac-12) after its 85-73 win over Utah on Jan. 7 in its conference home opener. It was CU's third 2-0 start in its Big 12 history joining the 2010-11 and 1996-97 teams.

Colorado has matched its win total from the 2024-25, 31-game regular season (12-19). The Buffaloes are just one win away from matching their conference win total from a year ago. Colorado would finish with 14 overall wins after a pair of wins in the Big 12 Championship (14-21).

Colorado's offense has been strong ranking among the nation's best in several categories. The Buffaloes top the Big 12 and are 16th in the nation in free throw shooting at 78.0 percent. The Buffaloes also sport top 50 national rankings in free throws made (28th, 18.9), field goal percentage (40th, .489) and assist-to-turnover ratio (48th, 1.5).

SCORING BALANCE: Colorado has had at least four players score in double figures in 13 of 17 games, including the first nine. The Buffaloes have had four games with at least five scoring in double digits.

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 have had five different players lead the team in scoring this season and four have had 20-point games. Freshman Isaiah Johnson led the Buffaloes for a team-best eighth time this season with 18 points off the bench against Cincinnati.

Colorado is averaging 34.1 points per game from its bench accounting for 40 percent of the team's scoring. The Buffaloes' reserves are shooting 46.9 percent from the field while also pitching in 12.8 rebounds per game.

Colorado's 34.2 bench points per game leads the Big 12 and ranks 21st in NCAA Division I.

Freshman Isaiah Johnson is Colorado's leading scorer while coming off the bench in all 17 games. His 16.1 points per game average off the bench leads Power 4 Conference players and is third in NCAA Division I overall, trailing only Tarleton State's Dior Johnson (23.8 ppg) and Northern Kentucky's Donovan Oday (17.7 ppg).

Johnson is 13th in the nation, and third in the Big 12, in scoring by freshmen.

Johnson has a team-best four 20-point games, including 21 points against No. 14 Texas Tech. In that contest, Johnson was 13 of 13 from the line, marking the fourth-most free throws without a miss in team history and the most since Spencer Dinwiddie was 14 of 14 against Arizona State on Feb. 16, 2013.

Johnson leads the Buffaloes in free throws made and attempted, 3-pointers made (26) and steals (19) while ranking second in assists (37), 3-point attempts (57) and 3-point percentage (.456).

Johnson is fifth in the nation for free throws made by a freshman with 95. Overall, he is 14th in the country among freshmen in free throw shooting.

Junior Barrington Hargress leads Colorado in assists (79) and is second in steals (17) and field goal percentage (.560). He had 17 assists and dished out four assists against Texas Tech.

On the Big 12 charts, Hargress ranks seventh in field goal percentage, eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1) and 11th in assists (4.7 apg).

Hargress has seven games with at least five assists and also eight games with no more than one turnover. His 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio is the 45th best mark in the nation.

Sophomore Sebastian Rancik is second on the team in rebounding (5.6 rpg), 3-point field goals (22), free throws made (81) and attempted (92) and third in scoring (13.4 ppg), assists (34) and steals (13).

Rancik had 13 points and eight rebounds against Texas Tech. He tied his season-high in 3-pointers made, hitting 3 of 6 against the Red Raiders. Rancik had a game-high 19 points against Utah, hitting all nine of his free throw attempts. He scored 18 points and had six rebounds in the win at Arizona State. He made 12 of 14 from the free throw line, career highs in both categories.

Rancik leads the team and ranks second in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 88.0 percent. He has made 81 of 92 from the line, which includes a string of 25-straight made between the Eastern Washington and UC Davis games.

Junior forward Bangot Dak leads the Buffaloes and is 12th in the Big 12 at 7.7 rebounds per game and eighth in blocks at 1.7 per outing. He is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field.

Through the first four Big 12 games, Dak is third among all conference players in rebounding at 10.5 per contest. Dak grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds against Texas Tech, marking his fifth double-figure rebounding game of the year, third in a row and fourth in six games. All 13 rebounds were on the defensive side, the most defensive rebounds by a Buff since Jabari Walker had 14 (15 total) against California on Feb. 17, 2022. It was the most rebounds, without an offensive board, since Andre Roberson had 14 defensive against Dayton on Nov. 15, 2012.

Dak recorded 16 points and matched a career-best 12 rebounds against Utah. All four of his double-doubles have come in the last 10 games.

Freshman Alon Michaeli is averaging 9.6 points on 45 percent shooting in his 15 games off the bench. He has scored in double figures in eight of those contests. Michaeli is ninth in the Big 12 among freshmen in scoring.

CU IN THE NET: A snapshot of Colorado's NET rankings in 2025-26 (through games of Jan. 14).

Current: 71 | Highest: 39 (Dec. 2) | Lowest: 84 (Jan. 1)

Opponent Net Rank: 57 | Opponent Avg. Net: 140

Quad 1: 0-1 | Quad 2: 2-3 | Quad 3: 6-1 | Quad 4: 4-0

ABOUT THE MOUNTAINEERS: West Virginia is 11-6 overall 2-2 in the Big 12 and returns home to Morgantown after falling to No. 7 Houston on the road 77-48. The Mountaineers are averaging 73.2 points per game, shooting 45.1 percent from the field. West Virginia attempts 23.9 3-pointers a game and hitting 36.6 percent from long range, both numbers ranking sixth in the Big 12. Defensively, the Mountaineers are allowing 63.2 points per game, and have held opponents to 40.4 percent shooting. They are second in scoring defense in the Big 12 and seventh in the nation. They don't accomplish that by forcing a high number of turnovers, they sit at 12.1 per game which is 11th in the Big 12. They force missed shots, their field goal percentage defense is fourth in the conference.

The Mountaineers are led by senior guard Honor Huff who leads the team in scoring with 17.2 points per game. Huff uses the 3-point line to amplify his scoring abilities. He has attempted 165 shots from beyond the arc which leads the conference and is third in the nation. With the high volume he makes 40 percent of his shots which has led to 66 makes total and 3.9 per game which are both the top in the conference and second in the country. Huff rarely comes off the court, he averages 34.3 minutes per night, which is the second most in the conference. Senior forward Brenen Lorient is the other Mountaineer to average in double figures with 10.3 points per game. Senior guard Treysen Eaglestaff also contributes 9.2 points per game.

THE SERIES: This will be only the third meeting between Colorado and West Virginia on the hardwood. Both of the matchups came last season with the two teams splitting the series. The Mountaineers took the first game 78-70 in Boulder, but the Buffaloes claimed the rematch in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament 67-60. This will be Colorado's first ever game in the state of West Virginia.