It didn’t take long for the Colorado men’s basketball team to showcase all the reasons why there will be plenty of growing pains during the 2024-25 season.

But the Buffaloes also showed, eventually, why the team’s depth and long-limbed versatility should cause headaches for plenty of foes.

Colorado came alive after halftime following a turnover-filled first half, rallying past Eastern Washington for a 76-56 season-opening win on Monday at the CU Events Center.

The Buffs trailed by 17 points in the first half but rallied to improve to 13-2 in season openers and 15-0 in home openers under head coach Tad Boyle. The 17-point rally tied the eighth-largest comeback win in program history.

CU committed 13 turnovers in the first half as Eastern Washington built a 27-10 lead. The Buffs outscored Eastern Washington 15-4 over the remainder of the half, cutting the deficit to 31-25 at the break, and CU finally pulled even on a three-point play by Trevor Baskin and a 3-pointer from Andrej Jakimovski.

Eastern Washington again built a nine-point lead, but the Buffs turned up the intensity on defense and quickly buried the Eagles. Eastern Washington led 44-35 when the Buffs erupted for a 30-5 run, squashing the Eagles’ upset bid.

The Buffs missed their first eight 3-point attempts but went 9-for-15 the rest of the way. CU committed just five turnovers after halftime, finishing with 18, and outrebounded Eastern Washington 43-30. The Buffs held Eastern Washington to a .362 field goal percentage.

Four players finished with double-figure points for the Buffs, with Baskin and Javon Ruffin scoring 12 points apiece. Jakimovski finished with 11 points, and freshman Sebastian Rancik went 4-for-5 on 3-pointers and scored a team-high 13 points in his collegiate debut.