[Editor’s note: This game report is by Chris Gaddis, who covers CU basketball for BuffsBlog. Chris is an optimist. I am not. His preview of the men’s team ran last week, and so did mine.]
The Buffs survive a legitimate preseason test, but a 29-shot disparity raises questions about what lies ahead.
CU won. That is the headline. It is not the story.
Colorado beat North Texas 67-64 on Sunday afternoon in Denver in its first public exhibition. The number that matters came somewhere else on the stat sheet.
The Buffs attempted 29 fewer field goals than the Mean Green.
Read that again. CU took 37 shots. North Texas took 66. The Buffs also surrendered 12 offensive rebounds and got outscored 44-22 in the paint. And won anyway, shooting nearly 49% from the floor and getting to the free-throw line 35 times.
So what did we learn? There are pieces here. There is also plenty to clean up before the games start counting.
Six Takeaways
1. The possession math is the problem
Twenty-nine more shots. Nine more offensive rebounds. A 13-4 edge in second-chance points. A 44-22 advantage in the paint. North Texas won every part of this game that has nothing to do with making shots.
This was not a preseason pushover, either. The Mean Green won 19 games last season and return three starters, including American Conference Preseason Player of the Year Je’Shawn Stevenson.
CU survived it by shooting nearly 49% and taking 35 free throws to North Texas’ 15. That is not a plan. That is a good night. You cannot spot a Big 12 opponent that many possessions and shoot your way out of it, and the Buffs will find that out in November. Rebound better, quit turning it over, get more shots up.
The good news? They found a way to win. The warning? They will not win many games like this.
2. Barrington Hargress is the leader this team needs
Hargress finished with 14 points, and the points are not the part that mattered. He made two free throws to tie the game late in the second half. He assisted on an important Ian Inman basket. He knocked down two more free throws with 27 seconds left to secure the margin.
Four turnovers is too many. But when the game got uncomfortable, he was the one who settled it. That is what this young team needs from him.
3. Alex Dickeson is going to play
Of Colorado’s seven true freshmen, Alex Dickeson and Goc Malual saw action against North Texas. Dickeson made the most of it.
The Australian started, played 30 minutes and led the Buffs with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, with four rebounds, two steals and a block. He never looked like a freshman.
This is not a “nice future” note. Dickeson is competing for a real role in Tad Boyle’s rotation right now.
4. Justin Neely might be the glue
The 6-foot-6 UNC Greensboro transfer averaged 17.9 points and 11.5 rebounds last season and finished second nationally on the glass. Against North Texas he had eight points, nine rebounds and a team-high six assists in 26 minutes.
The rebounding matters to a team that just gave up 12 offensive boards. The passing matters to a team that needs someone besides Hargress to create. [Mid-major production, though.] Whether it survives the Big 12 is the question. Sunday was a good first answer.
5. The defense has promise. The interior does not.
Seven blocked shots, three of them from Noah Feddersen. North Texas shot 39.4%. For a team still figuring out who it is defensively, that is a real night’s work.
Then look again. Forty-four points in the paint. Twelve offensive rebounds. Second chance after second chance. CU contested shots all afternoon and could not finish the possession by getting the ball.
Feddersen can block shots. Colorado needs him to rebound. The frontcourts waiting in the Big 12 will not miss twice and apologize.
6. They were tough when it mattered
CU could not have started better, jumping out 8-0 before North Texas settled in and turned the afternoon into a physical, possession-by-possession grind. The Mean Green led 53-50 with four minutes to go.
A young team gets to find out something about itself in that spot. The Buffs made plays, attacked the rim and made free throws. They shot 26.7% from three and turned it over 16 times and still won against a good opponent.
The execution was bad. The resilience was real. In October, that counts.
The Numbers Behind the Game
The concerns: a 29-shot deficit, 12 offensive rebounds allowed, 16 turnovers, a 44-22 hole in the paint and a 13-4 deficit in second-chance points.
The bright spot: 35 free-throw attempts to North Texas’ 15. That is the only reason the shot disparity did not beat them.
The BuffsBlog Stock Watch
Stock up, Alex Dickeson. Team-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting with two threes. Looked comfortable from the opening tip.
Stock up, Barrington Hargress. Fourteen points and the plays that decided it. His composure got CU through a second-half scare.
Stock up, Justin Neely. Eight points, nine rebounds, team-high six assists in 26 minutes. He does the things this roster is short on.
Worth watching, Ian Inman. Eleven points in 30 minutes off the bench, including the jumper with 1:23 left that put CU ahead for good. Led the reserves in scoring and tied for the team lead in minutes.
The BuffsBlog Verdict: Encouraged, but Not Convinced
Dickeson can play. Neely does a lot of things. Hargress is the grown-up. And this group was tough enough to win an ugly game against a respectable opponent.
They were also beaten up in the paint, beaten on the glass, and took 29 fewer shots than North Texas. Those are Big 12 problems, and they land hardest on the newcomers CU is counting on up front: Neely, Feddersen and Malual.
Still, it is October. An exhibition is not supposed to prove you are ready for March. It is supposed to tell you what to fix before November.
Go Buffs.
Next up: Abilene Christian, November 2, in Boulder.
How to Watch CU Athletics This Week, Sponsored by SportsDeck
Football: Colorado at No. 18 Oklahoma State
Saturday, 5:00 p.m. Mountain, on FS1. Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.
Volleyball: at BYU, then at Utah
Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Mountain. Both on ESPN+.
Soccer: at Arizona, then at Arizona State
Thursday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Mountain. Both on ESPN+.
Also this week
Lacrosse plays at Rutgers on Saturday in its fall season, with no stream. Tennis is at the Colorado Cup in Denver from Friday through Sunday, live stats only.
“How to Watch” events, between a wp:separator above and the OTITWI heading below.
Each line is its own wp:paragraph. –>
This section is sponsored by SportsDeck, an app I built after getting tired of finding out my team had played yesterday, on a channel I already had.
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