After taking down a Big Ten program last week, San Francisco gets a chance to beat one from the Big 12 when it faces Colorado on Thursday in both teams’ first game of the Acrisure Holiday Classic in Palm Desert, Calif.
The Dons (5-1) beat Minnesota 77-65 on Friday night for their fourth straight win and boast a versatile lineup to face the Buffaloes (5-0). Five-foot-11 Ryan Beasley is their leading scorer at 16 points per game, but Mookie Cook (13.3 ppg), Tyrone Riley IV (11.2 ppg ) and 6-9, 245-pound David Fuchs (10.3) are also scoring in double figures .
The Dons got by the Gophers with a balanced attack — five players scored in double figures — and a big 3-pointer from Fuchs late in the second half.
“The dude’s a monster; you see how big he is,” Beasley said of Fuchs. “We encourage him to shoot. He knocks it down in practice, he gets a lot of reps in off the court, outside of practice, puts a lot of work in. So we encourage him to shoot these shots, and he’ll be a big player for us going forward.”
For the Buffaloes, this marks their first game away from home this season. Like San Francisco, Colorado is fueled by balanced scoring from a young-ish roster. Sophomore forward Sebastian Rancik and freshman guard Isaiah Johnson lead five scorers in double figures with 14.8 points per game apiece.
The Buffaloes are also getting strong point guard play from UC Riverside transfer Barrington Hargress, who leads the team with 5.6 assists per game. More importantly, the junior’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.6 (28 assists and five turnovers) ranks second in the Big 12 and among the top 20 in the nation.
“I think Barrington is playing at an elite level,” said Colorado head coach Tad Boyle. “He’s playing with poise and confidence. He’s fun to play with. Our guys like playing with Barrington.”
The winner of this game faces the winner of Thursday’s game between Washington (4-1) and Nevada (4-2) on Friday for the tournament championship. The losers of these games also meet Friday in a consolation game.
