Elijah Malone leading the way for CU Buffs basketball

The Colorado men s basketball association entered the season needing someone to take charge from the -point line Freshman Isaiah Johnson is the early leader in taking over that department Yet required a week ago which Buffaloes athlete you d want taking a key -pointer at crunch time and Elijah Malone might ve been last in line Not that an improved Malone wasn t going to be a key factor in any turnaround enjoyed by the CU men s basketball gang this season The -foot- -pound Malone is CU s the bulk physical presence in the post yet it indeed was his -point touch that helped the Buffs hold off an Eastern Washington upset bid Saturday with the Buffs improving to - with a - overtime win Malone stepped up to knock down an open -pointer with seconds remaining in overtime off a drive-and-dish from point guard Barrington Hargress It was the second of back-to-back -pointers with Johnson and it opened up a six-point lead for the Buffs Malone didn t shoot often from long range during his first season with the Buffs last year finishing just -for- But he has the green light to fire away when open Malone shot from the arc in four seasons at NAIA Grace College and Saturday s big shot was the culmination of an offseason that saw Malone work tirelessly on his -point touch Elijah Malone unequivocally the last week and a half to two weeks has become our leader CU head coach Tad Boyle mentioned Elijah Malone his voice is heard He s organizing things off the court He s doing what a leader does And by the way he s our only senior I m really proud of him The beautiful thing about that -pointer is No he didn t hesitate And No we practice at in the morning Every day not every other day not every third day not every fifth day every day he s here at a m I walk out on the floor if I m early he s out there He s got a sweat going He s got a lather going before practice even starts He s worked on his -ball all summer long All fall long When you see kid like that that didn t have that in his encounter last year and now he has that in his challenge he gets that shot and he doesn t hesitate and he knocks it down it is the best feeling in the world as a coach While the Boyle and his staff attempt to fix CU s generous defense ahead of a Friday night visit from former assistant Kim English and his Providence Friars p m ESPN Saturday s performance provided more evidence of a Buffs organization with a high ceiling offensively After going just -for- on -pointers in the opener against Montana State including -for- for everybody besides Johnson CU went -for- from the arc against Eastern Washington Malone Hargress and Felix Kossaras all knocked down their only long-range attempts while freshman Ian Inman scored his first collegiate points with a pair of -pointers in quick succession in the first half Perhaps more crucially a CU squad that committed the greater part turnovers in the Big last year has posted two single-digit turnover totals to start the season and that s with an extra five minutes of play against Eastern Washington The Buffs had only one single-digit turnover total in games last season If the Buffs can t improve a defense that has allowed both opponents to shoot at least so far they might have to rely on continuing to win shootouts The main thing starting with myself it s intensity Defensive intensity allowing one through five to see that Hargress revealed And then just understanding that since we re such a deep gang offensively that there shouldn t be that much on our mind offensively It should be even more giving ourselves effort on the defensive end