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It wasn’t pretty, but the Buffs got the job done.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Colorado Buffaloes earned the right to live another day in the Big Dance. After taking care of business with a 60-53 win over Boise State in Dayton, the Buffs now advance to the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Wednesday night’s game was the rock fight of all rock fights, plain and simple. Both teams just couldn’t find sustained success putting points on the board. Colorado shot only 43.8% (21-48) from the field, while Boise State somehow faired even worse, shooting only 33.4% on field goal attempts.
We witnessed a nearly 40 minute long defensive slugfest, one in which the Buffs ultimately prevailed. Half of that result was due to the Buffs doing an excellent job guarding the perimeter, as the Broncos made only 2 of their 18 shots from three-point range. The other half was just pure luck. Boise State missed a whopping 21 of their 36 layup attempts, which was a huge help for a faltering Colorado offense. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and the Buffs learned that on Wednesday in Dayton.
Much like Broncos, the Buffs had their fair share of embarrassments too. Boise State out-rebounded Colorado to a ridiculous degree, especially off the offensive boards. BSU snagged 19 o-boards, while the Buffs only finished with six. Also, they shot so many airballs that I actually lost count of them.
Despite it all and most importantly, the Buffs found a way to win despite the setbacks. This game was close right from the very first whistle, as nobody led by more than 7 points all night. Each team traded buckets (and lots and lots of bricks) all night long, neither of which ever truly gained any sustained momentum.
After a very back and forth first half, it felt like the Buffs were finally starting to get a grip of things about midway through the second. However, a series of untimely misses and some ugly turnovers handed the Broncos a four point lead with only five minutes to play.
Facing the possibility of their season ending, CU never gave up and kept digging deep, forcing a series of six consecutive stops and finally hitting some clutch buckets. Colorado used that momentum to build a three point lead with 2:43 to play, which they’d never relinquish.
With most of Colorado’s players having an ice-cold shooting performance in Dayton, Tristan da Silva swooped in to save the day. Colorado’s starting wing finished with a game-high 20 points, shooting seven of ten from the field with three makes from deep. All of those three-pointers came in absolutely pivotal moments, helping to swing momentum back to Colorado’s side.
KJ Simpson started the game off slow offensively, but came alive when Colorado needed him most. Simpson finished the game with 19 points, ten of which came within the last six minutes of the game when the Buffs desperately needed to pad their lead down the stretch. KJ made up for his rare off shooting performance by turning up the intensity off the boards, snagging a career high 11 rebounds.
With their win over the Broncos, Colorado has officially cemented themselves as a ten seed in the NCAA Tournament and will head to Indianapolis to continue their season. After some film studying and a short practice on Thursday, they’ll face off against a bruised and batter Florida Gators squad on Friday. Despite being a ten seed compared to Florida’s seven, the Buffs enter as only 1.5 point underdogs.
Tad Boyle’s Buffs will look to break Colorado’s one-and-done tournament curse this Friday at 2:30 pm MT from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
by RylandScholes
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