BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes (16-7, 7-5) beat the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-12, 5-7) 82-70 on Thursday night, splitting the season series and maintaining their spotless record on their home floor (13-0).
“Conference wins in February are like gold,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said, “they’re really valuable.”
J’Vonne Hadley led the way despite his stylish mask, notching his first double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals, 5-8 FG, 2-2 3PT, 7-7 FT) in the win. While the senior guard was seemingly everywhere, his biggest moment of the game came with just under two minutes left. Hadley received the ball with the shot clock expiring, putting up an off-the-dribble 3-pointer, only to see it swish through the net to put CU up eight in a “get back” win.
“It’s really just my confidence level right now,” Hadley said. “I’ve always been a pretty confident player but the people around me, my supporting cast, they’re super supportive of me when I have a bad game, good game. No matter how I play, they’re always there for me. Shoutout to my teammates, let me just be myself. Now just attacking, making plays for them.”
The accompanying Buffs fared well, with KJ Simpson (17 points; 5-14 FG) and Tristan da Silva (15 points; 4-9 FG) helping carry the offense. Despite Simpson’s uncharacteristic, inefficient shooting night, the Buffs’ starting point guard tied his career-high in assists with eight.
Colorado also enjoyed the luxuries of Cody Williams (11 points, three rebounds, three assists, 4-9 FG) and Julian Hammond III (nine points, 3-6 FG). Both players missed the Buffs’ matchup in Tempe.
Still, the 12-point win did not come without its fair share of scares. After going up 21-3 at one point thanks to an 0-of-7 ASU shooting start, the Buffs allowed the Sun Devils to stay in the game, coming within five before Hadley’s big triple. At their closest, Arizona State got within four, but a 7-0 run by CU squashed the opportunity.
“You jump out to an 18-3 run and I’m like, ‘Oh, no,’” Boyle said about the big start. “You think just the opposite but now our guys think, ‘Oh, it’s going to be easy, we can come down, we can make one pass, we can drive it, we can force a shot here, force a shot there.’ And then all of a sudden, they (ASU) get a stop, they make a 3, they get another stop, two bad shots happen, a turnover happens, and it goes from 18-3 to 18-11.”
ASU guard Frankie Collins led the charge, scoring 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting with four rebounds and two assists. Matched up against Simpson, the two added another small chapter to their long history of games played against one another.
“I’ve known Frankie, growing up, for a long time,” Simpson said. “We always have had a bunch of back-and-forth battles. He’s a great player, got so much respect for him. He’s like family almost with how many times we’ve played against each other. But he’s doing some special things for Arizona State. Like I said, nothing but respect for him. Every time we go against each other, it’s always a battle.”
With the Buffs leading by nine going into halftime and eventually holding on, they worked to limit Arizona State in transition after giving up over 20 transition points in their first matchup. They also reaped the benefits of a good whistle, converting 26 of 29 free throw attempts due to the Sun Devils’ aggressive defense turning into 24 fouls. Despite the physical matchup, CU won the rebound battle by eight.
“You play Arizona State, they’re gonna play their hearts out,” Hadley said, “they’re gonna be aggressive. So you got to be careful with the ball, be strong with the ball. It really just a physicality game overall and a little bit of mental as well.”
With the Buffs now 13-0 at home, the longest undefeated start to a CU season in Boyle’s era, they look ahead to a No. 8 Arizona Wildcats team coming to town on Saturday after losing by 47 points in their first meeting. The currently almost soldout matchup is set to tipoff at 8 p.m. MT on ESPN.
Cover photo by Chy Evenson/Sko Buffs Sports
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