CU Buffs roll past Bellarmine in men’s basketball nonconference finale

Fast break

Why the Buffs won: CU dominated in all facets, holding Bellarmine to a .396 shooting percentage and outrebounding the Knights 38-30.

Three stars

1. Assane Diop. Shot the Buffs into the lead early before finishing 7-for-11 with a career-high 15 points.

2. RJ Smith. The third-year guard continued his torrid shooting, going 3-for-4 on 3-pointers before finishing with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

3. Julian Hammond III. The senior guard turned in another steady performance, recording 10 points, five assists and a season-high four steals.

Up next: The Buffs will be off until reconvening for practice on Dec. 26 ahead of the Big 12 Conference opener on Dec. 30 at home against No. 3 Iowa State (7 p.m., CBS Sports Network).

Colorado wanted one more efficient performance before a holiday hiatus and the start of Big 12 Conference play that follows.

The Buffaloes got that performance and more against Bellarmine.

The CU men’s basketball team completed nonconference play with a thorough dismantling of a struggling and shorthanded Bellarmine squad, as the Buffs cruised to a 79-55 victory on Saturday afternoon at the CU Events Center.

On a day in which the CU football team and its Heisman-winning two-way star, Travis Hunter, were honored in front of Buff Nation, the men’s basketball team did its part, dominating the Knights in all facets to complete nonconference play at 9-2.

Bellarmine played its sixth consecutive game without leading scorer Jack Karasinski and also played without Dylan Branson, the Knights’ fourth-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. Bellarmine also was less than 48 hours removed from a 37-point loss at Wyoming.

CU head coach Tad Boyle was disappointed the Knights outscored the Buffs by five points in the second half, but that was after CU held Bellarmine to a 5-for-27 mark in the first half while building a 45-16 lead at the break.

“I was really pleased with the first half. Our defensive effort, obviously holding them to 16 points. I thought we were dialed-in on that side of the ball,” Boyle said. “The second half I was really, really disappointed. I thought we just kind of mailed it in at halftime. So I didn’t do a very good job there.

“I challenged them, talked about winning the second half and not playing the scoreboard, play the possession. Obviously they didn’t listen to their coach very much there. That’s disappointing. But overall, I thought we shared the ball well. It was kind of a workman-like effort. Happy with the first half, disappointed in the second half.”

CU held Bellarmine to a .396 shooting percentage with a 7-for-26 mark on 3-pointers. The Buffs matched a season-high with 22 assists, recording at least 18 for the fifth consecutive game, and also matched a season-low with 10 turnovers, a total CU has posted in three of the past four games. The Buffs outrebounded the Knights 38-30 and had 12 different players score points. CU also forced 18 Bellarmine turnovers, the most by a Buffs foe this season.

“For sure the first 20 minutes we played really good basketball,” CU guard RJ Smith said. “But we let up in the second half. That just can’t happen and that can’t reflect over to Big 12 play. Besides that, I think we had a really good game. Got walk-ons and players that haven’t really been playing in, and I thought it was a good team win.”

Bellarmine held a brief 6-4 lead early but that essentially was the end of the highlights for the Knights. CU promptly scored eight consecutive points in a 10-1 run that gave the Buffs the lead for good, and CU gradually padded its lead well into the second half, topping out with a 37-point lead with just under 14 minutes remaining.

Sophomore forward Assane Diop led a balanced attack for the Buffs, going 7-for-11 before finishing with a career-high 15 points. Smith went 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and recorded 11 points with a team-high five rebounds, while Julian Hammond III finished with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Boyle also credited the play of center Elijah Malone, who finished with just nine points and two rebounds but enjoyed an effective game passing out of the post. Malone matched a season-high with three assists and didn’t record a turnover.

“I thought (Malone) handled the double-teams really, really well tonight,” Boyle said. “Found some guys. We passed out of it and got some wide-open looks. That’s what we have to do against double-teams.”

Colorado 79, Bellarmine 55

BELLARMINE (3-10)

Hopf 3-6 1-3 7, Doyle 0-2 0-0 0, Goodin 2-4 2-2 8, Johnson 2-10 0-0 5, B.Smith 4-10 0-0 9, McKinney 5-9 2-2 12, L.Anderson 1-2 0-0 2, Watkins 1-4 1-2 3, Lux 1-3 0-0 3, Hacker 2-2 0-0 6, Whitaker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 6-9 55.

COLORADO (9-2)

Diop 7-11 0-0 15, Jakimovski 1-3 0-0 2, Malone 2-2 5-6 9, Hammond 3-8 3-3 10, R.Smith 4-7 0-0 11, Baskin 1-3 3-4 5, Rancik 3-6 0-1 7, Dak 3-4 1-2 7, Kossaras 1-2 2-2 4, Carrington 2-5 1-1 5, C.Anderson 1-4 0-0 2, Gerhardt 0-3 0-0 0, Pease 0-3 0-0 0, Randall 1-1 0-0 2, Whitt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 15-19 79.

Halftime: Colorado 45-16; 3-point field goals: Bellarmine 7-26 (Hacker 2-2, Goodin 2-3, Lux 1-3, B.Smith 1-5, Johnson 1-8, Doyle 0-1, Watkins 0-1, Hopf 0-3); Colorado 6-24 (R.Smith 3-4, Diop 1-3, Rancik 1-3, Hammond 1-4, Dak 0-1, Jakimovski 0-1, Kossaras 0-1, Pease 0-1, C.Anderson 0-2, Carrington 0-2, Gerhardt 0-2). Rebounds: Bellarmine 30 (Hopf, Johnson 5); Colorado 38 (R.Smith 5). Assists: Bellarmine 11 (B.Smith 5); Colorado 22 (Hammond 5); Turnovers: Bellarmine 18 (Hopf 4); Colorado 10 (R. Smith, Carrington, Rancik 2). Total fouls: Bellarmine 19, Colorado 8. A — 7,684.