There was the good, like the dominant rebound advantage, solid defense, and an electrifying unofficial debut for a highly-touted freshman.

And there was the bad, like poor free throw shooting, too many turnovers, and an injury scare to a key rotation player.

All in all, the matchup between the Colorado men’s basketball team and Metro State provided plenty of the highs and lows inherent to preseason basketball, as the Buffaloes routed the Roadrunners 69-45 on Saturday night in an exhibition match at the CU Events Center.

“I thought our defense tonight was pretty good. We flew around,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “We were pretty active. We didn’t guard the 3-point line as well in the first half. They had four threes, and I challenged our guys at halftime to hold them under six, and they only got one in the second half. So that was good. Our switching was good. I was happy with our defense and our rebounding for the most part.

“I just think offensively we took a step backwards tonight. Our turnovers were an issue against Texas (in last week’s closed scrimmage), and they were an issue again tonight. The difference is Texas pressured the heck out of us and Metro State really didn’t.”

Boyle went with a starting lineup of Tristan da Silva, KJ Simpson, Cody Williams, Luke O’Brien and J’Vonne Hadley. TCU transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr., who didn’t play in last week’s scrimmage as he continues to recover from offseason back surgery, came off the bench to log 16 and a half minutes in his unofficial CU debut.

Another player who made his first appearance in front of Buffs fans was freshman Williams, the No. 4-ranked prospect in the 2023 class per 247Sports. Williams was just 4-for-10 from the field, though Boyle said afterward he didn’t believe the rookie took any bad shots. A flurry of highlight-reel dunks in the second half left Williams with eight points to go with five rebounds, two assists, one steal and no turnovers in nearly 26 minutes of court time.

CU outrebounded Metro 42-29 and held the Roadrunners to a .346 field goal percentage with a 5-for-24 mark from 3-point range. However, the Buffs also committed 16 turnovers and finished just 8-for-16 at the free throw line.

O’Brien suffered an injury scare in the second half when he hopped to the bench favoring his left knee. The senior briefly returned to the floor but after an awkward and errant finish of an open look under the basket, O’Brien returned to the bench and spent the rest of the night with an ice pack on his knee. Boyle said afterward that O’Brien bashed knees with another player, and the injury is not considered serious.

Da Silva produced a smooth and efficient night, going 2-for-3 from the arc before finishing with a game-high 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Simpson shook off a pair of early turnovers to contribute 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

CU recorded 19 assists on 27 field goals, but the Buffs also endured a scoreless stretch of nearly five and a half minutes in the first half. Part of that can be attributed to the liberal use of substitutions, but it also left plenty of fodder for Boyle and his staff to address as the Buffs turn the page on the preseason to focus on the season opener at home against Towson on Nov. 6 (5:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

“The one thing I thought our guys did a great job of was sharing the ball,” Boyle said. “We had 19 assists, which is a really good number. We have an unselfish team. Eddie is a really good passer from the post. Tristan has really become a much better passer. I think we got the ability to have those upper teens and even get in the 20s in assists if we keep sharing the ball, but then we’ve just got to add the efficiency piece, and the movement piece, and the patience piece.”

CU Buffs men’s basketball 69, Metro State 45 (Exhibition)

Metro State

Lacy 3-5 0-0 6, McGill 3-4 0-0 6, Maldonado 4-12 0-0 10, Garrett 0-3 1-2 1, Maslow 0-3 0-0 0, Kula 1-3 0-0 3, Chrisman 1-1 0-0 2, Abdur-Razaaq 1-3 0-0 2, Kennis 2-7 0-0 4, Propst-Allison 2-5 3-4 8, Jones 1-2 0-0 3, Holmes 0-2 0-0 0, Rock 0-2 0-0 0, Smithburg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-52 4-6 45.

Colorado

Williams 4-10 0-2 8, da Silva 4-8 1-2 11, O’Brien 2-5 0-0 4, Hadley 3-6 2-3 9, Simpson 3-6 2-4 10, Hammond 2-4 0-0 5, Lampkin 4-6 0-0 8, Smith 0-6 1-2 1, Dak 1-5 0-0 2, Diop 2-2 2-2 7, Hurlburt 1-1 0-1 2, Carrington 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-61 8-16 69.

Halftime: Colorado 33, Metro State 18. 3-point field goals: Metro State 5-24 (Maldonado 2-4, Garrett 0-2, Maslow 0-3, Kula 1-3, Abdur-Razaaq 0-2, Kennis 0-3, Propst-Allison 1-2, Jones 1-2, Holmes 0-2, Rock 0-1); Colorado 7-20 (Williams 0-2, da Silva 2-3, O’Brien 0-1, Hadley 1-1, Simpson 2-5, Hammond 1-2, Smith 0-4, Dak 0-1, Diop 1-1). Rebounds: Metro State 29 (Abdur-Razaaq 8); Colorado 42 (da Silva 7, O’Brien 7). Assists: Metro State 6 (Maldonado 2, Kula 2); Colorado 19 (da Silva 4, Simpson 4, Hadley 4). Turnovers: Metro State 21, Colorado 16. Total fouls: Metro State 15, Colorado 10. A: 902.