Jabari Walker gave a Michael Jordan shrug after yet another 3-point make. Which was appropriate, given that the CU Buffs freshman had a Michael Jordan half.
Walker‘s 24 points, 14 in the opening 20 minutes, powered CU to a 96-73 rout of Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Buffs, a No. 5 seed, will meet fourth-seeded Florida State in the second round of the tourney Monday. The Seminoles topped UNC Greensboro 64-54 on Saturday afternoon to advance.
The victory was CU’s first in the Big Dance, and the first for coach Tad Boyle, since 2012.
And for a win that was a long time coming, it wound up being historic.
The margin of victory was the largest ever for the Buffs in an NCAA Tournament appearance, besting a 75-54 win over Iowa (21 points) in the national third-place game during the 1955 tourney.
CU set school NCAA Tournament team records in 3-point makes (16) and assists (27). The Buffs’ 96 points were a season-high.
Walker’s 24 points were a personal best. Senior point guard McKinley Wright IV made his NCAA tourney debut a memorable one, finishing with 12 points and 13 assists with zero turnovers.
The previous CU record for assists in an NCAA game was five, set by Howard Frier against North Carolina in 1997. Wright’s 13 dimes were also the most by a Buff in a single game on a neutral floor.
After a feeling-out process — and some understandable nerves — over the first few minutes at the old building, the Buffs turned on the jets.
And it was Walker, off the bench, who became the catalyst.
With the Hoyas badgering Wright, Walker inevitably found himself in space and staring at clean looks. With the favorites up 9-7 five minutes into the contest, Walker, a 6-foot-8 forward, took a feed from Wright for a two-handed slam and then drained a trey on consecutive possessions to give the Buffs a 14-7 cushion and some breathing room.
He wasn’t done.
Walker, who came into the tournament averaging 7.3 points per contest, knocked down two more 3-pointers midway through the first half to send the Hoyas reeling. His third trey, with 9:31 left until halftime, also came off a feed from Wright and put CU up 23-14.
Walker’s four 3-pointers in the first half were a personal best in a Buffs uniform and set the tone for a stretch that saw CU connect on a blistering 11 of its initial 17 attempts from beyond the arc. Walker and senior wing D’Shawn Schwartz (four treys) accounted for eight of those first-half makes.
Wright’s dive and dish to Walker under the hoop with 10:12 left in the game expanded the Buffs’ lead to 70-50, much to the delight of CU fans in attendance at Hinkle, home of the Butler Bulldogs and site of where the movie “Hoosiers” was filmed.
And as narratives go, this one had a little bit of a Hollywood vibe, too. Wright came back for his senior season, in part, for this game. This stage. This shining moment.
It didn’t disappoint. Neither did they.
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