Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle has been lauding the passing ability of center Eddie Lampkin Jr. pretty much since the Buffaloes landed the TCU transfer last spring.
Still, no one probably expected Lampkin’s play-making skills to be a spark for the Buffs’ offense. Yet that’s exactly what happened on Friday night, as Lampkin helped jump-start a CU attack that ran away with a 90-68 win against Northern Colorado at the CU Events Center.
Lampkin finished with his second double-double since joining the Buffs, recording 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also finished with a career-high six assists.
“Our two post guys, J’Vonne Hadley and Eddie Lampkin, had 12 of our 23 assists,” Boyle said. “It’s not like when we give it to them down there it’s a black hole. It’s anything but. Sometimes Eddie looks to pass a little bit too much.”
In 67 games over three seasons at TCU, Lampkin never posted four assists in a game. He hit that mark in a loss at Florida State on Nov. 21 before his six-assist effort against UNC. With 26 assists in 10 games this season, Lampkin already has more assists than he did while starting 32 games for TCU in 2021-22. Lampkin also is just three behind his entire assist total in 24 games last year.
Including that time at TCU, Friday’s effort was the eighth double-double of Lampkin’s career.
“I’ve known (Lampkin) from before he came here, and that’s one thing he was stressing and, talking to me about even before we started playing together,” CU point guard KJ Simpson said. “(He said) ‘One thing about me, it might seem weird, but I’m a big that loves to pass.’ He’s going out there and he’s showing it.”
Thievery
After recording a season-high four steals against Miami, Simpson again was a nuisance defensively, finishing with five steals against UNC. Simpson increased his career total to 99 steals, moving into 22nd on CU’s all-time list. Simpson has moved up six spots on the career steals list since the start of the Miami game on Sunday.
“He’s playing at such a high level, offensively and defensively,” Boyle said of Simpson. “He said before the season he wants to be on the All-Pac-12 defensive team, and he’s well on his way.”
Simpson posted the 13th 20-point game of his career with 21. He also made his only two free throws against the Bears, giving him 18 consecutive made free throws.
Notable
CU guard Julian Hammond III went 2-for-4 on 3-pointers, raising his season percentage to .457 (16-for-35). Hammond also grabbed a career-high six rebounds against UNC. … Freshman forward Bangot Dak recorded a season-high five rebounds. Dak owned six rebounds through the first eight games but has grabbed eight in the past two games. … UNC’s Saint Thomas finished with 27 points on a 10-for-22 night from the floor. All three numbers are opponent season-highs against the Buffs. … With Oklahoma City in town to face the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, Thunder standout Jalen Williams, the brother of CU freshman Cody Williams, was sitting courtside with several teammates.
Leave a Reply