Buffs complete road sweep
Hot streak continues as CU wallops Oregon State
CORVALLIS, ORE. >> At the end of the line for the regular season, the Colorado men’s basketball team finished the job.
The Buffaloes jumped ahead early and never looked back, completing the regular season with a 73-57 victory against Oregon State on Saturday afternoon at Gill Coliseum.
CU ends the regular season with a six-game winning streak, marking the program’s first sixgame win streak within conference play since the start of the 1996-97 Big 12 schedule. After clinching third-place in the Pac12 with Thursday’s win at Oregon, CU secured just its fourth two-game road sweep in 13 seasons in the Pac-12.
The Buffs set a program record with their 22nd win of the regular season, and it also is the first time CU has won its final six regular season games since the Final Four team of 1954-55.
Those are some historic marks for a team that has battled personnel issues all season, with freshman Cody Williams (ankle) and reserve guard Julian Hammond III (knee) once again sidelined at OSU. Nevertheless, the Buffs will have a chance to regroup ahead of its first game in its final Pac-12 tournament on Thursday in Las Vegas.
“It’s a testament to our kids’ toughness, both mental and physical. It’s a testament to their resiliency,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “People ask me all the time throughout the season, the expectations on this and that. I think they picked us fifth in the league. We finished third. To me, that’s always a good barometer of where they thought you would finish and where you did finish.
“This team has overcome so much. We could easily have 23, 24, 25 wins. But we don’t. But to finish up with the school record after all these guys have been through is a testament to their toughness, both mentally and physically, and their resiliency. That’s the bottom line.”
Oregon State notched the game’s first basket, but CU answered with a 7-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way. The Buffs led 41-27 at halftime and, once again, the Beavers scored the first bucket of the second half before CU reeled off 11 consecutive
points, pushing the advantage to 22 points.
It was a thorough allaround effort for the Buffs. CU shot .475 and held Oregon State to a .375 mark. The Buffs outrebounded the Beavers 43-29 and committed only seven turnovers, the second-lowest total of the season. Eddie Lampkin Jr. recorded his eighth double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Lampkin’s five offensive rebounds was his best total since he had seven in the Pac-12 opener on Dec. 29.
Lampkin recorded three put-back baskets early to help stake CU to its quick lead.
“That first Arizona trip, we didn’t do good. We were losing on the road,” Lampkin said. “It’s a good thing to go to the tournament with the momentum we have on the road. We’re going to go to Vegas and try to win again on the road.”
Five players finished with double-figure points for the Buffs for the 11th time this season, with point guard KJ Simpson recording 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Simpson’s defense also was critical in holding Oregon State leading scorer Jordan Pope to a 3-for-12 mark with 10 points and three turnovers. Pope had shot .522 while averaging 25 points in his previous four games.
J’vonne Hadley continued his hot streak, going 6-for-6 on free throws before finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
“Sure enough, we’ve been clicking,” Simpson said. “But I think defensively is where we’ve really shown growth. It’s team defense. Everybody is contributing and you see it on offense, too. Multiple guys contributing in multiple different areas. We’re just playing great team basketball.”