Buffs post huge road win
EUGENE, ORE. >> In a mustwin situation on the road, the Colorado men’s basketball team came through in the clutch.
The Buffaloes overcame a slow start to hold off Oregon in a key road battle on Thursday night, posting a 79-75 win at Knight Arena.
CU clinched third-place in the Pac-12 and, more importantly, kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with a fifth consecutive victory. The Buffs scored the game’s first basket but endured a rough start, as Oregon reeled off the next 11 points while eventually pushing its lead to 12 points. CU answered with its own 11-0 run to get back in the game, and after battling to within a point on seven different occasions, the Buffs finally took their first lead at 33-32 on a Tristan da Silva bucket.
The game was tied 37-37 at halftime and the backand-forth affair remained tied at 61-61 with less than 5 minutes remaining when CU put together a commanding 9-0 run capped da Silva 9-17 1-1 22, Lampkin 3-6 1-4 7, Hadley 8-11 0-0 20, O’brien 2-4 2-4 6, Simpson 7-17 3-4 17, Ruffin 1-1 0-0 3, Dak 2-2 0-0 4, Diop 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-58
7-13 79.
Evans 3-4 0-0 6, Dante 10-10 0-2 20, Couisnard 6-16 2-2 17, Shelstad 10-15
0-0 23, Tracey 2-7 0-0 5, Rigsby 0-5 0-0 0, Oquendo 1-2 2-2 4, Diawara 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-60 4-6 75.
Halftime: 37-37; 3-Point Goals: Colorado 8-17 (Hadley 4-4, da Silva 3-6, Ruffin 1-1, O’brien 0-1, Simpson 0-5), Oregon 7-24 (Shelstad 3-7, Couisnard 3-9, Tracey 1-5, Evans 0-1, Oquendo 0-1, Rigsby 0-1); Rebounds: Colorado 31 (Hadley 12), Oregon 22 (Dante 12); Assists: Colorado 16 (Simpson 6), Oregon 14 (Shelstad 6); Total Fouls: Colorado 9, Oregon 16.
regular season finale on Saturday at Oregon State (3 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Network).