Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU overcame a slow start to shoot .552 overall and outrebound the Ducks 36-24.
Three stars:
1. CU’s J’Vonne Hadley: Made all four of his 3-point attempts before finishing with 20 points and a CU career-high 12 rebounds.
2. CU’s Tristan da Silva: CU senior hit three 3-pointers and posted a team-high 22 points.
3. Oregon’s N’Faly Dante: Ducks big man went 10-for-10, recording a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Up next: CU will attempt to complete a much-needed road sweep on Saturday at Oregon State (3 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Network).
EUGENE, Ore. — Facing a must-win situation on the road, the Colorado men’s basketball team came through in the clutch.
In a stirring effort in a high-stakes showdown, it was the Buffaloes who made the crucial plays down the stretch, as CU extended its late-season winning streak to five games with a 79-75 victory on Thursday night at Oregon.
The Buffs clinched third-place in the Pac-12 Conference, as well as a first round bye at next week’s conference tournament in Las Vegas. More importantly, the win gave CU a key Quad 1 victory as it attempts to solidify its NCAA Tournament credentials during the final weekend of the regular season.
CU also completed just the second two-game, regular-season sweep of the Ducks in 13 seasons in the Pac-12.
A much-anticipated season has perhaps not unfolded the way the Buffs and their fans would have preferred. A season-long struggle with injuries continued in Eugene, as CU once again played without freshman Cody Williams (ankle) and key reserve Julian Hammond III (knee). Yet with five consecutive wins, plus just the third win at Oregon in 11 Pac-12 games in Eugene, all of the Buffs’ postseason goals remain firmly on the table.
“It’s a testament to how hard we work and how deep we really are,” CU guard J’Vonne Hadley said. “We battled injuries all season. Different guys coming out, but we also have a bunch of guys stepping up.”
The Buffs scored the game’s first basket but endured a rough start, as Oregon reeled off the next 11 points while eventually pushing its lead to 12 points. CU answered with its own 11-0 run to get back in the game, and after battling to within a point on seven different occasions, the Buffs finally took their first lead at 33-32 on a Tristan da Silva bucket.
The game was tied 37-37 at halftime and the back-and-forth affair remained tied at 61-61 with less than 5 minutes remaining when CU put together a commanding 9-0 run, capped by a driving layup from Hadley, that pushed the Buffs’ lead to 70-61 with 3:22 left.
CU had to withstand a final assault, as Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard followed a driving layup with a 3-pointer off a Buffs turnover on an inbounds play, a sequence that took just a few seconds yet left the Ducks within four. Another Couisnard 3-pointer got Oregon within 76-75 with 37.4 seconds remaining, but Hadley converted a tough layup in traffic off an inbounds pass from KJ Simpson to give the Buffs a three-point cushhion in the waning seconds.
Couisnard’s last-chance effort at a tying 3-pointer was off the mark, sparking the CU celebration.
“It shows the resiliency of this group,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “It shows the toughness, the competitiveness. Which I’ve not questioned at any point this season. I’ve never questioned their competitiveness. I’ve never questioned their toughness. I’ve questioned their execution. I’ve questioned their ability to take care of the basketball. To win on Oregon’s home floor, with what was at stake…it’s not like Oregon played bad. They came out and played well from the get-go. We got down early, our guys didn’t put their heads down. They just kept fighting, kept battling and clawing back.”
Hadley had perhaps his finest game with the Buffs, setting career-highs with four 3-pointers (on four attempts) and 12 rebounds while adding 20 points for his third double-double of the season. Da Silva hit three 3-pointers and scored a team-high 22 points, and while Simpson weathered a tough night from long range (0-for-5 from the arc), he still recorded 17 points, six rebounds and six assists.
“It says a lot, especially the mental toughness part,” da Silva said. “Since we’ve been struggling so much, up and down, it messes with your confidence a little bit throughout the season. And then once you start to get into the mode you’re supposed to be in, that you know you’re capable of, that you’ve got the talent for, it feels good and it reassures you of all the work that you’ve put in, all the trust you’ve put in your teammates.”
COLORADO (21-9, 12-7 Pac-12)
da Silva 9-17 1-1 22, Lampkin 3-6 1-4 7, Hadley 8-11 0-0 20, O’Brien 2-4 2-4 6, Simpson 7-17 3-4 17, Ruffin 1-1 0-0 3, Dak 2-2 0-0 4, Diop 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-58 7-13 79.
OREGON (19-11, 11-8)
Evans 3-4 0-0 6, Dante 10-10 0-2 20, Couisnard 6-16 2-2 17, Shelstad 10-15 0-0 23, Tracey 2-7 0-0 5, Rigsby 0-5 0-0 0, Oquendo 1-2 2-2 4, Diawara 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-60 4-6 75.
Halftime — 37-37. 3-point field goals — Colorado 8-17 (Hadley 4-4, da Silva 3-6, Ruffin 1-1, O’Brien 0-1, Simpson 0-5), Oregon 7-24 (Shelstad 3-7, Couisnard 3-9, Tracey 1-5, Evans 0-1, Oquendo 0-1, Rigsby 0-1). Rebounds — Colorado 36 (Hadley 12), Oregon 24 (Dante 12). Assists — Colorado 16 (Simpson 6), Oregon 14 (Shelstad 6). Turnovers — Colorado 13 (da Silva 4), Oregon 7 (Shelstad 4). Total fouls — Colorado 9, Oregon 16. Attendance — 7,794.
