CORVALLIS, Ore. – With their backs against the wall following a four-point loss to UCLA, the Colorado men’s basketball team (22-9, 13-7 Pac-12) finished the 2023-24 regular season with six straight wins, capping it off with a 16-point win over the Oregon State Beavers (13-18, 5-15) on the road.
The 73-57 victory was the third road win of the six games for the Buffs, the fourth in Pac-12 play, and improved their away record, which has been lacking this year. The win also marked the most regular season wins in program history, with 22.
The Buffs got out to a hot start, going on a 7-0 run following the Beavers’ first bucket of the game to go up 7-2. Jordan Pope hit a layup to cut the deficit to three with 16 minutes left to play, but that was the closest the Beavers would be for the rest of the game.
Pope, Oregon State’s leading scorer (17.9 points per game), only finished with 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field (0-1 3PT, 4-5 FT), seven rebounds, and three assists. The Beavers’ five wins in Pac-12 play all came when the sophomore guard scored 19 or more points.
While Colorado never went on larger than a 6-0 run for the rest of the half, the even offensive attack led to them outscoring the Beavers 12-4 in the final four minutes of the half. At the break, the Buffs led 41-27 with Eddie Lampkin Jr., KJ Simpson, and Luke O’Brien all scoring in double digits. Simpson dished out five of the the Buffs’ nine assists while they only had one turnover in the half.
Lampkin finished with a double-double as the Buffs’ leading scorer and rebounder (17 points, 11 rebounds), Simpson with 15 points and seven assists, and O’Brien with 10 points and four boards. The Buffs’ starting point guard played another 39 minutes today amid Cody Williams’ (ankle) and Julian Hammond III’s (knee) absences after playing a full 40 minutes in the last two contests.
The Beavers played Colorado a lot closer in the second half behind Michael Rataj and Tyler Bilodeau. Rataj only finished with 12 points but was Oregon State’s leading scorer in the second half with 10 points. Bilodeau, who was OSU’s best player earlier in the season in Boulder, finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Buffs turned the ball over six times in the second half but still outscored the Beavers 32-30. With a mostly clean game, a consistent night from Tristan da Silva (12 pts, 6-12 FG, 5 rebounds), and more second half buckets for J’Vonne Hadley, who scored 11 of his 15 points (4-8 FG, 1-2 3PT, 6-6 FT) in the final 20 minutes, helped CU to a win in their final regular season game.
Colorado dominated Oregon State on the road, shooting 10% better from the field, winning the rebound battle 43-29, and dishing out 15 assists to OSU’s six. The Beavers only won a low turnover battle by one (7-6).
After beating Oregon last game and securing a win against Oregon State, the Buffs sit at No. 29 in the NET rankings and have 22 wins. While the lack of Quadrant 1 and road wins still hurts CU on an otherwise March Madness-deserving resume, they’ll look pretty good on Selection Sunday, especially if they use their No. 3 seeding in the Pac-12 Tournament to their advantage.
Looking ahead to the Pac-12 Tournament, which doesn’t start for the Buffs until 9:30 p.m. MT on March 14 due to a first-round bye. They’ll play either the No. 6 Utah Utes or the No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils, who both split their season series with CU. Colorado only lost their season series to Arizona and UCLA (though, in one game), beating the other nine Pac-12 opponents at least once this season. They also have had quite a number of close losses, meaning the Buffs could fare well come tournament time, especially if Williams and Hammond return.
Cover photo by @CUBuffsMBB/X
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