What exactly Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle can glean from the finale his team’s four-game exhibition trip might be a challenge.
Then again, at least the Buffaloes didn’t play down to the competition. Although that might have been difficult on Monday.
One day after Jabari Walker’s backboard-shattering dunk attempt ended the Buffs’ third Costa Rica exhibition about 12 minutes early, CU made it 4-for-4 on the trip with a thorough 141-31 rout of Grecia.
The Buffs scored the first 21 points of the game and led by as much as 64 points in the first half before taking an 80-17 lead at the break. The scoreboard was reset to zero to start the third quarter, but the illusion of competition didn’t fool the Buffs, who scored the first 14 points of the second half.
CU enjoyed its best shooting performance of the trip, taking advantage of a constant stream of breakouts to post a whopping .687 mark from the floor (57-for-83). That included a 16-for-33 mark on 3-pointers.
Point guard Keeshawn Barthelemy led the long-range assault, hitting his first four 3-point attempts in the first quarter en route to a team-high 23 points. Sophomore Nique Clifford recorded a strong all-around game, going 9-for-11 from the field with 21 points, four rebounds, and five steals. Freshman KJ Simpson capped his impressive trip with 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
For the second time on the trip, the Buffs opted to sit seniors Evan Battey and Eli Parquet, though that made no difference against a completely overmatched foe.
The Buffs are scheduled to relocate from San Jose to the Pacific coast city of Los Suenos before returning to Boulder on Thursday.
