BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes (19-9, 10-7 Pac-12) continued their three-game win streak on Wednesday night, defeating the California Golden Bears (13-16, 9-9) by 10 points to keep their NCAA tournament chances alive.
The Buffs were once again without Julian Hammond III (knee) and missed star freshman Cody Williams (ankle) after he got injured last game against Utah. The absences didn’t matter, however, as KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva both went for big games while the supporting cast pulled their weight.
The duo combined for 49 points on the night with Simpson going for 27 and da Silva going for 22. While da Silva went for 18 points in the first half, Simpson went for 18 in the second half. As a team, the Buffs shot 50% (29-58 FG) from the field and 44% (7-16 3PT) from deep while dishing out 18 assists.
“As leaders, we wanted to pick it up and have our play and go out there and exemplify it out there on the court,” Simpson said. “Tristan started off really good in the first half so I knew I needed to pick it up. That’s why I kind of got it going in the second half. But, with guys down, you have to rise to the level of play. It wasn’t just us tonight, the whole team, they did great things out there.”
The Buffs rode da Silva’s big first half, building an early lead that they would extend to 14 points at the half. They had a slight scare as Cal opened the game 5-of-10 from beyond the arc despite shooting 32% in the half. But each time the Golden Bears came close, Colorado responded with a big run of their own – the biggest a 16-5 run to go up 15 points with just under four minutes left in the half.
Despite the big lead, the 20-point meltdown in Berkeley was on the mind of the Buffs as they eerily kept a 14-point lead heading into halftime. To begin the second half, a repeat performance looked to be in the works as Jaylon Tyson, who scored a season-high 30 points in their first meeting, scored 10 points to open the half and pulled his team within six. As a team, Cal started 10-of-13 from the field in the second half.
“We talked at halftime about the game at Berkeley,” head coach Tad Boyle said. “We’re up 14 at the half and as I walk off the floor, I look up – 14-point game again. I gotta remind them of that and we talked about it.”
Ready for Cal’s big run, though, the Buffs quickly made the six-point lead a 12-point lead thanks to Simpson and Javon Ruffin. After the junior guard knocked down a pair of free throws, he picked off an inbounds pass before finding Ruffin for a 3-pointer. A possession later, Ruffin once again found the bottom of the net from distance.
“Making shots is something Javon is really good at,” Boyle said, “and he proved it tonight. He didn’t hesitate and our guys looked.”
Leading 73-61 following the 8-2 run, the Buffs never looked back.
“We had a lot more turnovers,” Simpson said about what differed between games. “It’s hard to start playing defense when you turn it over. Shots weren’t falling and they hit 14 3s in the first game and so those are the major differences compared to this game. We took care of the ball a lot better. We were more composed on offense and then our defense has gotten better since that point.
As they cruised to the 88-78 victory behind Simpson and da Silva, it was the team’s ability to shut down the 3-point line in the second half (3-12 3PT) while limiting turnovers (12 TOVs; two in garbage time) that helped avoid another Cal comeback.
Tyson finished with a team-high 25 points (9-19 FG, 2-7 3PT, 5-5 FT), five rebounds, and four assists.
The Buffs now look ahead to their first and only meeting of the season with the Stanford Cardinal (12-15, 7-10), welcoming them to the CU Events Center for the last regular season home game of the year.
“Hell yeah, they care,” Boyle said.
Cover photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports
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