Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU went 32-for-38 at the free throw line and outrebounded Arizona State 42-32.
Three stars
1. Isaiah Johnson. The freshman guard once again showed poise beyond his years, going 7-for-8 on free throws — all in the second half — while leading CU with 19 points.
2. Barrington Hargress. Battled foul trouble in the second half, but his 8-for-9 start helped shoot the Buffs into the lead before finishing with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists.
3. Bangot Dak. With apologies to Sebastian Rancik and his 18 points, Dak recorded his third double-double of the season, posting 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Up next: CU hosts its first Big 12 home game Wednesday against Utah (7 p.m., ESPN+).
TEMPE, Ariz. — After rejoining the Big 12 last year, it took a month and a half of conference competition for the Colorado men’s basketball team to finally notch its first league win.
The Buffaloes made certain they weren’t going to wait that long for a road win this time.
CU opened Big 12 play with a thriller, holding off a furious late rally by Arizona State to post a 95-89 victory Saturday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
The win ended an 11-game losing streak for CU in true road games, as the Buffs went 0-for-10 in Big 12 road games last year. ASU had won five of the previous seven matchups against the Buffs, including the past two in Tempe.
“Winning on the road in Big 12 is really hard,” CU forward Sebastian Rancik said. “Especially losing that lead in the second half. Their players got into it. The crowd got into it. So it showed a lot of resiliency and toughness from our group to just keep staying poised and patient with what’s been working for us at practice. And we were able to pull out the win.”
Colorado led by 14 points in the first half and led 48-38 at halftime. After the break, the Buffs weathered a couple mini-runs by ASU before the Sun Devils scored 10 consecutive points to take their first lead since early in the first half at 81-80.
The Sun Devils led 85-84 with 2 minutes remaining when CU freshman Isaiah Johnson scored four consecutive points, regaining the lead for the Buffs for good. The Sun Devils still were within 87-86 before single free throws by Rancik and Bangot Dak, sandwiched around an ASU turnover, gave CU a three-point lead. Dak then forced another turnover, leading to two more Johnson free throws with 28.2 seconds remaining, and although ASU’s Anthony Johnson immediately drilled a 3-pointer to keep the Sun Devils within two points, Johnson and Rancik both went 2-for-2 at the free throw line in the final 21 seconds to clinch the win.
“It shows they’ve got grit, they’ve got gumption, they’ve got toughness,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “I thought we made some really big plays down the stretch, rebounding plays. Now, we didn’t make enough of them. You’ve got to continue to learn, especially with a young team like this. You have to learn every single day in practice. You have to learn every single game. And part of learning is you don’t make the same mistakes today that you made yesterday. We’ve made some strides in certain areas, but there’s other areas where we haven’t made strides.”
CU’s depth was put to the test during the second half, as Rancik, Dak, Barrington Hargress and Elijah Malone all battled foul trouble during the second half, forcing Boyle to juggle the lineup throughout the frenetic final minutes.
The Buffs utilized some little-used defensive wrinkles in the first half, like a zone defense and a few half-court traps, to build the first-half lead. The Sun Devils finished with 14 turnovers, which was the second-most by a CU foe this season.
After getting outrebounded for the first two times this season in the two defeats that completed nonconference play, the Buffs dominated the glass in Tempe, outrebounding ASU 42-32. CU also finished 32-for-38 at the free throw line.
“We’re going to fight regardless of what the circumstance is,” Isaiah Johnson said. “We’re always going to come out and compete, no matter the score. No matter if we’re away or home. We just have a lot of resilience. This squad has a lot of toughness.”
Colorado 95, Arizona State 89
COLORADO (11-3, 1-0 Big 12)
Dak 4-8 4-5 12, Rancik 3-7 12-14 18, Malone 3-4 0-0 6, Hargress 8-12 0-0 17, Kossaras 2-3 1-2 6, I.Johnson 5-11 7-8 19, Holland 2-4 2-2 7, Michaeli 0-8 6-6 6, Sanders 2-2 0-1 4. Totals 29-59 32-38 95.
ARIZONA STATE (9-5, 0-1)
Mukeba 7-10 2-4 16, Diop 7-9 6-8 20, Ford 0-4 0-0 0, Meeusen 0-6 2-2 2, Odum 6-15 7-9 21, A.Johnson 7-14 2-2 18, Grbović 3-6 0-0 8, Adams 0-3 2-2 2, Best 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-68 21-27 89.
Halftime: Colorado 48-38. 3-point field goals: Colorado 5-16 (I.Johnson 2-4, Holland 1-1, Hargress 1-2, Kossaras 1-2, Dak 0-1, Rancik 0-2, Michaeli 0-4); Arizona State 6-28 (Grbović 2-5, A.Johnson 2-6, Odum 2-7, Adams 0-2, Ford 0-3, Meeusen 0-5). Fouled out: Mukeba, Meeusen, Grbović. Rebounds: Colorado 42 (Dak 10), Arizona State 32 (Mukeba, A.Johnson 6). Assists: Colorado 14 (Sanders 5); Arizona State 19 (Odum 12). Turnovers: Colorado 15 (Rancik, Dak 3); Arizona State 14 (Odum, A. Johnson 4). Total fouls: Colorado 26, Arizona State 24. A: 7,377.
