CU Buffs men’s basketball notes: Luke O’Brien leads big bench effort in Milwaukee win
Given most of the players coming off the bench for the Colorado men’s basketball team are light on experience, it’s no surprise their contributions in the season’s early stages have been hit-or-miss.
Led by Luke O’Brien, Friday’s effort definitely was a hit.
Behind career-best contributions from O’Brien, the Buffaloes’ bench provided a spark in what for the most part was another frustrating night for the CU offense during a 65-54 home win against Milwaukee.
“I thought our bench was terrific tonight,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “Luke O’Brien’s minutes were fantastic. Nique (Clifford) did some good things in the first half. Lawson (Lovering) gave us some good minutes in the first half. Our bench did a good job I thought tonight.”
O’Brien set new career highs in field goals and points, going 4-for-5 with nine points as CU’s bench outscored Milwaukee’s reserves 19-13. Backup guard KJ Simpson also made plays off the bench, finishing with four assists against one turnover after posting three assists with nine turnovers during the previous three games.
Simpson’s four assists matched a season-high that he set twice previously against Brown and Stanford.
“It felt good. I know my hard work is paying off,” O’Brien said. “At the end of the day, I’m just here to bring energy to my team. Whatever they need. Today, the ball was going in the basket. Coach Boyle always talks about, to me anyway, don’t count the time, make the time count. I felt like I did that today. I’m just going to build on this for my team.”
Turnaround
While it wasn’t a memorable showing for CU’s offense, it nonetheless was a solid bounce-back game for two senior starters who had been struggling lately, Elijah Parquet and Evan Battey.
After scoring a career-high 22 points on an 8-for-11 effort against Stanford on Nov. 28, Battey struggled to a 9-for-28 mark over the next three games. He got back on track against Milwaukee, going 6-for-8 with a team-high 15 points. CU’s senior forward finished the night with 1,043 career points, moving past Jim Creighton for 33rd on the program’s all-time scoring list.
Parquet’s recent struggles were less pronounced, as his 1-for-6 mark on 3-pointers over the previous three games was balanced by a 9-for-15 mark overall. Yet against Milwaukee, Parquet was nearly flawless shooting-wise, going 3-for-4 from the floor while knocking down his only 3-point attempt. Parquet also was 4-for-4 on free throws.
Battey, Parquet, and Jabari Walker shared the team rebounding lead with five apiece. For Parquet, his five rebounds matched a career-high he reached on three previous occasions.
Notable
CU improved to 76-5 under Boyle when holding the opposition to 40 percent or less from the field while posting a rebounding advantage of at least plus-8…The Buffs have outrebounded the opposition in eight of 11 games. One of those other three was an even 27-27 mark against Brown. CU was outrebounded in its two Pac-12 Conference games by Stanford and UCLA…Milwaukee standout freshman Patrick Baldwin Jr. went 6-for-6 on 3-pointers in the Panthers’ previous game but was held to a 2-for-10 showing from the arc by the Buffs…A total of 33 scouts representing 22 NBA teams requested credentials for Friday’s game.
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