Buffs dominate late to top Sun Devils
Colorado head coach Tad Boyle has questioned his team’s toughness for much of the season. And with good reason.
But it was a different story down the stretch on Thursday night.
In a reversal of the teams’ previous meeting in December in Boulder, it was the CU men’s basketball team that dominated late, outlasting Arizona State for a 67-59 road victory at Desert Financial Arena.
It was just the second win in a true road game this season for the Buffs, who finished the game on a 17-3 run, including the final nine in a row, to turn a late sixpoint deficit into an eightpoint win. Tristan da Silva, who led all scorers with 23 points, and Javon Ruffin, who enjoyed his finest performance since a four-game injury absence last month, combined to score CU’S final 20 points.
It was the Buffs’ third straight win at ASU, and they avoided suffering a two- game regular season sweep against the Sun Devils for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
“They did what they had to do down the stretch,” Boyle said. “Players make plays at the end of games, that’s the bottom line. We had guys make plays down the stretch of this game and we got stops when we needed to get stops.
“Kudos to our team. I call them out when they don’t play with toughness. I’ve got to pat them on the back when they do. And they did tonight.”
In a Dec. 1 home loss against ASU, the Buffs were outscored 14-3 after holding a 12-point lead with six minutes remaining. This time, CU completely flipped that script.
ASU took a 56- 50 lead on a 3-pointer by DJ Horne with just under 6 minutes remaining, but the Sun Devils managed just one more field goal the rest of the way. A 3-point play by da Silva began the decisive run, and the Buffs regained the lead on a Ruffin 3-pointer followed by a pair of free throws from da Silva.
The Sun Devils briefly recaptured the lead on another Horne 3-pointer, but Ruffin answered with a 3 that gave CU the lead for good.
Colorado clung to a two- point edge for several possessions before da Silva grabbed an offensive rebound and promptly knocked down a 3-pointer after the ball was worked around the perimeter, giving the Buffs a five-point lead with 1:11 remaining.
“I feel like we’ve been capable this whole season, we just haven’t shown it consistently,” da Silva said. “Our guys showed great mental toughness tonight. Not just physical, but really mental toughness to stay locked-in from the get-go and keep our game plan up.”