Good. Lord. What an absolutely exhilarating, incredible win. I don't even know where to begin. I'll start here — for me, winning this game largely absolves the UNI loss and I think rights the ship in terms of Colorado being back on course to be in a position to keep striving for the preseason expectations these guys placed on themselves.
Let's not make any mistake: this game was FAR from a "neutral court" setting. Chicago is 4.5 hours of a drive from Dayton and Flyers fans dominated the United Center this evening. The Buffs went down early, battled back and overcame a tough OT period in front of a hostile crowd. This win means much for the team psyche and is an undeniably massive con-conference victory.
Final stats:
McKinley Wright IV: He was booed by the Dayton faithful from the moment he first touched the ball throughout the entire affair. He responded in the most boss manner possible, dropping 29 points and shooting 10-of-22 from the floor.
Tonight we saw the version of Wright IV that had been so noticeably absent for large stretches up to this point in the season. He was aggressive, made shots, got to the FT line and overall was a huge difference maker for Colorado tonight.
His 41:44 on the court led all game participants. Just an overall solid night at the office for Wright IV. I know he'd certainly like to have those two missed FTs back. He sinks both of them with 13 seconds left in the second half and there's likely no OT. Oh well, acceptable blemish on the report card if you ask me.
D'Shawn Schwartz: His game-winning, OT-ending three-pointer was probably the biggest shot he's ever made. Schwartz finished with 20 points and was 5-of-7 from long range. Tonight was a big game, with a lot of watchful eyes paying attention, and given his recent struggles to produce points for the Buffs, I can't even imagine how much of a confidence boost tonight was for him.
What Schwartz was able to contribute for Colorado epitomizes the potential he has to be this program's x-factor on a nightly basis. He scored CU's final five points in OT; before the three-pointer, he had a nice drive to the rim through traffic for a layup with 27 seconds left.
Really like the multi-faceted threat he is offensively when he's able to fire on all cylinders. Very dynamic weapon for this team.
Tyler Bey: Would have liked to see him finish a few more bunny shots near the rim, but tonight he really got things under control from a discipline / TO perspective. One turnover on the night for Bey, who contributed 12 points to CU's cause. Tad Boyle has commented often about how he needs to be a more willing passer, slow down and be better in general when double teamed. Against Dayton I really thought he took some big steps in that direction.
He's starting to realize he doesn't need to force things by taking an awkward shot when doubled in the post. Tonight was big for Bey in the sense of him finally beginning to understand how opposing defenses are going to try to shut him down, and responding effectively.
Evan Battey: He finished with nine points and certainly wasn't the secret offensive weapon for Colorado that he had been in recent games, but I thought his 36:28 on the court were good minutes. Zero fouls called against Battey. He I'd throw into the same bag as Bey in terms of finishing more shots/opportunities (Battey was just 2-of-7 from the floor) but he grabbed 12 boards in this one, which led all game participants.
Battey was also second to only Wright IV in trips to the charity stripe, and he made five of six.
In terms of individual assessments, there's not much more to do. Daylen Kountz contributed five points in 16:35 on the court and Lucas Siewert made a lone three-pointer in his nearly 18 minutes of playing time. Other than that, Wright IV, Schwartz, Bey and Battey essentially powered this team to the win.
Shane Gatling to his credit had a team-high four assists in the game, but otherwise failed to make a single shot from the floor (0-of-5).
On a final individual note(s), I really think the time has absolutely come for Eli Parquet to be removed from the starting lineup. Like his D, but he's not giving the team a spark early in games and if there's one thing the Buffs need, its any and every offensive push in the right direction. Not getting that with Parquet.
Maddox Daniels played just 2:28 tonight. Missed both his three-pointers tonight by quite a lot. Just on an incredible ice cold stretch as of late. Not doing himself any favors in terms of convincing Boyle to play him more.
Moving on, the Buffs as a collective unit more than got the TOs under control. 10 in total vs. Dayton, that's the lowest Colorado has had since the UC Irvine game on Nov. 18. Boyle talked to the guys a lot in the last week or so about when these teams last met in the NIT, Colorado had just seven turnovers. He challenged them to put together a similarly effective game in terms of ball security and discipline and they responded.
Dayton shot a clean 50% in this game (32-of-64). The one area I was probably most disappointed in was CU's interior defense. It was far too easy for Flyers players to drive to the net — it often seemed like the ball handler had only one guy to beat in the paint before going for an easy layup.
The Buffs left lanes open and didn't do the best job of guarding the interior (Dayton had 50 points in the paint) but otherwise, I thought the Buffaloes for the most part guarded along the perimeter and three-point line well. The Flyers had to work for a good amount of shots and drained a decent few that were preceded by solid CU defense and/or came close to the shot clock expiring.
That said, the wide open three-pointer allowed to Obi Toppin, which sent the game into OT, that was infuriating. The Buffs picked the final seconds of regulation to hand in their worst defensive sequence.
But I think the most important takeaway here is that this game should embody how the 2019-20 team is going to win games: rely on stout defense, limit turnovers, and benefit from key and consistent contributions from the main cast of players. Colorado also won the rebounding battle, 42-32. The Buffs also had 17 offensive rebounds compared to Dayton's eight.
CU shot just under 40% tonight (27-of-68, technically, 39.7%) and managed to defeat a Dayton team shooting close to 60% for much of the game. The Buffs were worse in the second half, making just 32% of shots compared to the 42% made in the opening half.
Ultimately, I foresee Colorado continuing to post shooting percentages in the 37-44 range. The team after this game will be averaging on the year about a 41% conversion rate.
So that's what sticks out to me about this win: Colorado's formula for victory is rarely going to feature a flashy offense. CU has recently been better about creating scoring opportunities in the paint, as opposed to a pretty long stretch in which there seemed to be an invisible no-Buffs-allowed wall that prevented the basketball from moving within the three-point line.
We've been down the rabbit hole of discussing how frustrating the above is at times, we've talked about how Boyle doesn't have the most robust offensive system, but for me, I think tonight is proof that if executed properly, his system works and can take down anyone.
If CU had pulled it off vs. UNI, the Buffs would likely be in the top 15 after this one. Overall, hard to not pick this game as the best away win by the Buffaloes under Boyle. I believe this is the highest-ranked team CU has knocked off away from Boulder since 1990.
Great win tonight in Chicago.
Whatcha got?
Let's not make any mistake: this game was FAR from a "neutral court" setting. Chicago is 4.5 hours of a drive from Dayton and Flyers fans dominated the United Center this evening. The Buffs went down early, battled back and overcame a tough OT period in front of a hostile crowd. This win means much for the team psyche and is an undeniably massive con-conference victory.
Final stats:
McKinley Wright IV: He was booed by the Dayton faithful from the moment he first touched the ball throughout the entire affair. He responded in the most boss manner possible, dropping 29 points and shooting 10-of-22 from the floor.
Tonight we saw the version of Wright IV that had been so noticeably absent for large stretches up to this point in the season. He was aggressive, made shots, got to the FT line and overall was a huge difference maker for Colorado tonight.
His 41:44 on the court led all game participants. Just an overall solid night at the office for Wright IV. I know he'd certainly like to have those two missed FTs back. He sinks both of them with 13 seconds left in the second half and there's likely no OT. Oh well, acceptable blemish on the report card if you ask me.
D'Shawn Schwartz: His game-winning, OT-ending three-pointer was probably the biggest shot he's ever made. Schwartz finished with 20 points and was 5-of-7 from long range. Tonight was a big game, with a lot of watchful eyes paying attention, and given his recent struggles to produce points for the Buffs, I can't even imagine how much of a confidence boost tonight was for him.
What Schwartz was able to contribute for Colorado epitomizes the potential he has to be this program's x-factor on a nightly basis. He scored CU's final five points in OT; before the three-pointer, he had a nice drive to the rim through traffic for a layup with 27 seconds left.
Really like the multi-faceted threat he is offensively when he's able to fire on all cylinders. Very dynamic weapon for this team.
Tyler Bey: Would have liked to see him finish a few more bunny shots near the rim, but tonight he really got things under control from a discipline / TO perspective. One turnover on the night for Bey, who contributed 12 points to CU's cause. Tad Boyle has commented often about how he needs to be a more willing passer, slow down and be better in general when double teamed. Against Dayton I really thought he took some big steps in that direction.
He's starting to realize he doesn't need to force things by taking an awkward shot when doubled in the post. Tonight was big for Bey in the sense of him finally beginning to understand how opposing defenses are going to try to shut him down, and responding effectively.
Evan Battey: He finished with nine points and certainly wasn't the secret offensive weapon for Colorado that he had been in recent games, but I thought his 36:28 on the court were good minutes. Zero fouls called against Battey. He I'd throw into the same bag as Bey in terms of finishing more shots/opportunities (Battey was just 2-of-7 from the floor) but he grabbed 12 boards in this one, which led all game participants.
Battey was also second to only Wright IV in trips to the charity stripe, and he made five of six.
In terms of individual assessments, there's not much more to do. Daylen Kountz contributed five points in 16:35 on the court and Lucas Siewert made a lone three-pointer in his nearly 18 minutes of playing time. Other than that, Wright IV, Schwartz, Bey and Battey essentially powered this team to the win.
Shane Gatling to his credit had a team-high four assists in the game, but otherwise failed to make a single shot from the floor (0-of-5).
On a final individual note(s), I really think the time has absolutely come for Eli Parquet to be removed from the starting lineup. Like his D, but he's not giving the team a spark early in games and if there's one thing the Buffs need, its any and every offensive push in the right direction. Not getting that with Parquet.
Maddox Daniels played just 2:28 tonight. Missed both his three-pointers tonight by quite a lot. Just on an incredible ice cold stretch as of late. Not doing himself any favors in terms of convincing Boyle to play him more.
Moving on, the Buffs as a collective unit more than got the TOs under control. 10 in total vs. Dayton, that's the lowest Colorado has had since the UC Irvine game on Nov. 18. Boyle talked to the guys a lot in the last week or so about when these teams last met in the NIT, Colorado had just seven turnovers. He challenged them to put together a similarly effective game in terms of ball security and discipline and they responded.
Dayton shot a clean 50% in this game (32-of-64). The one area I was probably most disappointed in was CU's interior defense. It was far too easy for Flyers players to drive to the net — it often seemed like the ball handler had only one guy to beat in the paint before going for an easy layup.
The Buffs left lanes open and didn't do the best job of guarding the interior (Dayton had 50 points in the paint) but otherwise, I thought the Buffaloes for the most part guarded along the perimeter and three-point line well. The Flyers had to work for a good amount of shots and drained a decent few that were preceded by solid CU defense and/or came close to the shot clock expiring.
That said, the wide open three-pointer allowed to Obi Toppin, which sent the game into OT, that was infuriating. The Buffs picked the final seconds of regulation to hand in their worst defensive sequence.
But I think the most important takeaway here is that this game should embody how the 2019-20 team is going to win games: rely on stout defense, limit turnovers, and benefit from key and consistent contributions from the main cast of players. Colorado also won the rebounding battle, 42-32. The Buffs also had 17 offensive rebounds compared to Dayton's eight.
CU shot just under 40% tonight (27-of-68, technically, 39.7%) and managed to defeat a Dayton team shooting close to 60% for much of the game. The Buffs were worse in the second half, making just 32% of shots compared to the 42% made in the opening half.
Ultimately, I foresee Colorado continuing to post shooting percentages in the 37-44 range. The team after this game will be averaging on the year about a 41% conversion rate.
So that's what sticks out to me about this win: Colorado's formula for victory is rarely going to feature a flashy offense. CU has recently been better about creating scoring opportunities in the paint, as opposed to a pretty long stretch in which there seemed to be an invisible no-Buffs-allowed wall that prevented the basketball from moving within the three-point line.
We've been down the rabbit hole of discussing how frustrating the above is at times, we've talked about how Boyle doesn't have the most robust offensive system, but for me, I think tonight is proof that if executed properly, his system works and can take down anyone.
If CU had pulled it off vs. UNI, the Buffs would likely be in the top 15 after this one. Overall, hard to not pick this game as the best away win by the Buffaloes under Boyle. I believe this is the highest-ranked team CU has knocked off away from Boulder since 1990.
Great win tonight in Chicago.
Whatcha got?
