Five takeaways: Colorado men’s basketball holds off Yale
Home sweet home. The Buffaloes returned to Boulder after a long road trip to take on Yale and Colorado handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season, 65-62.
Yale came into Sunday 6-0, taking down each opponent with little resistance. CU was looking to regroup from a strange start to the season that included two wins over ranked opponents and three losses to seemingly weaker teams.
Colorado opened the game by scoring the first seven points and held a big halftime lead, but Yale made it interesting to start the second half. Powered by a 16-6 run, the Bulldogs trailed by just two at 46-44. From there, it was a nip-and-tuck affair with the Buffaloes pulling out their fourth win.
Below are a few takeaways from the afternoon:
Defense saved the day
Colorado had an up-and-down game on the defensive side. Overall, the Buffs held the Bulldogs well under their scoring average for the year but they still left shooters wide open at times.
Yale was able to get back into the game by shooting 55.6% in the second half as CUs stout first-half D withered away. Colorado clamped down in the clutch, though, as it forced Yale into back-to-back turnovers in the waning seconds of the game to seal the victory.
Lawson Lovering had some great moments that won’t show up in the stat book. He was a team-best +16 in the +/- and affected a lot of shot attempts at the rim, especially in the first half.
Colorado is getting good looks, but can't finish.
The Buffaloes have struggled to consistently put the ball in the basket this season and tonight was no different. Colorado shot only 4-of-18 from beyond the 3-point line and missed some easy attempts at the rim. Head coach Tad Boyle talked about this in his postgame press conference:
“As long as we’re getting good looks from three, which I think we did, it’s on the players,” Boyle said. “My job as a coach is to get them good shots and put them in position. They got to make shots.”
John Poulakidas went off
I mentioned in the defensive section that Colorado left good shooters open far too often. Yale’s John Poulakidas made the Buffs pay. He was 6-of-8 from three and set a new career-high with 22 points. Colorado will need to lock down these types of shooters moving forward.
J'Vonne Hadley is a weapon off the bench
Getting J’Vonne Hadley back from an injury gave a major boost to the Buffaloes and their bench unit today. Hadley led all bench scorers with 12 points and contributed his usual brand of gritty play on both sides of the court.
During an 8-0 run in the second half, Hadley partnered with Julian Hammond III to score those eight points while helping lock up the Bulldogs’ offensive attack. Boyle spoke about what Hadley means to the Buffaloes:
“J’Vonne Hadley brings toughness to this team,” Boyle said. “He finished 5-for-6 from the field. That tells you he can finish and he fights, he battles, he scratches, he claws.”
Jalen Gabbidon secured the win over his former team
Jalen Gabbidon may be the happiest man in CU’s locker room. Gabbidon took on his former squad the former Yale captain/Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year earned some bragging rights.
