DENVER – The scoreboard may have been closer than Colorado fans hoped in Sunday's exhibition against North Texas at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
However, CU head coach Tad Boyle enjoyed the challenge, especially because it turned into a victory.
“This was a great, great test for us for October 18th,” Boyle said after the game. “To play a team like North Texas, veteran guards, tough-minded coach and system, and it was a physical game, obviously. And our guys answered the bell down the stretch.”
CU won 67-64. Yet, it attempted 29 fewer field goals because of 16 turnovers and nine fewer offensive rebounds. And while Colorado led for nearly 29 minutes, sloppy play inevitably allowed a late 8-0 run by the Mean Green gave them a five-point lead with under 10 minutes to play.
The game’s outcome directly resulted from UNT head coach Daniyal Robinson, who game-planned tenacious doubles, especially against star CU guard Barrington Hargress. Robinson’s team also attacked the glass, scoring 13 second-chance points.
“They had 14 more possessions than us today,” Boyle said. “Part of that was our turnovers. The other part is they had more offensive rebounds than we had, and they beat us on the glass, which has happened now twice in a row. So rebounding is an issue right now with this team. So we got to figure that out, and that's what practice is for.”
Time and again, CU fought through physicality and earned 35 free-throw attempts – 20 more than UNT. Despite the turnovers, Colorado found open looks. And while Boyle felt his team could have made more shots, especially from deep, it shot 48.6% from the floor.
Of course, worry still mounted after Hargress’s first-half issues; he ultimately finished with four turnovers to just one assist after leading the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio. But the senior guard settled in, scoring 14 points because freshman guard Alex Dickeson took over ball-handling duties.
The Australian guard, who also played well off the ball, scored 15 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished an assist and swatted a shot. He wasn’t as susceptible to double teams, which opened up the offense. But Dickeson also hit two 3s, was fouled and got to the rim.
“Barrington, he was being a leader,” Dickeson said. “I was trying my best, and we're just trying to find ways to get a stop, because we were running small ball a little bit…I'm just trying to lead the group, get to the expectations, focus on the next play.”
Defensively, the Buffs played well.
Transfer guard Casmir Chavis scored a game-high 17 points, but UNT shot under 40% from the field. Plus, last year’s leading scorer, Je’Shawn Stevenson, went 5-of-18 and missed two game-tying 3-point attempts on the final possession; the Mean Green also shot just 3-of-17 (17.6%) from behind the arc. North Dakota State transfer Noah Feddersen stepped up with three of the team’s seven blocks.
While North Texas made it a ball game, CU did just enough to eke out the win.
“You got to be able to execute when it comes down to those close games,” Hargress said. “The first thing Coach Boyle said after that game was, ‘That's going to be a good team, and they're going to win a lot of games in the league.’ So learning how to win those tough games, learning how to find a way, whether it's pretty or not, it doesn't matter. We just got to find a way to win those.”
Starters:
CU: Barrington Hargress, Josiah Sanders, Alex Dickeson, Justin Neely, Goc Malual
UNT: Casmir Chavis, Je’Shawn Stevenson, Cole Franklin, Reece Robinson, Ousmane Ndour
Head-to-head:
CU: 18-37 FG, 4-15 3PT, 27-35 FT, 31 rebounds (3 offensive; 4 second-chance points), 15 assists, 16 turnovers (for 18 UNT points), 5 steals, 7 blocks, 17 fouls
UNT: 26-66 FG, 3-17 3PT, 9-15 FT, 32 rebounds (12 offensive; 13 second-chance points), 11 assists, 11 turnovers (for 13 UNT points), 10 steals, 3 blocks, 28 fouls
Top performers:
CU: Guard Alex Dickeson led the Buffs in plus-minus, giving his team a 14-point edge when he was on the floor. In his CU debut, he scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and two 3-pointers, along with four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Dickeson took on primary ball-handling duties from Barrington Hargress, who struggled in the first half and finished with four turnovers to just one assist. However, the senior point guard ended with 14 points and drew five fouls in 28 minutes. Forward Justin Neely was on triple-double watch and led the Buffs in rebounding. He posted eight points, nine rebounds and six assists before leaving the contest with a lower-leg injury.
UNT: Transfer guard Casmir Chavis was on go-mode in Denver, scoring a game-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He added three assists and stepped up down the stretch with back-to-back scores at the rim, including an and-one. However, it was not enough to salvage the 5-of-18 shooting afternoon from last year’s leading scorer, Je’Shawn Stevenson. Stevenson finished with 11 points amid a minus-nine plus-minus showing. He also added three assists and five boards. While several others contributed on both ends, starting big Ousmane Ndour gave CU trouble. He only played 18 minutes before fouling out, but scored eight points, grabbed four rebounds and earned an assist in a team-leading plus-nine effort.
How it happened:
1st half - CU, 32-27
- U16: CU 10, UNT 5 - Hargress led the charge with six points. CU shot 4-of-6 from the field as UNT started 2-of-6. Colorado handled traps and doubles well, forcing North Texas to scramble. UNT had an and-one from Franklin and one second-chance bucket as it featured a dose of block-to-block screening.
- U12: CU 15, UNT 7 - After subbing in Ian Inman, Jalin Holland and Feddersen, the Buffs struggled with ball security; they turned the ball over four times in the opening eight minutes against the Mean Green’s tenacious defense. Yet after turning them over and keeping them out of the paint, UNT missed six straight shots before the second media timeout. Inman capitalized; he was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit a triple.
- U8: CU 21, UNT 16 - Malual got on the board with a 3-pointer and David Gomez with a dunk, but Gomez played five minutes in his return from injury. He tired easily and turned the ball over thrice against UNT’s tough defense. Stevenson scored his first points and dished his first assist as North Texas’s offense started 7-for-22 from the field.
- U4: CU 23, UNT 20 - The Mean Green cut the lead to three after some ball-screen success while CU’s offense was cold. With turnovers, Colorado was just 7-of-17 from the field, scoring seven of its points from the line. Neely’s five first-half rebounds (two offensive) helped keep the Black-and-Gold ahead.
- HALF: CU 32, UNT 27 - Ultimately, CU finished with 10 first-half turnovers. The Buffs squandered their 45% shooting and eight extra free-throw attempts, only leading by five. Chavis and Neely, who had seven points and five rebounds at the break, traded and-ones before the intermission.
2nd half - CU, 67-64 (UNT, 37-35)
- U16: CU 36, UNT 36 - UNT tied the game at 36 by the first media timeout. Mean Green started the half 4-of-6 from the field while the Buffs were just 2-of-4; Chavis scored an and-one, and the bigs added two more buckets. Malual found a dunk on an assist from Neely.
- U12: CU 40, UNT 38 - CU had a nice defensive stretch, only allowing one made field goal on seven attempts after the first media break. However, while Holland found a dunk and Neely dished his sixth assist, Colorado only led by two. Hargress sat on the bench for five minutes as the Buffs only had two turnovers in the first eight minutes.
- U8: UNT 47, CU 46 - UNT took its first lead with an 8-0 run; four Mean Green players scored across five-straight possessions. North Texas forced 14 turnovers and grabbed seven more offensive rebounds across the contest’s first 32 minutes. Yet a Dickeson 3-pointer and Hargress layup cut the lead to one point with over seven minutes to play.
- U4: UNT 56, CU 53 - UNT canned three 3-point makes after starting 0-of-9 from deep. One came off an offensive rebound on a free throw. And CU continued turning the ball over. Yet CU kept afloat with several free throws.
- FINAL: CU 67, UNT 64 - Entering the final stretch, the Buffs went on an 11-3 run and led 63-59 with under a minute to go. Inman converted a clutch floater, and the defense held the Mean Green to sub-40% shooting and kept UNT quiet. Colorado also scored 13 points off turnovers. But before CU could separate, Chavis scored an and-one and a layup to make it a one-point ballgame. Following two made free throws, Stevenson had two chances to tie the game from deep. However, both attempts came up short.
What’s next?
Colorado will play a closed-door scrimmage against Saint Mary’s to end October. On Nov. 2, CU will open the season against Abilene Christian at the Events Center at 7 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
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