Colorado
10-6,2-3Pac-12
Oregon
8-7,2-2Pac-12
Buffs Bounce Back, Pummel Oregon At Home
January 05, 2023 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER — No KJ Simpson proved to be no problem Thursday for the Colorado Buffaloes.
With their leading scorer out with an illness, the rest of the Buffs stepped up and played one of their best games of the season, dominating Oregon in a 68-41 victory at the CU Events Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs improved to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in Pac-12 play while improving their record to 11-1 against Oregon in Boulder. The Ducks fell to 8-7, 2-2 while scoring the fewest points in Dana Altman's 13 years at the Oregon helm.
The Buffs, coming off a disappointing loss at Cal, were a different team Thursday. CU jumped out to an early lead and never trailed. Colorado led by 18 at the half, 37-19, and extended the margin to as much as 27 in the second half as they never let the Ducks mount a comeback.
Tristan da Silva — who totaled just 15 points in CU's two-game road trip last weekend — led three Buffs in double figures with a career-high 30 points, along with seven rebounds. Julian Hammond III stepped into the starting lineup in Simpson's absence and tallied a career-high 16 points along with four rebounds and three assists. Nique Clifford added 13 points and Luke O'Brien had a career-high 11 rebounds.
The Buffs dominated nearly every statistical category. Colorado held a 46-28 edge on the boards and held Oregon to just 27 percent shooting (14-for-52), including a 1-for-14 night from long range. The Buffs shot a respectable 45.5 percent (25-for-55) and had a 14-3 edge in assists.
"You could tell from the get-go on the first couple of possessions that we were locked in defensively," said Boyle, whose Buffs held the Ducks their lowest point total since 2009. "We got some deflections, we were active. It wasn't Oregon's best night, there's no doubt about that. But I like to think we had something to do with that. I told the team today that whichever team rebounds the ball better is going to win the game and we were that team tonight."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado dominated from the outset, jumping out to an early lead and never trailing.
Da Silva hit an early 3-pointer to give CU a 13-6 lead and the Buffs then reeled off a 12-2 surge that included an 8-0 run. Hammond knocked down a 3-pointer and da Silva added another and with 8:45 to play in the half, Colorado led 25-10.
The Buffs didn't let up after a timeout, pushing their edge to 30-11, getting buckets from da Silva and Clifford. Da Silva, who had 15 points in CU's two previous games combined, had 15 of his career-best 30 in the first half Thursday.
"Tristan needs to be aggressive," Boyle said. "He's not a volume shooter, but he's efficient in what he does and he finished tonight. With KJ out, we knew he had to score for us."
The Ducks, who shot just 6-for-25 in the first half, finally scored back-to-back buckets to momentarily slow CU's run. But Colorado answered again and built its lead to 20 before Oregon got a bucket in the final seconds to send the Buffs into intermission with a 37-19 cushion.
The Buffs shot 12-for-28 in the opening half and dominated the boards, collecting a 26-13 rebound edge. O'Brien led the Buffs with six rebounds in the half while Hammond had 13 points in the period.
"We know if we defend and play together, we can play with anyone," Hammond said. "We practiced all week with a lot of focus and intensity on defense. Now we just have to do it every night."
The Buffs continued to build their cushion throughout the second half. A tomahawk dunk from da Silva gave CU a 63-36 lead with just under four minutes to play for the Buffs' big lead of the game and the Ducks were finished for the night.
Oregon coach Dana Altman was obviously disappointed with his team's performance.
"I'm embarrassed," Altman said. "We got beat by 18 on the boards, so you try to keep yourself in the game with free throws and we didn't do that (12-for-21). Three assists. Our ball movement was awful. It was a really poor performance and there's not much I can say."
For the Buffs, it was a much-needed win.
"A big-time effort by our guys," Boyle said. "We won this game in practice on Monday, in practice on Tuesday, in practice yesterday. It wasn't a real fun film session on Monday. I got after them. But they responded."
O'Brien's effort on the boards proved to be critical all night as he finished with a career-best 11 rebounds. Time and again, O'Brien battled inside against bigger players to make sure the Ducks didn't get extra shots, and he also came up with some crucial offensive boards.
"Phenomenal minutes," Boyle said. "He played with energy and emotion and he finished. We wanted to be in attack mode and Luke did a great job of finishing."
TURNING POINT: The Buffs built a double-digit lead early with a 12-2 that provided a 25-10 cushion and the Ducks never came within single digit again.
WHAT IT MEANS: The loss takes some of the sting out of last week's disappointing loss at Cal — but they can't get complacent as Oregon State visits on Saturday.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado held a 46-28 edge on the boards … CU held Oregon to just 27 percent shooting (14-for-52), including a 1-for-14 night from long range … The Buffs shot a respectable 45.5 percent (25-for-55) and had a 14-3 edge in assists.
QUOTEWORTHY: "I told the guys I'm tired of bounce-back wins. Let's string something together and not get complacent.We have to fight complacency." — CU coach Tad Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up their two-game homestand Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. game against Oregon State at the CU Events Center. Colorado then hits the road the following week for a pair of games in Los Angeles, beginning with a 7 p.m. game Thursday at USC, followed by a Saturday game at UCLA.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
