Shorthanded Buffs top Utah in season finale
With KJ Simpson out of the lineup entirely and Tristan da Silva relegated to a reserve role after suffering an ankle injury against UCLA, most of Colorado’s scoring punch began the regular season finale Saturday on the bench.
The starting five head coach Tad Boyle turned to against Utah took the floor with a combined scoring average of 24.6. Or about 4.9 points per player.
All things considered, CU turned in one of its gutsiest performances of the season.
The Buffs capped a rough regular season by celebrating Senior Day with a 6960 victory at the CU Events Center. With the win, CU ( 1615, 8- 12 Pac- 12) avoided what would have been just the second sub-. 500 regular season in 13 years under Boyle.
The victory ended a run of four losses in five games for the Buffs, while Utah sustained its fifth consecutive loss to close the regular season.
CU is the ninth seed for next week’s Pac- 12 Conference tournament in Las Vegas thanks to Oregon’s win against Stanford. The Buffs will play eighth- seeded Washington in the opening game of the first round on Wednesday.
The Buffs scored nine consecutive points on a Jalen Gabbidon 3- pointer, followed by a pair of 3s from da Silva, midway through the first half and never trailed again. CU led 3321 at halftime and opened up a 16- point lead on a pair of Ethan Wright 3- pointers early in the second half.
Da Silva ultimately displayed few problems with his ankle, finishing 5- for- 8 with 15 points off the bench. CU’S Nique Clifford posted his first career double- double with 14 points and a careerhigh 11 rebounds. With Simpson sidelined, Julian Hammond III received a start and responded with 15 points, five assists and three rebounds.