Barrington Hargress is set to play just his second game with the Colorado Buffaloes. Yet he already is crossing paths with a very familiar face.
Coming off a season-opening win against Montana State, the CU men’s basketball team will host Eastern Washington in game No. 2 on Saturday afternoon at the CU Events Center. Expected to start against CU is Eagles guard Isaiah Moses, who was Hargress’ backcourt mate for two seasons at UC Riverside.
The transfer portal broke up what had been a dynamic duo at Riverside. While Hargress landed at CU to take over the point guard spot, Moses joined Eastern Washington and has been the Eagles’ leading scorer through games.
“It’s amazing. I lived with him my redshirt freshman year (2023-24) when we finally got to see the floor,” Hargress said. “It was really cool to see him out here, see him doing well. I’ve always wished well for him, and we’ve always played good together. That’s my guy. I know him really well. I’m excited for him, and I’m excited for the guys to see him.”
Hargress’ running mate the past two years, Moses averaged 12.0 points last year while Hargress led the Big West Conference at 20.2 points per game. Moses has shot just .367 (11-for-30) through the first two games, but he visits CU with an Eagles team whose 0-2 record is somewhat deceptive.
Eastern Washington hasn’t played at home yet and will do so only once through the season’s first eight games. The Eagles opened the season at No. 12 UCLA and battled the Bruins toe-to-toe, outscoring UCLA in the second half before the upset bid fell short in a six-point loss. Eastern Washington shot .537 at UCLA, but the Eagles also suffered an eight-point loss at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday.
“We have the mantra, ‘You respect everybody. You fear nobody.’ We’ve got to respect Eastern Washington,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “They’ve got a good coach (Dan Monson) who’s won a lot of games in his career. They’ve got hungry players who are going to come in here and let it all hang out. They’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. So we’d better be on-point. I want to see progress on both sides of the ball.”
Boyle said the Buffs are expecting reinforcements from their opening night rotation, as freshman forward Alon Michaeli is set to make his CU debut. Signed over the summer out of Israel, Michaeli was unavailable against Montana State due to an ankle injury. At 6-foot-9, 229 pounds, Michaeli is expected to add a combination of size and skill to the Buffs’ frontcourt.
“Alon will play. He’s practiced this week,” Boyle said. “He’s not favoring that ankle, so Alon will play. Which I think will help us on the front line. Seby (Rancik) played 32 minutes (against Montana State), which is probably too many just because his ankle isn’t 100% yet either.
“Big body, toughness, rebounding, interior presence. He’s a very good connector offensively in terms of moving the ball and having an IQ of what we want to get done offensively. I think he can help us with our post defense, which we struggled with.”
Eastern Washington Eagles at CU Buffs men’s basketball
TIPOFF: Saturday, 2 p.m., CU Events Center.
TV/RADIO: ESPN+/KHOW 630 AM.
RECORDS: Eastern Washington 0-2; Colorado 1-0.
COACHES: Eastern Washington — Dan Monson, 2nd season (10-24, 455-420 overall). Colorado — Tad Boyle, 16th season (313-204, 369-270 overall).
KEY PLAYERS: Eastern Washington — G Isaiah Moses, 6-0, R-Sr. (15.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, .367 FG%); F Kiree Huie, 6-9, Gr. (11.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, .600 FG%); G Johnny Radford, 6-1, Gr. (10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.5 apg); F Alton Hamilton IV, 6-9, Jr. (10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .615 FG%); G Straton Rogers, 6-5, Gr. (8.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .800 FG%). Colorado (stats from opening win vs. Montana State) — G Isaiah Johnson, 6-1, Fr. (24 pts, 6-for-9 FGs, 10-for-12 FTs); C Elijah Malone, 6-10, Gr. (10 pts, 13 rebounds, five assists, four steals); F Bangot Dak, 7-0, Jr. (12 pts, nine rebounds, 5-for-8 FGs); F Sebastian Rancik, 6-11, So. (13 pts, two assists, 3-for-9 FGs, 6-for-7 FTs); G Barrington Hargress, 6-1, R-Jr. (11 points, three assists, 5-for-11 FGs).
NOTES: Isaiah Johnson’s 24 points in the opener against Montana State marked the most by a CU player off the bench since Jabari Walker scored 24 points in the Buffs’ rout of Georgetown in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. … The Buffs had five players score in double-figures against Montana State, something CU didn’t achieve all of last season. The last time five Buffs scored at least 10 points was during a win against Florida in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. … Eastern Washington’s Monson has led three different teams (Gonzaga, Minnesota and Long Beach State) to NCAA Tournament appearances. … Buffs assistant coach Bill Grier worked as an assistant under Monson at Gonzaga. Boyle also is a close, longtime friend of Monson. … Colorado is 4-0 all-time against Eastern Washington. All of those games were played in Boulder. … CU’s season-opening five-game homestand continues next Friday, Nov. 14, against Providence and Friars head coach Kim English, a former CU assistant. … Jerry Schemmel once again will handle the radio broadcast. Regular radio analyst and former CU player Scott Wilke again will handle analyst duties on the ESPN+ telecast alongside Thad Anderson, as regular CU play-by-play man Mark Johnson will be handling the CU football game.