LAS VEGAS – The No. 3-seeded Colorado men’s basketball team has relied on their offensive firepower all year as the third-highest-scoring offense in the Pac-12. With the Pac-12 tournament Championship on the line, however, they held the No. 2 Washington State Cougars to a season-low 52 points.
“This was a hell of a college basketball game,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said after the game. “It wasn't the prettiest game by any means. It was a little bit ugly at times, but we had two teams out there just battling it and getting after it.
The win not only pushed the Buffs into the title game but also added to their March Madness resume, marking another Quadrant 1 win.
However, it wasn’t an easy battle as the two teams traded leads 10 times throughout the contest, the last change coming with just under three minutes left in the game. Plus, the Buffs were once again with Julian Hammond III (knee).
The back-and-forth nature began with the first baskets of the night, with Tristan da Silva and Jaylen Wells trading buckets. Wells hit a 3-pointer for his first points, but it was the first of just seven made 3s on 34 attempts in the game between the two teams.
With the majority of the offense coming within the arc, da Silva had his work cut out for him with the assignment of WSU’s star, Isaac Jones. Finishing with the second-most points on the team with 13, da Silva held Jones to just 13 of his own. While both shot 6-of-9 from the field, Jones ended the night as the leading scorer for the Cougars.
The first half featured little offensive production, with neither team able to separate by more than five points as Colorado headed into the half up 27-23. The turnovers began to pile up as Colorado had five to Washington State’s nine at the break.
Starting the second half, Colorado began to slightly separate from the Cougars with da Silva starting the scoring once more. The Cougars responded, but KJ Simpson was there to lace a triple and a close jumper to give the Buffs a nine-point lead, the largest of the night, with just over 15 minutes to go.
However, as quickly as the Buffs seemed to be running away with the game and into the championship, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run. With the largest of either team, WSU made it a 40-38 ball game with a quarter of the game left to play.
From then on, the trading of blows was back and there to stay until the final two minutes of the game. WSU was able to tie the affair at 46 apiece with just over six minutes to play following two straight baskets from Jones at the cost of a tired da Silva.
Three minutes later, Jones was the one to hit a jumper to give the Cougars a 50-49 lead. It was their first advantage since the eight-minute mark of the first half.
Within a possession, though, the Buffs were back on top thanks to free throws from Simpson. A second later, Simpson forced a Myles Rice turnover that led to a J’Vonne Hadley layup for just the second fastbreak basket of the game. The turnover was just one of the season-high 19 turnovers for the Cougars.
The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year finished with 10 points on just 4-of-13 shooting from the field and 0-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. While he had four steals, he had five turnovers as well.
“KJ Simpson is the best defensive point guard in this league,” Boyle said of his point guard, “and it's not even close. It's not even close. He doesn't get enough credit. His teammates know. His coaches know. The CU fans know.”
Heading into the final two minutes, the Cougars scored once more to come back within a point.
But with the lead in jeopardy, Hadley found a cutting Luke O’Brien for a layup. Despite being the senior’s only points of the night, the lead-extending bucket was arguably the most important.
“It was great, and J'Vonne Hadley made a nice play,” Boyle said. “Luke is one of our best cutters on our team, and as J'Vonne drove – again, they're a good defensive team – he got kind of stopped on his drive. And then Luke cut right behind him, and he found him. And Luke made a great finish.
“...And it means something to Luke, which means it means something to me. I love guys that care and they're all about winning, and that's what we have right now. We have a group of guys in that locker room that winning is the most important thing. It's not individual performances. And as long as we can keep that mindset we can have a lot of fun here in the next few weeks.”
Washington State, trailing 55-52, looked for a 3-pointer to tie the game. Wells tried to hit the last 3-pointer of the game in addition to the first, but the shot was off the mark, bouncing into Simpson’s hands for his team-high seventh rebound.
Despite only having 14 seconds left to play when reeling in the board, Simpson alertly realized he was in the corner and attempted to push the ball up the sideline. As WSU head coach Kyle Smith pointed that Simpson stepped out, Rice came flying in, colliding with the star point guard and sending him hard into the scorer’s table with Simpson trying to avoid Smith on the sideline.
The guard shook it off, however, and finished the contest.
“Ain't got time to pout,” Simpson said. “Ain't got time to sit and worry about a small, slight, a little injury, a little nag. Just one more game.”
Still, Simpson missed the first half of the one-and-one free throw opportunity, allowing WSU a chance.
The Buffs wouldn’t even allow an opportunity to tie the game, committing just their 10th foul of the game and sending WSU’s Wells to the line with under five seconds to play. As Simpson just did, Wells botched the one-and-one with the rebound falling to Eddie Lampkin Jr. After getting immediately fouled, the Buffs’ big man went 1-of-2 from the line, but it was all that they needed.
Colorado went on to win 58-52, punching their ticket for an opportunity at the Pac-12 Championship in their final season in the conference. Simpson, a Pac-12 Player of the Year finalist, led the scoring charge for the Buffs with 16 points (4-of-15 FG, 2-of-5 3PT, 6-of-7 FT).
“What's the word you guys use? He's a dog,” Boyle said about his point guard.
Tipoff for the championship game against No. 4-seeded Oregon is at 7 p.m. MT On Saturday night broadcast on FOX. The game will mark the third time in the Buffs’ Pac-12 life that they will play for a conference title.
“I think we're clicking pretty good,” Boyle said about heading into the matchup. “I don't know of any other team in the country that's won eight in a row. But that doesn't mean anything. That means absolutely nothing going into tomorrow.”
Cover photo by Roberto Patrick Gerra/Sko Buffs Sports
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