Fast break Why the Buffs won: CU dominated the second half, shooting .622 after halftime while outscoring UTSA 53-32. Three stars 1. Barrington Hargress. CU’s point guard went 5-for-7 on 3-pointers, matching a career-high before finishing with a season-high 23 points. 2. Sebastian Rancik. A first- half technical foul typified a disjointed opening, but Rancik recovered to score 12 of his 15 points after halftime, adding a game-high seven rebounds. 3. Isaiah Johnson. The freshman guard had a rare off-night from the field, going 3-for-8 without a 3-pointer, but he finished with nine points, four rebounds and a season-high six assists. Up next: CU plays its final pre-holiday home game Wednesday against Portland State (7 p.m., ESPN+). Barrington Hargress expected to pack a scoring punch when he joined Colorado via the transfer portal during the offseason. Hargress was the leading scorer in the Big West Conference last year at UC Riverside, and although the Buffaloes were sorely in need of a point guard who could also create his own shots, Hargress understood the move to Boulder would have to include an adjustment in how he collected his points. Even with his lofty scoring totals at UC Riverside, Hargress was never a consistent long-range threat. That has changed during the early stages of his CU career, and it continued against Texas-San Antonio. With Hargress tying a career-high with five 3-pointers, the Buffaloes shook off a sluggish first half to bury UTSA after halftime, pulling away for an 88-64 victory Saturday at the CU Events Center. Hargress shot just .323 on 3-pointers during his two seasons running the show at UC Riverside. Yet after posting a 5-for-7 mark from the arc against UTSA, Hargress is shooting 60% (12-for-20) on 3-pointers through his first 10 games with the Buffs. “There was a new kind of role that I was going to be in here where I felt like I was going to be taking a lot more catch-and-shoots,” Hargress said. “So just being more prepared with my footwork as far as being in different positions, and being to elevate quickly.” The final numbers were in line with the Buffaloes’ game goals, as CU outrebounded UTSA 48-32 to post the largest rebounding margin of the season. The Buffs held the Roadrunners to a .333 shooting percentage after halftime, leaving UTSA with a .391 mark for the game. The Buffs also reached 20 assists for the third time this season, finishing with 21, while recording 11 turnovers despite committing seven in the first half. Still, it took a tremendous second-half push to reach those final figures, as a CU team that was coming off its first loss of the season last week at Colorado State struggled through the first 20 minutes. CU led 35-32 at halftime but dominated the second half, scoring the first nine points in a row in what became a game-breaking 17-3 run. The Buffs soon added another 8-0 run to pad the lead down the stretch. CU shot .622 after halftime and forced 16 UTSA turnovers, the most by a Buffs opponent this season. The Roadrunners did grab 14 offensive rebounds, becoming the fifth team in 10 games — and the fourth in the past five — to record at least 10 offensive rebounds against the Buffs. But CU countered with a season-high 17 offensive rebounds of its own. Sebastian Rancik scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half and finished with a game-high seven rebounds, giving him at least seven rebounds in five of the past six games. “Obviously pleased with the second half. Not so much the first half,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “I thought in the first half we really played for ourselves, played a little bit selfishly. Felt like we had to make a play every time we touched the ball. Over-dribbled, bad shots, turnovers. I thought we were really soft offensively in the first half. “Second half, it was the Colorado team we’ve all come to appreciate and love and enjoy watch playing. We’ve just got to learn that we gotta play that way. That’s the way we have to play on offense and on defense. I was really pleased in the second half with our dominance.” Colorado 88, UTSA 64 UTSA (4-6) Coffi 2-5 0-0 4, Rayfield 3-10 0-2 7, Hayes 2-6 0-0 5, Nunez 0-4 0-0 0, Simpson 8-16 2-7 20, Akitoby 4-6 2-2 10, Moss 4-9 1-1 11, B.Njie 1-3 0-0 2, Rich 1-2 2-2 4, M.Njie 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 25-63 8-16 64. COLORADO (9-1) Dak 4-6 2-3 10, Rancik 6-12 1-1 15, Malone 2-7 2-2 6, Hargress 9-12 0-0 23, Kossaras 1-4 0-0 3, Johnson 3-8 3-6 9, Michaeli 1-6 2-3 4, Holland 2-4 0-0 4, Sanders 3-6 1-2 7, Ifaola 1-1 0-0 2, Crawford 2-2 0-0 5, Inman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-69 11-17 88. Halftime: Colorado 35-32. 3-point field goals: UTSA 6-18 (Simpson 2-3, Moss 2-4, Rayfield 1-3, Hayes 1-5, B.Njie 0-1, Coffi 0-2); Colorado 9-23 (Hargress 5-7, Rancik 2-4, Crawford 1-1, Kossaras 1-4, Dak 0-1, Holland 0-1, Inman 0-1, Michaeli 0-1, Johnson 0-3). Fouled out: B.Njie. Rebounds: UTSA 32 (Simpson 6); Colorado 48 (Rancik 7). Assists: UTSA 14 (Simpson 5); Colorado 21 (Johnson 6). Turnovers: UTSA 16 (Nunez 3); Colorado 11 (Rancik 3). Total fouls: UTSA 20, Colorado 14. A: 5,229. ...read more read less