BOULDER — Tad Boyle wants to see the CU Events Center sold out again.

It wasn’t on Friday night, but over 6,500 people showed up to watch Boyle’s latest Colorado team pick up a 97-88 win over a Providence team that was picked to finish fourth in the Big East this season. 

If this young Buffaloes squad keeps playing like that, it won’t be hard for Boyle to keep making his case for the fan base to show up in droves.

“We need this place rocking and rolling because this can be a really, really fun team to watch this year,” Boyle said.

They certainly were in a rare home nonconference game against a high-major team. It’s the first such game since Tennessee came to Boulder in 2021. It’s the first time the Buffs won a game like this since they beat then-No. 13 Xavier in December 2016 on a night where Derrick White had 23 points.

“Go through the ‘blue bloods’ or whatever you want to call them and find out how many people are playing true road games — not neutral court, not made-for-TV matchups. Not very many,” Boyle said. “Providence isn’t afraid. They weren’t afraid to come here. Guess what? Next year, we’re not afraid to go there. They’re looking for quality home games like we are. 

“To get quality home-and-homes in college basketball, it’s really hard. It’s not like you just pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, you want to come to Boulder and do a home-and-home?’ It doesn’t work like that. I wish it did. We’d have a lot more quality opponents in here.”

Now, this one was a little bit easier to schedule given the familiarity between the two programs. Providence coach Kim English is a former CU assistant under Boyle and Buffs assistant Nate Tomlinson is back in Boulder this year after spending the last two seasons with English at Providence.

But that’s why it was so important for CU to take advantage of this one. Not only did Boyle reward the fan base with a quality opponent early in the season, his team rewarded them with a win — and they did it in style, once again.

The Buffs have now scored 84 or more points in all three games of their 3-0 start. They’ve got an exciting freshman class that scored 45 points combined, led by Alon Michaeli’s team-high 20 points. 

They did it all on a night where they made just six 3-pointers, too. They finished with 54 points in the paint, went 23-for-27 at the free throw line and dominated on the glass.

“The one thing we knew about our team, we learned it in Australia this summer, is how tough they are and how they like to compete,” Boyle said. “It doesn’t matter who they’re playing, where they’re playing or when they’re playing.”

What a difference a year makes.

Even amid a solid start to the season, Boyle didn’t talk about last year’s team the way he talks about this new-look group. Ten players saw the floor in Friday night’s win and there are a few more Boyle would’ve felt confident putting on the floor against a Big East team. 

After last year’s last place finish in the Big 12, Boyle wants everyone to know this team is different. You’ll just have to come see it for yourself.

“We’ve still got a long way to go, but the ceiling for this team, both offensively and defensively, is really, really high,” Boyle said.  Come support this team, watch this team grow because they deserve your support.”

GAME RECAP

Colorado 97, Providence 88

What happened: The Buffaloes (3-0) used another big offensive performance to remain unbeaten and pick up a crucial nonconference win over the Friars (2-2). Four different players scored at least 15 points for CU, led by freshman Alon Michaeli’s career-best 20 points, as the offense continues to put up big numbers every night. 

Star of the night: UC Riverside transfer Barrington Hargress had his best game in a Buffs uniform and looked like the player Tad Boyle and the coaching staff believed they were getting out of the transfer portal. He had a career-high 11 assists to go with 15 points for his second-career double-double. 

Quotable: “They’re gonna win a lot of Big East games if they stick together and keep playing together because they’ve got a lot of talent, but so do we. Good, hard-fought win against a quality team, quality program, quality coach and I wish them nothing but the best as they progress (with) their season.” — Boyle on the win

Up next: The Buffs remain home and face Alabama State on Monday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.