Johnson Leads Buffs Previous Montana State Season Opener

BOULDER – Colorado overcame a seven-point second-half deficit Monday evening, led by true freshman Isaiah Johnson’s 24 second-half factors, to outlast Montana State 84-78 within the season opener on the CU Event Center.

Colorado improved to 14-2 in season openers and 16-0 in residence openers underneath head coach Tad Boyle.

With the sport tied at 62 with 7:09 remaining, Johnson scored 16 of the subsequent 18 factors for the Buffs, together with the game-winning free throws to place Colorado up for good.

All of Johnson’s game-leading 24 factors got here within the second half. He went 6-of-7 from the sector, 2-of-2 from deep, and 10-of-12 from the road all within the remaining 20 minutes.

“I just kept wanting to be aggressive,” Johnson stated on the second half. “My teammates, my coaches, they kept telling me to be aggressive, even though I struggled in the first half.”

Johnson was certainly one of 5 true freshmen to see minutes, together with Jalin Holland, Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola, Ian Inman, and Josiah Sanders, who all made contributions.

Four different Buffs reached double-figures in factors, switch Barrington Hargress and returners Bangot Dak, Elijah Malone, and Sebastian Rancik. Malone added 13 rebounds for his first double double of the season and his second at Colorado.

“Ian Inman didn’t get minutes in the second half,” Boyle commented on the freshman class. “He’s going to be a hell of a player. Jalin Holland, really good defender, not afraid or scared of anything or anybody. He’s going to be a terrific player. Josiah Sanders,  tough, strong, a good finisher. I want to play more guys regular minutes. I really shrunk the rotation in the second half there. Taco [Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola] came in, got two rebounds for us. This freshman class is going to be special. It’s going to be special. We got to hold them together. This is going to be a fun team to watch grow and develop. And I told them, I’d rather grow and develop after a win than after a loss.”

Patrick McMahon led Montana State in scoring with 24 factors, together with 20 of his personal within the second half.

Colorado’s offense improved within the second half after struggling to finish the primary half. After taking pictures simply 42 p.c on the primary half, CU shot 62 p.c within the second half to complete the sport 27-of-52 (51.9%).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Colorado opened up the 2025 season by making its first three photographs and scoring on the opening 4 possessions. Malone bought the Buffs began, pulling down two free throws. A Rancik 3-pointer, adopted by a layup by Dak, and a Felix Kossaras mid-range leap shot led to an early 7-0 run to present a 12-5 lead.

Sanders made the primary shot of his profession after an offensive rebound to push the result in eight factors. He was certainly one of 4 true freshmen to play within the first eight minutes of the sport.

Fellow true freshman Inman made his influence on either side of the court docket, diving on the ground for a steal earlier than kicking it forward to Kossaras for the fastbreak dunk to go up 22-14 with 10:45 left within the first half.

After going up 9 factors, Montana State began to stifle the Buffs, resulting in a 13-1 run to take the lead 31-28 with three minutes left within the opening half. The Buffs ended the half, making solely two of their remaining 13 photographs, going into the break down 33-32.

Colorado struggled taking pictures the ball within the first half, going 1-of-7 from behind the arc and 7-of-14 from the free-throw line. They used turnovers and the quick break to attain early. They compelled eight Bobcat turnovers and turned that into eight factors. The Buffs outscored Montana State 10-0 in factors of turnovers and 5-0 in fastbreak factors within the opening 20 minutes.

Malone once more began the half scoring, this time on a layup from a Dak move. He adopted that up by selecting up his third foul, resulting in the fifth true freshman to make his debut in Ifaola.

After some back-and-forth, Dak put down an and-1 adopted by a Johnson layup, the fifth straight make to chop the Bobcat result in 50-47.

Johnson added a 3-pointer to his evening, placing one down on a kickout from Malone after an offensive rebound for less than the second shot from deep.

As the depth ramped up, Rancik accomplished the third and-1 of the half for the Buffs to retake the lead 56-54 for the primary time since 28-27 with six minutes left within the first half.

After buying and selling baskets, the scoring for the Buffs got here from Hargraves and Johnson, who scored eight straight, resulting in a 70-69 benefit.

Montana State scored two straight baskets and Johnson responded with three free throws after being fouled on a shot from deep to chop the lead again to 74-73 with 3:07 remaining.

Johnson continued his scorching sizzling second-half with a pull-up transition 3-pointer and a circus layup to place the Buffs up 78-76.

Following a Bobcats basket to tie the sport, Johnson hit two game-winning free throws to up his complete for the evening to 24 factors. After a cease, Rancik and Kossaras every hit free throws of their very own to ice the sport 84-78.

UP NEXT

The Buffs play host to Eastern Washington on Saturday in a 2 p.m. sport on the CU Events Center (ESPN+).