Nine first-half turnovers kept the Wildcats close. The Buffs had two after halftime and won the second half 58-25.
BOULDER — Colorado opened the 2026-27 season with a 94-59 win over Abilene Christian on Monday night at the CU Events Center, turning a two-point halftime lead into a 35-point rout once it stopped giving the ball away.
The Buffaloes outrebounded ACU 20-10 in the first half, but nine turnovers turned into nine Wildcats points. Colorado built an 11-point lead behind a 10-0 run, then went cold late in the half as ACU closed on a 10-0 run of its own and took a 34-33 lead with seven seconds left. Barrington Hargress answered with a 3-pointer in transition at the buzzer, and CU went to the locker room up 36-34.
Colorado committed two turnovers after halftime and opened the half on a 24-7 run over the first 7:33. Boyle said his players told him in the locker room that the Buffs “imposed our will” defensively after the break. “We were disruptive defensively in the second half,” he said. Colorado shot 22-of-29 in the half, finished with a 20-2 edge in fast-break points, and ACU missed all 12 of its second-half 3-point attempts.
Sophomore guard Jalin Holland led five Buffs in double figures with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and a team-high six rebounds, after picking up two fouls in the game’s first two minutes. “Jalin Holland was really efficient and aggressive, especially after picking up two fouls early,” Boyle said. Justin Neely, a sixth-year transfer from UNC Greensboro, added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench. Josiah Sanders scored 14 on 8-of-9 free throws, Hargress had 11 and Noah Feddersen 10. Freshman Alex Dickeson had a team-high six assists in his college debut.
The win was Boyle’s 330th at Colorado and extended the program’s streaks to 11 straight season-opening wins and 19 straight home-opening wins. Boyle is 17-0 in home openers. With ACU shooting 38.6% and Colorado winning the boards 39-24, the Buffs also met Boyle’s “Gold Standard” of holding an opponent to 40% or worse with a plus-8 rebounding edge, a mark they’re now 99-6 under him. Colorado faces San Diego State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the Bill Walton Classic in San Diego.
