Five takeaways from Colorado’s season-opening win over Towson
We saw a lot of good from the Colorado men’s basketball team in its season opener Monday evening. The Buffs weren’t perfect in every area, but they’ll take a 75-57 win over Towson.
TCU transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr., five-star freshman Cody Williams and others made their Colorado debuts while returnees Tristan da Silva, J’Vonne Hadley and KJ Simpson all led the way offensively.
After the game, head coach Tad Boyle praised his team’s defensive effort, which held Towson to 35% shooting from the field. Colorado, meanwhile, shot an impressive 52% despite missing a few layups.
Here are five takeaways from Colorado’s opening night win over Towson:
We're sleeping on J'Vonne Hadley
Partly because he was frequently hurt last season, J’Vonne Hadley has not received the attention he deserves. The now-healthy former JUCO player tallied 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists in his 27 minutes.
“He’s just a dog for us,” KJ Simpson said of Hadley. “A lot of the stuff that he does does not show up on the stat sheet. I talked about playing with more pace and the reason why we got a lot of open shots was because he would set screens and roll real hard, put pressure on the rim and he was boxing out the opposing big man. He just does so much for us.”
Eddie Lampkin Jr.'s energy is everything we expected and more
Eddie Lampkin is a force! pic.twitter.com/SXFS2l1zJS
— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) November 7, 2023
He may not have had the best night statistically, but Eddie Lampkin Jr.’s energy played a major role in the win. He fought hard on the glass throughout and was a pest on defense. Still, Lampkin will have to limit his turnovers and fouling.
Tad ball to the max
Especially early on, the Buffs played an excellent brand of Tad ball by cleaning the boards and defending well. Colorado outrebounded the Tigers 38-26 and, as I mentioned earlier, held the Tigers to 35% shooting.
“I was really proud of our defensive effort that first 20 minutes,” Boyle said. “We really guarded at a high, high level. We pretty much did that the whole game. We had some breakdowns a little bit here and there, but I’m really happy with this team’s defensive rebounding.”
KJ Simpson began his junior season with a bang
KJ Simpson was, of course, disappointed that he couldn’t finish last season healthy. Over the summer, he turned that into motivation by hitting the weight room hard and improving his stroke. His offseason work showed on Monday as he finished with a team-high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
Turnovers remain an issue
Colorado turned the ball over 16 times, a number that must go down if the Buffs want to reach their high ceiling. Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Cody Williams combined for eight of those turnovers.
Further reading
READ: Deion Sanders looking for more passion out of his Buffs down the stretch
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