BOULDER – Less than 24 hours after Tad Boyle was steaming in the press room due to a lackluster effort against Nicholls state, he came back in and, this time, he was in a much better mood.
“I wish they could all be like that,” Boyle said with a smile.
The Buffaloes took to the floor with a vengeance to atone for Friday night’s sins and they did just that, putting together a tip-to-final-whistle performance that yielded them a 42-point win over the Hampton Pirates, the final score being 95-53.
“I think so,” Josh Scott said of if this was the closest thing they’ve had to a 40-minute performance. “We defended, we rebounded… after the performance last night, it speaks volumes of this group to not come out flat.”
As has been the case so many times, Scott was the leader for the Buffs, dropping in 21 points on 7-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line, to go with eight rebounds. But it was Tory Miller filling in for Wesley Gordon, who left the game with a knee injury, who had arguably the most impressive night.
Miller put in a career-high 19 points, six more than his previous career high, he also added in 10 rebounds to notch his third career double-double.
“This season I’ve been playing with a chip on my shoulder,” Miller said after the game. ” I think we all have… Play mad and channel it the right way, then let everything else carry itself.”
“I think he’s coming into his own,” Boyle added of Miller. “One thing about Tory is he makes things happen out there, he’s really active on the boards and has been rebounding the ball unbelievably well.”
The high-level performance out of Miller may become a necessity for the Buffs in the near future, as the status of Gordon, who was taken for X-Rays, is still unknown.
What we do know is that there Buffaloes will finish the non-conference schedule undefeated a home and on the road and they’re heading into their two biggest games of the non-conference schedule off of a “feel-good win.”
HIGHLIGHTS
.@CUBUffsMBB is bringing the 🔥🔥🔥 tonight! 👀
Watch #Pac12Hoops NOW: https://t.co/qcjjBLAeMvhttps://t.co/Y4b9VRH7RT
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) December 20, 2015
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Tory Miller
The Buffaloes reserve big-man brought his A-game on the night. Turning a season-high 22 minutes into a career-high 19 points.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
Hampton head coach Ed Joyner: "They shot the hell out of the ball… I don't think we have a bad basketball team and they kicked our butts."
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 20, 2015
BY THE NUMBERS
0 – The number of points scored by the Larry Bird Squad.
1 – The number of air balls shot by Josh Repine
3 – The number of players in the country averaging 18 points and nine rebounds while shooting over 60 percent from the floor, Josh Scott is one of them.
8 – The number of points scored by Kenan Guzonjic, a career high.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Buffaloes head to Sin City where they will play two games in two nights, the first against Penn State, the second against either SMU or Kent State.
