5 days Ago
For the second time in as many games, Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle tinkered with the starting lineup. Trevor Baskin was in, making his first start for the Buffs as Boyle looked to make use of CU’s size advantage defensively. Javon Ruffin was out, but that didn’t stop the fourth-year guard from enjoying a banner day as the Buffs improved to 4-0 with an 88-66 home win against Harvard on Sunday.
Boyle explained the move wasn’t at all about sending Ruffin to the bench, but about taking advantage of Baskin’s long-armed, 6-foot-9 frame against the talented but under-sized Crimson wings. “Trevor gives us really good size,” Boyle said. “The (Robert) Hinton kid was averaging 20 points a game.
We knew we wanted to put Andrej (Jakimovski) on him because we wanted to put size on him. Putting Andrej on him allowed us to put Trevor on (Chandler Pigge), who’s a really tough matchup and allowed Assane (Diop) to get on (Thomas Batties II). Those three guys were their dudes we thought coming into the game.
They had 43 of their 67 in the last game. The reason Trevor got the start and Ruff didn’t was size and matchups defensively.” The moves paid off.
Hinton entered the game with a .518 field goal percentage and a team-leading 20.0 points per game, but Jakimovski helped hold him to a 3-for-13 mark with only eight points.
Baskin went 6-for-8 with 13 points and seven rebounds while helping to limit Pigge to a 3-for-11 performance with 11 points. Baskin also didn’t have a turnover in 20-plus minutes of action after entering the game with a team-leading 10 turnovers. Ruffin certainly didn’t pout coming off the bench for the first time this season.
He went 4-for-5 from the floor and 5-for-5 at the free throw line, recording a career-high 15 points. Ruffin’s previous career-high was set almost exactly two years ago to the day, as he posted 14 points in a win against Texas A&M on Nov. 18, 2022.
Ruffin also recorded four assists. “It feels great, especially an efficient night where I’m not taking many shots,” Ruffin said. “It really shows you how good how good this team is.
Half my shots were assisted. And if they weren’t assisted, they were wide-open someone else because someone else made an extra play. It’s not that I did anything different.
I was just aggressive and ready when the opportunity came.” Glass masters CU’s 43-30 rebounding advantage against Harvard gave the Buffs a commendable rebounding advantage in each of their first four games, with CU increasing its average rebound margin to plus-12.5.
It’s a small sample size, and the Buffs have enjoyed a physical advantage during the first two weeks that they won’t be able to lean upon when they play three games in three days at the Maui Invitational next week. “We should be a good rebounding team with the length that we have,” Boyle said. “The style that we play, the philosophy that we have, we should be a good rebounding team.
One thing we have to do a better job of is box out. We track box-outs every game. We had like 22 no-or-bad box-outs against (Cal State) Fullerton.
” Notable In CU’s first two games, the Buffs shot 14-for-41 (.341) in 3-pointers. In the past two games, CU has gone 21-for-46 (.
457) from long range. ..
. Elijah Malone recorded four blocked shots against Harvard, marking the first time a Buffs player has had four blocks since Quincy Allen recorded four against USC on Feb. 23, 2023.
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Harrison Carrington hit his first career 3-pointer and finished with a career-high nine points. Carrington was 4-for-4 on free throws, setting new personal highs for made free throws and attempts. .
.. With 20 points, Jakimovski surpassed the 900-point mark for his career, finishing the game at 912 points.
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CU improved to 20-1 at home since the start of the 2023-24 season..
