As far as tune-ups go, it hardly was a flawless one for the Colorado Buffaloes.
Yet it was more than enough for CU to pick up a win before setting their sights on one of the most impressive teams of the early stages of the college basketball season.
The Buffs offset a cold night from 3-point range with a stellar performance at the free throw line, eventually pulling away from a gritty Prairie View A&M club to post an 83-64 win Thursday night at the CU Events Center.
CU improved to 9-2 and will face a quick turnaround before taking on No. 13 Dayton Saturday evening at the United Center in Chicago.
“It was better than our last couple games,” CU point guard McKinley Wright said. “We’ve just got to stay with each other, stay believing in each other, trust each other, and everything will go in the right direction. It was a step forward but we’ve got to do better. Take care of the ball. I think we still had 16 turnovers, which we’ve got to limit. But as far as offense — scoring, sharing the ball — that was way better.”
The Buffs began this week with head coach Tad Boyle hoping a few extra days of practice would help smooth some of the offensive inefficiencies that have plagued the team of late. Despite finishing just 5-for-20 on 3-pointers, the Buffs can call that effort a success.
CU finished with a season-high 18 assists on 26 field goals, and the Buffs finished with more assists than turnovers for just the third time in 11 games. CU shot a season-high 50 percent overall (26-for-52) and the Buffs’ defense also was on-point, with the Panthers finishing .368 overall with a 1-for-9 mark on 3-pointers.
“I probably think we spent less time on the scouting report or preparing for Prairie View than we have any team. Not because we don’t respect them, but because we wanted our players to focus on how they are playing the game,” Boyle said. “Sometimes you can concentrate a little too much on your opponents, I think. We have defensive principles. We have them for a reason. We have to understand personnel as the game goes on and certainly through scouting reports. Our guys did a good job of that tonight. I think there were some dividends paid to working on ourselves for three days in practice.”
The visiting Panthers remained within seven points of the Buffs with 7 minutes, 48 seconds remaining before CU finally pulled away, scoring 10 consecutive points in what became a 14-1 CU run. Junior wing D’Shawn Schwartz, who had been 0-for-4 on 3-pointers, hit the first two of three consecutive 3-pointers during the run to spark the Buffs.
Evan Battey led four players in double-figures for the Buffs, as the redshirt sophomore finished with team-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds. Tyler Bey scored 13 points to go with seven rebounds, while Schwartz tallied all 13 of his points in the final 10 minutes. Wright recorded 11 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
The Buffs also took advantage of a Prairie View A&M team that entered the game committing the sixth-most fouls per game in the nation, with CU finishing 26-for-28 at the free throw line. Now it’s on to the Windy City and a rematch against a Dayton squad the Buffs defeated at home in March in the first round of the NIT.
“I think it’s going to help us after the Northern Iowa loss, certainly the Kansas loss, to show that we can play against good teams and not only hold our own, but show that we’re a great team,” Schwartz said.
COLORADO 83, PRAIRIE VIEW 64
PRAIRIE VIEW (3-8)
Andrus 6-15 0-0 12, Patterson 4-12 3-4 11, Henry 2-5 3-4 7, Ellis 2-5 0-0 5, Sneed 3-5 1-2 7, Williams 2-11 3-5 7, Wiliams 2-5 2-3 6, Jackson 2-4 0-1 4, Lister 1-3 1-2 3, Coleman 0-1 0-0 0, Madden 1-1 0-0 2, Bynum 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-68 13-21 64.
COLORADO (9-2)
Wright 4-5 2-2 11, Battey 5-7 10-11 20, Schwartz 4-9 2-2 13, Bey 4-8 5-5 13, Siewert 1-3 4-4 6, Gatling 3-6 1-2 8, Parquet 1-3 2-2 4, Kountz 2-4 0-0 4, M.Daniels 1-6 0-0 2, Walton 0-0 0-0 0, Strating 0-0 0-0 0, Ryder 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-52 26-28 83.
Halftime – Colorado 35-28. 3-Point Goals – Prairie View 1-8 (Ellis 1-3, Henry 0-1, Lister 0-1, Williams 0-3), Colorado 5-20 (Schwartz 3-7, Wright 1-2, Gatling 1-3, Kountz 0-2, Parquet 0-2, M.Daniels 0-4). Fouled Out – Wiliams. Rebounds – Prairie View 29 (Henry, Williams 4), Colorado 43 (Battey 9). Assists – Prairie View 9 (Sneed 3), Colorado 18 (Wright 6). Total Fouls – Prairie View 22, Colorado 18. A – 6,082.
