Balanced Buffs exterminate Hornets

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BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes welcomed the Sacramento State Hornets into Coors Event Center Friday night for the season opener of the 2016-17 basketball season. With a fine display of team basketball, the Buffs overshadowed the Hornets with a 90-53 victory.

Dom Collier led the way for the Buffs with 12 points on four threes, but it was a balanced scoring attack that put Colorado over the top. Josh Fortune added 11 points, George King threw in 10, and Derrick White and Deleon Brown each chipped in nine. With the win, the Buffs improved to 90-24 all time in home openers and have now won their last nine.

“As home openers go, this was a good one,” head coach Tad Boyle said after the game. “Certainly some areas where we can improve, that you always look for in these kinds of games but really some nice things happened out there. I told the team in the locker room after the game, ‘The strength of this team is going to be the balance of the team.’ I think our balance really showed tonight.”

One of the big storylines of the opener was the much-anticipated debut of senior transfer Derrick White. White, a Division II All-American before coming to Colorado, opened up his career and the season for the Buffaloes with a three pointer from the top of the key. The Buffs would not surrender that lead the rest of the night.

“He’s pretty special,” Boyle said of  White, who finished with an efficient nine points, four assists and two rebounds in just 21 minutes.

“The thing about Derrick is he was about 70 percent tonight. He twisted an ankle two days ago in practice and he’s not 100 percent, nowhere near 100 percent. He showed great toughness and resolve to play tonight. There wasn’t anything that was going to keep him from playing.”

Shortly after White got things started, the Buffs would go on an 18-1 run over a six-minute stretch, building a 24-7 lead and keeping the game from ever being in question again.

A three-point barrage would help Colorado build an even greater lead as the night went on. When all was said and done, the Buffs shot 13-of-21 from downtown (62%), with seven coming from the combination of Dom Collier (4-6) and freshman Lucas Siewart (3-3).

“I hope we can expect to shoot like that every night,” Boyle said with a smile. “I think it really helps when we play inside out… You saw that Lucas Siewart is a big-time threat behind the line, we’ve got a lot of different guys who cabn shoot it. If we continue to play unselfishly and continue to share the ball, we should be a tough team to guard.”

When all was said and done, the Buffs would leave the building 1-0 with their head coach remaining undefeated in home openers. The team will take the court again on Monday at 7 PM as they take on Seattle University.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Xavier Johnson- After missing last year’s season due to a torn achilles, Johnson returned on Friday night to a massive ovation from the crowd. In his first action, he led the team in minutes with 25, adding in six points and seven rebounds as well.

“It was awesome,” Johnson said of his return. “I am blessed to be back on the court. I can’t take anything for granted, so this feels awesome.”

QUOTE OF THE GAME

Tad Boyle speaking on his team’s sense of urgency.

“That was my concern coming in. I believe and trust in our guys. but look it’s the first game, especially with the guys who were having their first game I knew those guys would be dialed in. But Wesley and George, those guys coming off the bench like Tory and Dom, I thought those guys had a great sense of urgency tonight. So overall I was pleased.”

WHAT’S NEXT

The Buffs will host Seattle University on Monday, Nov. 14 at Coors Event Center. The game will be aired on Pac-12 Network at 7pm.