WATCH: Nick Evans breaks down the Colorado Buffaloes' resounding 24-point over Adams State.
BOULDER– Colorado came to the Events Center looking to prove their worth behind the hype in their opening exhibition match against the Division II Adams State Grizzlies, charged by Frida Formann’s electrifying 16-point performance.
The same cracks in the armor were visible since their last game– a close finish against the national championship runner-up Iowa Hawkeyes. Perimeter defense and transition offense were exploited by the Grizzlies, who opened the game with a quick 12-5 lead.
A quick timeout and talk with Colorado head coach J.R Payne changed up the Buffs' defense, however, and helped the squad burst out of the first quarter with a dominant shooting game.
CU’s success was heavily successful due to their spacing and ability to generate wide-open looks with players like Formann and Quay Miller taking advantage of uncontested threes. After the game, Formann explained that the Adams State defense collapses the paint frequently, allowing for easy kick-outs for three-pointers.
“This was a defense that collapses a lot," Formann said, "We emphasized in practice all week being able to find the open player. We also have strong post-players that draw a lot of attention.”
Colorado was able to force the ball through the paint and generate equal shots from close range. Once Adams State collapsed inside, though, they’d leave perimeter players like Formann uncontested to get a quick three-pointer off.
Taking a 20-point lead late in the third, coach Payne shifted around the Buffs' defensive assignments. The Colorado starters took on a European-style defense, rotating players as they were unafraid of mismatches since Adams State lacked the height.
At the final buzzer, Formann would prove the most valuable player in this exhibition match, showing the most hustle and sinking shots that mattered most to put Colorado ahead by 24 at the CU Events Center.
Colorado will head to Vegas next to play against the March Madness champion Louisiana State Tigers, who had a dominant exhibition themselves, beating the Division II East Texas Baptist Tigers, 99-26.
CU guard Frida Formann scores a layup. Formann poured in 16 points in the huge win over Adams State. (Photo by Zach Giesenschlag/Sko Buffs Sports)
By The Quarter:
First quarter, 18-18
In true exhibition style, the Buffaloes employed quick two to three minute shifts to rotate the bench, but it was center Aaronette Vonleh making the most of her shift. Vonleh opened the first five points of the game for Colorado, exposing the height difference from the Grizzlies and walking through the paint for easy layups.
When Vonleh came off, however, Adams State got to work from the perimeter. With Colorado’s guards covering the paint over the point hoping for missed shots from the Grizzlies, Adams State would force the ball there anyway, generating two consecutive threes to cap off a 10-2 run to take an early 12-5 lead over CU.
It was the Buffs’ depth players– hoping to earn every minute of the regular season this year– that brought the game back to 18-18 when the first quarter expired.
Second quarter, 38-27 Colorado
Point guard Jaylyn Sherrod came hot off the bench to open the second, generating good passing looks for the Buffaloes and fighting for an and-1 on a difficult angle.
Both sides again ditched guarding the perimeter as the substitutes came out, prompting the Buffaloes to let it fly from the three– even Vonleh took a deep shot from the wing.
A great draw play from Payne’s call sheet perfectly took the defender off shooting guard Formann as she got to the corner, draining the wide-open three.
Meanwhile, Colorado’s transition offense continued to shine, generating even more looks from the point by the end of the half.
Third quarter, 62-45 Colorado
Colorado’s spacing continued to dominate opening up the half, letting Miller and Formann again sink a three uncontested. Vonleh shook off a scoreless second quarter by comfortably scoring four total points from the paint.
Turnovers pained the Colorado offense, struggling to move the ball out of the paint. A mid-point timeout corrected this with some great kick-outs to the corner for wide-open looks.
Tamia Sadler’s hustle came through for the Buffs at the buzzer, getting a layup to end the third.
Fourth quarter, 81-57 Colorado
The Grizzlies got early momentum in the final quarter with a 7-0 run fueled by a deep three from Adams State’s Harmanie Dominguez– who tallied five total threes on the day. As has been the case the whole day, Colorado quickly responded, making the most out of their European-style defense of rotating players across the floor, not afraid of height difference, which the Grizzlies lacked against Colorado’s bigs.
Formann capped off her dominant performance by driving the paint, generating two close-range buckets in her last shift.