BY REID CONANT
The Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball team is off to a 5-1 start to the season with their biggest win coming this afternoon against their in-state rival Colorado State.
The Buffaloes won by an 86-80 margin and put on an offensive display in the second half. Sophomore McKinley Wright IV leads this Colorado squad. The point guard had a terrific freshman campaign and has only built on that success early in his second season.
To go along with Wright, the Buffaloes have a bevy of returning sophomores as well. With that experience, this Buffs team might just be ready to compete at the top of the Pac-12 this season.
Colorado sophomore forward Tyler Bey led all scorers Saturday with 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the process. Bey plays similarly to past Tad Boyle forwards by the likes of Andre Roberson and George King. All three are the kind of guys that pride themselves on the glass and play tough-nosed defense.
This was evident Saturday as Bey had one of the biggest plays of the game on the defensive end with a huge block towards the end of the game.
Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle has been a spectacular leader for the Buffaloes, due in large part to the emphasis he puts on defense and rebounding. While Colorado has always been good at these two, they tend to struggle on the offensive end.
However, that’s not the case thus far, as they’re averaging 86 points through six games.
The emergence of Evan Battey and Lucas Siewert have opened things up for the Buffaloes on the offensive end, and the new addition at guard in Shane Gatling has also helped tremendously offensively. Gatling had 13 points this afternoon, including some crucial three-pointers in the second half and a game-sealing breakaway dunk in the final moments.
Colorado has a lot of versatility and more depth this season compared to years past. They also have length, guard play and post players that show some serious potential. The team will be without the likes of Dallas Walton for the year, which could be a big loss, but this is similar to what the Buffs endured last season as they were without Battey.
Colorado is young, no doubt, but they seem to check all the boxes of a tournament team. I guess only time will tell.
After losing to Colorado State last year, it was good to see the Buffaloes battle back after a slow first half and win the showdown in Boulder this year.
This rivalry has been very competitive over the last 10 years on the basketball court, with Colorado leading the series with a record of 6-4. However, things have been a little more one-sided on the grid iron, as the Buffs lead the series 7-3 over the past decade, including a current four-game win streak.
Overall, there might be something special to this Colorado Buffaloes basketball team this year. That may be due in large part to the fact they have one of the most underrated point guards in all of the country in Wright. Can he lead the Buffs to the promise-land? I believe in him — so should you.
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