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Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Buffs are one win away from glory.
The stars are aligning for the Colorado Buffaloes. With their 58-52 win over Washington State on Friday night, they’ve now advanced to the Pac-12 tournament finals.
This game was the definition of a nail-biter. Although Colorado led for a little over 30 minutes of game-time, every single Buffaloes fan was on the edge of their seat the entire game. Colorado’s largest lead all night was only nine points and their lead hovered between 1 to 3 points during the final ten minutes of the game. Wazzu pushed the Buffs to their limit, but they ultimately prevailed.
Shortly after the first whistle, it was clear that this game was going to be decided by who played better on the defensive floor. Both the Cougs and Buffs shot nearly identical figures in the first half. Wazzu shot 40% (10-25) from the field, while CU shot 41.4% FG (12-29). Both teams also opted to attack in the paint, with Colorado’s 20 points from inside slightly beating WSU’s 14.
What made all the difference for the Buffs was their ability to force turnovers. Colorado forced 9 takeaways in the first half alone, covering those into 6 points. J’Vonne Hadley, KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva were all locked in on their defensive assignments, combining for 4 first half steals.
Colorado’s stellar defensive showing in the first was what began to separate the two squads, but some clutch buckets from WSU’s Myles Rice and Jaylen Wells kept the Cougs well within reach of the game. The Buffs headed to halftime up 27-23, 20 minutes away from clinching a birth in the championship game.
To the surprise of very few, the second half proved to be much of a continuation of the first. Both teams once again shot the ball very comparably, with only a 1.1 difference in their FG% (CU 45.5%, WSU 44.4%). Same as the first half, this game was going to come down to turnovers.
Colorado proved to be a bit turnover prone in the second half, giving the ball away 7 times, resulting in 4 points for the Cougs. Thankfully, the Buffs’ craving for takeaways was not quenched in the first. CU forced a whopping 10 turnovers in the second half and cashed them in for 10 free points.
Those turnover points really made a difference, especially down the stretch. With Colorado clinging onto a lead of no more than three points until the final minute of the game, each and every one of those turnovers became more and more important.
The Buffs didn’t look their best on the offensive floor on Friday, especially from three-point land, where they only shot 3 for 15. However, their 19 forced turnover helped make up for that and really turned the tide. At the final whistle, Colorado dispatched the Cougars by a final score of 58-52.
KJ Simpson once again led the Buffs in scoring with 16 points, leading the team with 7 rebounds as well. Tristan da Silva had an extremely efficient scoring night as well, shooting 6 of 9 from the floor and netting 13 total points.
J’Vonne Hadley finished with a strong game both offensively and defensively, picking up 12 points and 3 steals on Friday. Eddie Lampkin once again established himself as a force to be reckoned with down low, picking up 9 points and 6 boards. There’s been some whispers going around about Lampkin maybe winning tournament MVP, and they’re honestly very warranted.
The Buffs now move to the Pac-12 tournament finals and things couldn’t have turned out any better for them. Oregon bested Arizona today to also advance to the finals, meaning Colorado gets to duck the Wildcats, which they’re 0-2 against this year. Instead, CU gets to match up against a Ducks squads that they’re undefeated against in 2024.
The Buffs will likely head into Saturday’s championship game has favorites against OU. They now have a golden opportunity to snag their second Pac-12 title since joining the conference in 2011. Colorado might just make history today in Las Vegas when they face off against Oregon at 7:00 pm local time.
by RylandScholes
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