Isaiah Johnson may have had the best game for Colorado in its opener last week, but he wasn’t the only freshman on the court for the Buffaloes.
Johnson, the godson of NBA great Dwyane Wade, scored all of his 24 points in the second half of an 84-78 win over Montana State, but four other freshmen also made their debuts for Colorado, which takes on Eastern Washington on Saturday in Boulder, Colo.
Ian Inman, Jalin Holland and Colorado native Josiah Sanders saw action at guard and center Fawaz Ifaola made his debut at center.
“This freshman class is going to be special,” said coach Ted Boyle, in his 16th season with the Buffaloes. “We got to hold them together. We have to hold them. … This is going to be a fun team to watch grow and develop.”
The freshmen weren’t the only ones shining in the opener.
Junior forward Bangot Dak had 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore Sebastian Rancik scored 13 points, and junior Elijah Malone grabbed 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end.
Colorado also totaled a respectable 17 assists, including a team-high five from Malone, who also notched four steals.
“We had some guys step up and make big-time plays,” Boyle said. “We didn’t make free throws like we normally do in the first half or early second half, but down the stretch we did so hard. Hard-fought win and one we can learn from.”
Eastern Washington (0-2) is off to a rough start after a 70-62 loss to Loyola Marymount on Wednesday. The Eagles opened with an 80-74 defeat at No. 12 UCLA on Monday.
Isaiah Moses led the Eagles with 15 points against Loyola Marymount while Kiree Huie had 14 and Johnny Radford had 12.
Now, the Big Sky program will take on another large program in the Big 12’s Buffaloes.
“That’s the beauty of this level,” associate head coach Ryan Lundgren said. “You get to play a tough schedule and go into some great environments against high-major teams. We’ve got an older, experienced group that embraces that challenge, and I think that’ll help us as we keep growing through the season.”