When the Big 12 announces its men’s basketball all-conference awards next week, Colorado is unlikely to land any first team honorees.
Even with Isaiah Johnson’s huge freshman season, the Buffaloes don’t have any player ranked in the league’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding or assists.
The Buffs aren’t built around a dominant superstar, and when they’ve been at their best this season, it’s usually been a collective effort.
That’s exactly what happened at Utah on Tuesday night. Bangot Dak, Barrington Hargress and Johnson did much of the heavy lifting in a 92-78 victory, but it was a group effort that pushed the Buffs to a rare road win against the Utes.
While the aforementioned trio all scored at least 19 points, with Dak recording a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, the Buffs also received timely contributions from unexpected corners.
Jalin Holland hit three 3-pointers for the first time in his career and scored in double figures (11) for just the third time this season. Fellow freshman Josiah Sanders hit all four of his field goal attempts, adding a team-high five assists and three rebounds. And with Sebastian Rancik sidelined by an injury, Elijah Malone shook off his monumental rut to provide solid minutes, going 3-for-3 with six points and two rebounds.
“We had great efficiency offensively,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “Bangot has 22 points on nine shots. Isaiah’s got 22 on 10. Barrington’s got 19 points on 11 shots. That means you’re playing efficiently. We don’t have really volume shooters. We have efficient guys that are scoring the ball. Bangot’s been really good the last couple games doing that.”
After averaging 14.7 turnovers in the previous three games, the Buffs returned to their low-turnover norm, finishing with seven at Utah. CU averaged a Big 12-high 14.4 turnovers per game last year (14.8 in conference games), yet Tuesday’s effort lowered the Buffs’ season average to 10.3 turnovers per game. Colorado is on pace to post its first sub-11.0 turnover average since the statistic was first tracked during the 1977-78 season.
“Seven turnovers on the road. To me, when you do that, that’s pretty special,” Boyle said. “This team has done a pretty good job most of the year, save for maybe five or six games out of 30…but (Tuesday), to have seven on the road, in this kind of environment … Barrington, he’s done a great job all year taking care of the ball. He had two (at Utah) and it felt like he had 10 because I never expect him to turn it over. Like, never. He’s done a good job, but our whole team has done a good job.”
It will take a similarly balanced and mistake-free effort from the Buffs (17-13, 7-10 Big 12) to pull off the upset Saturday, when they host No. 2 Arizona in the regular season finale (9 p.m., ESPN2). While the Buffs are in line to lock down the No. 11 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament, the Wildcats already have claimed the league’s regular season crown and are on their way toward a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s going to take a lot. They’re a really good team and the No. 2 team in the country,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to come out and do all the little things, and the rest will take care of itself.”
The post Colorado’s balance, ball security pave the way at Utah appeared first on Denver Post
