Buffs Player of the Game in victory over Brown: Evan Battey

The Colorado Buffaloes finished the Paradise Jam with a victory and Evan Battey got player of the game honors.

The Colorado Buffaloes finished their time at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament with a narrow victory over Brown on Monday.

The Buffs escaped with a 54-52 win against the Ivy League school and finished the Paradise Jam with a 2-1 record after losing on opening night to Southern Illinois.

It wasn’t the most encouraging performance, but it was a telling sign of what Tad Boyle’s team needs to improve.

In turn, the Buffs player of the game is senior forward Evan Battey.

Battey finished with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-15 from the field and added a pair of boards. He was one of only two Buffs players to finish in double figures on a night where neither team had success scoring the basketball.

Battey was also named to the Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team.

He wound up finishing the tournament with 46 points and 12 rebounds, scoring double figures in every game.

Now, the Buffs sit at 5-1 with December around the corner and an absolutely brutal stretch of games.

On Sunday, the Buffs face Stanford and follow that up with No. 2 UCLA on Wednesday โ€” in Los Angeles.

Following the Bruins game, the Buffs face No. 15 Tennessee in Boulder in what should be a jam-packed arena.

Then, on Dec. 21, they face Kansas after a few buy games against Eastern Washington, Milwaukee and CSU Bakersfield.

That is a torrid stretch and one that will show everybody how good this Buffs team can be. So, while a 54-point outing against Brown isn’t exactly encouraging, Battey’s performance throughout the Islands is something that will be huge for Boyle’s Buffs squad going forward.