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The Buffs are on a win streak at home!
Everyone, stay calm! The Colorado Buffaloes have won a second game in Big 12 play!
This win didn’t come against a Big 12 bottom-dweller like UCF either! CU picked up a quality quadrant one victory against the Baylor Bears, currently ranked 29 in NET, by a margin of 76-74.
The Buffs fought an uphill battle against one of the Big 12’s best teams. It wasn’t easy dealing with Baylor’s, specifically Norchad Omier’s, rebounding prowess in the offensive paint, along with the Bears’ front court length, but they prevailed regardless. Colorado’s defense shut down Scott Drew’s squad to win their second consecutive home game.
To open the game, Baylor immediately showcased their ability to grab their own misses, reset and score, snagging three offensive boards and scoring five second-chance points in the first three minutes of play. Colorado would combat Baylor’s putbacks by drilling some threes, courtesy of Julian Hammond and Andrej Jakimoksi, to stay neck and neck with BU.
Other than Baylor’s ability to get their own miss, the Bears were cold as could be from the offensive floor. BU started the game 2 for 12 from the floor, allowing the Buffs to dictate the pace early. Specifically, Jakimoski was CU’s engine, hitting three shots from beyond the arc in the first half to keep Colorado ahead by a slim margin.
Baylor would use their offensive rebounding to keep up with Colorado, snagging a concerning 10 o-boards in the first half alone and scoring easy points. The Bears finished the first period of play with 10 second-chance points, with 4 offensive rebounds from Omier alone.
After a six-minute slump where CU couldn’t make a shot from the floor near the end of the first half, Baylor would claw back at CU’s five-point lead. Jakimoski and Baylor’s Langston Love would trade long threes in the final minute before halftime, with the Bears headed to the locker room up 32-30.
The Buffs entered the second half knowing exactly what would win them the game: better shooting, elite defense and slowing Baylor and Omier’s offensive rebounding. Evidently, they were up for the task, as RJ Smith and Sebastian Rancik drilled back-to-back threes to open the period and take a six-point lead.
Colorado’s length in the paint was giving Baylor fits, as they couldn’t find a consistent way to score at the rim. Buffaloes like Bangot Dak, Assane Diop, Rancik and Elijah Malone made life hard on the Bears, who were only 9-26 on layups.
Short spurts of three-point shooting would put the Beats back in the game, as BU’s Jeremy Roach hit two threes and a jumper in a 30-second span to tie the game up at 62 with 6:22 to play. Colorado responded accordingly, ripping off a 9-0 run to put victory within reach. Rancik would prove to be the catalyst for CU’s resurgence, scoring 5 of those 9 points.
With a commanding 9-point lead late into the contest, Colorado looked to have the game in hand. A couple of unanswered buckets from Baylor would cut that lead to 7 with only 1:16 to play. Colorado would have to screw up catastrophically to blow this lead, which they’d never do, right?
In the last minute of play, Sebastian Rancik would turn the ball over right under the net on an inbound, leading to an easy two Bears points. Colorado would follow that up by lobbing an inbound pass to Bangot Dak, who took the fast break right to the rim uncontested where he missed a wide-open dunk. The Bears snagged that rebound and drilled a tough contested three to cut the lead to only four points. A missed shot by CU and quick layup from Baylor would cut CU’s lead to only four with only :29 to play.
With no choice but to foul, Baylor sent Julian Hammond to the line, where he’d hit both freebies to put CU’s lead back to 4. In desperation. Baylor passed the ball inbounds and put up an ally-oop to VJ Edgecombe, who’d posterize multiple Buffs to cut the lead back to two with only 4 seconds to play.
Colorado imbounded Trevor Baskin, who managed to chew about three seconds of the clock before drawing a foul. Baskin has an opportunity to put the game away, but instead bricked both freebies to give the Bears a chance to win with 1.8 seconds left on the clock. Thankfully, Baylor couldn’t get their full-court prayer off in time, sealing the Buffs’ second win conference win of the season.
Andrej Jakimoski was Colorado’s rock, hitting five three-pointers and finishing the contest with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Sebastian Rancik’s 10 second-half points also were pivotal to the Buffs’ win.
The key to Colorado’s victory was limiting Baylor’s ability to put in their own misses, which they did in the second half. CU held Baylor to only 5 o-boards in the second half, completely shutting down Omier, who didn’t snag a single offensive rebound after halftime.
Now with a record of 11-16, the Buffs will prep for a late-night battle with the #17 Kansas Jayhawks in Boulder on Monday night. Tipoff at The Keg will be at 9:00 pm local, televised nationally on ESPN.
by RylandScholes
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