The play began with the sort of highlight-reel slam from Cody Williams that the Colorado Buffaloes hope will be a familiar sight this season.
Yet it began with the sort of hustle play from Eddie Lampkin Jr. that also could become a familiar sight.
The new big man for the CU men’s basketball team offered a snapshot of what he expects to bring to the mix this season for the Buffaloes, combining grit with production as the 25th-ranked Buffaloes routed Milwaukee 106-79 on Tuesday night at the CU Events Center.
“(Lampkin) does a lot for us,” CU guard KJ Simpson said. “He ducks in. He creates lanes. When you have a post presence like that, it’s hard for other teams not to kind of suck in and help off their man, and that’s what helps create open threes for us. You just see it out there. His energy’s contagious. He’s diving on the floor. He’s sprinting down the floor. Setting good screens. He just does so much for this team.”
One of those dives to the floor early in the first half allowed the Buffs to save the ball under the Milwaukee basket and start a fast break the other way. Standout freshman Cody Williams finished the play at the other end with a highlight-reel dunk and a 3-point play.
Lampkin finished 6-for-7 from the field and posted the first double-double of the season for the Buffs with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Lampkin also had a pair of assists and two steals with only one turnover in nearly 22 minutes of action.
Lampkin recorded six double-doubles at TCU.
“He’s a force down there. He’s somebody they’ve got to worry about,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “He created some double-teams tonight. He’s obviously a great passer. He likes to pass. And that’s infectious.
“Eddie’s energy, his enthusiasm, and his presence, whether it’s on the low block or on the floor defensively, he’s really starting to come along.”
Dropping dimes
Simpson finished with six assists against just one turnover, while backup point guard Julian Hammond added four assists with one turnover. Through three games the Buffs point guard duo has combined for 31 assists with only six turnovers, leading Colorado to its first run of three consecutive games with at least 20 assists in 22 years.
“I saw the preparation we’ve been doing, the practices that we’ve been having, the competitiveness on this team. And the players that we have, I kind of saw this coming,” Simpson said. “Now the thing that I’m stressing and that we have to work towards is ensuring that this carries over. It’s easy to do in the very beginning. Everybody’s hyped about playing the first games, especially at home. We just have to carry over and keep this consistency going.”
Wooden watch list
On Tuesday, CU forward Tristan da Silva was one of 50 players named to the watch list for the Wooden Award as the player of the year. CU opponents this season who also landed on the list were UCLA’s Adem Bona, Arizona’s Oumar Ballo, USC guards Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis, Oregon’s N’Faly Dante, Colorado State point guard Isaiah Stevens, and the Miami duo of Norchad Omier and Nijel Pack.
Point guard Jaylyn Sherrod from the No. 5-ranked CU women’s team also landed on the women’s Wooden watch.
Notable
After going 0-for-7 on 3-pointers during the first half of the season opener against Towson, the Buffs have gone 31-for-53 (.585) in the two and a half games since. … As a team, the Buffs own an assist-to-turnover rate of 1.90 (74 assists, 39 turnovers). … CU improved to 6-0 all-time against Milwaukee. … With his six assists, Simpson moved to 25th all-time in program history with 214 assists. … CU’s five starters (Simpson, da Silva, Lampkin, Williams and J’Vonne Hadley) combined to shoot 27-for-39 from the floor (.692).
