Senior guard Elijah Parquet chases down a loose ball against New Mexico on Nov. 13, 2021. (Brett Robinson/CU Independent)
The New Mexico Lobos gave the Colorado Buffaloes all they could ask for during their matchup at the CU Events Center. The Buffs were able to scratch out a win beating the Lobos 87-76 on Saturday evening.
The fight of the Buffs was once again on display with a back and forth game in the final few minutes when CU went on a 10-0 run to ice out the game.
“Good, good win for the Buffs,” said Boyle after the game. “Tonight wasn’t pretty at times. We still have a lot of work to do, but our guys showed grit and toughness when they needed to.”
Despite the Buffaloes’ continued resilience, the turnover bug from the opener against Montana State continued into tonight with 18 giveaways. Even though it did not cost them the game, the turnover problem will have to be fixed before two big conference games against Stanford and UCLA next month.
“We need to see the game to game improvement,” said Boyle. “The turnovers need to go from 16 to 14 and 14 to 12 and 12 to 10. That’s where we need to be. When we go from 16 turnovers to 18 turnovers, that is trending in the wrong direction.”
Besides the turnovers, the Buffs had a tremendous game from a fundamental standpoint. CU outrebounded the Lobos 47-27, limiting them to only eight second-chance points. The staggering rebounding difference was primarily due to freshman guard KJ Simpson’s tenacity on the glass, hauling in eight boards, including two offensive rebounds. When asked about his freshman point guard’s rebounding night, senior forward Evan Battey referred to a recent CU legend.
“It kind of shows flashes of McKinley [Wright IV],” said Battey. “The guard being able to get the ball off the glass and push it. It gives us extra possessions, so that’s big time.”
In addition to a good rebounding game, CU also got to the free-throw line at a high clip, shooting 33 in the game. It looks to be a significant part of their identity moving forward.
“We want to be in attack mode all the time,” said Evan Battey. “We have some versatile players who can attack from the outside and inside, so obviously, attacking the rim is good for us.”
Senior forward Evan Battey looks to drive the baseline in the first half against New Mexico. Nov. 13, 2021. (Brett Robinson/CU Independent)
Through two games, Colorado’s leading scorer in both contests has been sophomore guard Keeshawn Barthelemy who scored 16 against Montana State and another 20 Saturday night.
“We know Keeshawn can score the ball,” said Boyle. “He can shoot it, and he can get downhill. Keeshawn can get buckets. We have a lot of guys that can do that. The one thing I am trying to stress to this team is we cannot have an agenda. We got to share the ball because we have multiple weapons.”
If the first two games are any indication, the Buffaloes will be very good at distributing the basketball to many playmakers. After five Buffs scored in double-figure on Tuesday, four Buffs accomplished that feat tonight, with sophomore guard Nique Clifford adding eight as well.
The second half was a real positive for Colorado, as they hit clutch shots and got critical defensive stops to hold off the Lobos. Contributing to the Buffaloes second half successes was the play of Battey and freshman center Lawson Lovering. Battey was a perfect 5-5 from the field, including many pivotal baskets. Lovering was also excellent during the second half going 3-3 in only six minutes of action.
When asked about the team’s ability to close out close games, sophomore forward Jabari Walker, who had a double-double Saturday night, focused on the intangible aspects of the group.
“I think it just speaks to how close we are as a group,” said Walker. “We trust each other, and we want to play for the next man. In crunch time, we all know that we have our brothers, and we can trust every guy. It’s definitely something we should be doing sooner in games, but at the end, every guy steps up.”
Stepping up in crucial moments is what the Buffaloes have done the first two games of the season. Both wins were not pretty, but critical players made key plays when it counted most. The Buffs will have one more home game on Monday, Nov. 15 against Maine at 6 p.m. MT before traveling to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, to participate in the pre-Thanksgiving Paradise Jam.
