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Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The Buffs just couldn’t get the job done.
All good things must come to an end, and the Colorado Buffaloes learned that the hard way on Saturday night in Las Vegas. CU’s eight game winning streak is no more, as the Buffs fell to the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 tournament finals.
Saturday night’s game was extremely close, but it felt like Colorado was playing catch-up for the vast majority of it. The Buffs roared out to a nine point lead midway through the first, but immediately relinquished it due to poor shooting and turnovers. After that, Oregon was in the drivers seat for the remainder of the game, leading for 24 minutes of game-clock.
Colorado kept it close in the second half, even leading by one point briefly, but just fell apart down the stretch and couldn’t close it out. Untimely turnovers and Colorado’s inability to stop the Ducks from snagging their own misses proved to be too much for the Buffs to overcome. At the final whistle, Oregon bested Colorado by a final score of 75-68.
Not gonna lie, this one hurts, a lot. The stars were aligned for the Buffs, getting the opportunity to face off against Oregon in the Pac-12 finals, with a chance to bookend the now-dead conference. Colorado just couldn’t get the job done, as they tripped over their own feet all night long and succumbed to their own self-inflicted wounds.
First off, the Buffs’ offense never truly got going. After going on a 13-0 run early in the first half, it began to sputter out and die. CU shot only 41.7% (20-48) from the floor. Most of that less than ideal percentage is due to Oregon’s lock down defense, as the Ducks rarely gave up any open shots and gave Colorado minimal room to work, especially in the low post.
To go along with their lackluster offensive showing, the Buffs just couldn’t take proper care of the ball. Colorado turned the ball over 13 times and Oregon really made them pay for it, cashing those takeaways in for 23 points. In comparison, Oregon only turned the ball over 3 times and Colorado didn’t score of any of those opportunities.
When the Buffs played the Ducks in Eugene last Thursday, they got a taste of the N’Faly Dante experience, and it wasn’t very fun. Dante finished that contest shooting a perfect 10 for 10 from the field, trouncing Colorado down low. Tad Boyle and his team knew what was coming on Saturday and ultimately just couldn’t do anything about it.
Dante simply couldn’t be stopped in the Pac-12 title game, once again finishing with a perfect 12 for 12 shooting performance. Oregon’s big man had his way with Eddie Lampkin in the low post and the Buffs just had no answer for him. Dante finished Saturday’s contest with a game-high 25 points and 9 rebounds, which made all the difference for Oregon.
Despite all the doom and gloom, Colorado fans have something to be proud of; KJ Simpson. The Pac-12’s best point guard put the team on his back, finishing the game with 23 points and 6 rebounds. No other Buff even cracked the 12 point barrier. Simpson did the heavy lifting on Saturday and had an extremely impressive game. Unfortunately, his teammates were unable to come remotely close to his level.
The Buffs can do only one thing now; wait. Colorado’s NCAA tournament fate will be decided by the selection committee, and their decision will come Sunday afternoon. CU’s resume is set in stone and there’s nothing they can do to change it. Hopefully their performance this week was good enough to push them out of having to play in First Four games in Dayton early next week. We’re in for a stressful next 24 hours, so buckle up and get some rest.
by RylandScholes
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