The Colorado Buffaloes (3-0) cruised to an easy win against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (1-2), 89-70. The game was the second game Colorado played as part of the Boulder Regional section of the Legends Classic.
Colorado led wire-to-wire on the evening. Junior guard George King started the scoring off on the night. He nailed a three early in the game to set the tone for the Buffs. The score was 48-23 at the half.
It was a team effort for Colorado. Five Buffs scored in double digits. Two of them accomplished that feat in the first half. King was able to contribute, as well as senior guard Derrick White.
White had a very fruitful night for the team. The guard had 12 points at the half and was able to go on the backburner as far as the offensive game plan was concerned. He finished with the same 12 points, but also added three rebounds, four assists and two steals.
White was also able to help play lockdown defense for the team. ULM shot a somewhat underwhelming 41.3 percent. This was bolstered by a productive second half once the game had already gotten out of reach. In the first half, the visiting team only made a quarter of their shots.
“Colorado played really well in the first half,” ULM head coach Keith Richard said. “It was hard to score against them. They played great defense.”
A big part of Colorado’s success was due to their rebounding. The team outrebounded the Warhawks 49-37. This included doubling ULM’s offensive rebounding efforts, 18-9.
The Buffs were also bolstered by their impressive free-throw shooting. In all, the team went to the line 35 times and converted on 28 of those trips.
“One of our goals every game is we want to make more free throws than the opponent shoots,” head coach Tad Boyle said. “The way you do that is getting to free throw line more, playing defense without fouling and making shots when you get to the line.”
As the night wore on, the younger players on the squad got a chance to showcase their skills. Freshmen guard Bryce Peters notched his first career points. The first two came after he stole the ball and broke away an emphatic dunk. The freshman also added a 3-point shot that beat the first-half buzzer.
“I thought Bryce brought a lot of energy the defensive [end] and that transferred into offense for him and for the team,” senior guard Josh Fortune said. “I thought his energy from the get-go was fantastic.”
Peters added another dunk in the second half. Peters finished with nine points on the night. Freshman forward Lucas Siewart showed his tendency to be a glass cleaner. He added six rebounds for the team, four of them coming on the offensive side of the court. Freshman guard Deleon Brown also added nine points.
The team wasn’t totally pleased with its performance. In the second half, the Warhawks outscored Colorado 47-41.
“We still got a lot of work to do,” White said. “Our second half defense was not where we needed to be. We’re just going to watch the film and keep learning from it.”
The Buffs will move on to play in the Champions Round of the Legends Classic. Their next game will be against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 P.M. (MST) on Nov. 22.
Contact CU Independent Copy Editor Jake Mauff at jacob.mauff@colorado.edu
