Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Hold Off WSU For Sixth Straight Win
December 31, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado's KJ Simpson scored a career-high 34 points Sunday and the Buffaloes fought off a second-half Washington State rally to collect a 74-67 win over the Cougars at the CU Events Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs, once again without Tristan da Silva and Cody Williams (injuries), improved to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 play with their sixth straight win. WSU dropped to 9-4, 0-2.
The win gave CU its first 2-0 start in conference play since the 2014-15 season.
Simpson shot 10-for-18 from the floor and 13-for-14 from the free throw line for his 34 points. J'Vonne Hadley added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists and Eddie Lampkin Jr. chipped in 10 points.
Andrej Jakimovski led WSU with 19 points.
Colorado led by 10 at the half and pushed its lead to 12 early in the second period. But the Cougars slowly chipped away at CU's lead and with 3:24 to play, Colorado's cushion had been shaved to just one, 65-64.
But the Buffs responded with big plays in the final two minutes. Simpson had six points in a 9-0 Colorado run while Hadley had a big block on the defensive end and a huge 3-pointer with just under a minute to play to put the game away.
Colorado shot 50 percent from the floor (24-for-48) while the Cougars were right behind at 28-for-58. But the Buffs hit 22 of 26 free throws while the Cougars hit six of their eight charity tries. CU also had a 22-15 edge in points off turnovers and the Buffs won the rebound battle, 30-28.
"Another hard-fought league win," Boyle said after the game. "It was not easy for us. Washington State, I like their team a lot. They have good personnel. A quality win against a quality team."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs led by 10 at intermission, 39-29, and briefly pushed the cushion to 12 with a bucket to open the second half.
But the Cougars fought back with a 9-2 run to shave CU's lead to five, then cut the lead to two with six buckets in seven possessions. With 12:22 still to play, Colorado's lead had been cut to 48-46.
The Buffs regained control minutes later when CU's defense forced four straight empty WSU possessions while Colorado scored six in a row. Luke O'Brien hit a free throw, Simpson delivered a second-chance bucket after a Hadley offensive rebound and Lampkin converted a three-point play to give Colorado an eight-point lead, 64-56, with 5:33 left on the clock.
But the Cougars answered one more time with a free throw and a 3-pointer from Jakimovski, his fourth trey of the game. With 4:05 left, Colorado's lead was back down to two, 64-62, and 30 seconds later the Cougars cut Colorado' edge to just one, 65-64, with a pair of free throws.
But every time the Cougars threatened to take the lead, the Buffs and Simpson had an answer.
"I talked to KJ early in the season about the fact that it's going to be important for him to recognize night to night what he has to do to help the team win," Boyle said. "There's nights it might be getting 8 to 10 to 12 assists. Friday (against Washington) he had 10 rebounds. Tonight we needed him to score and he went and got 34. He has solidified himself as one of the great point guards in Colorado basketball history."
Simpson certainly fit the bill against the Cougars.
With 2:01 to play, he delivered a bucket off the glass — his 29th and 30th points of the game — to give CU a 67-64 lead. He then hit two free throws after Hadley had a big block on the defensive end, and seconds later Hadley delivered a dagger 3-pointer to give the Buffs a 72-64 lead with less than a minute to play, basically clinching the win for Colorado.
The 3-pointer was Hadley's second of the game and just his third in his two years with the Buffs.
"He worked on his shot in the offseason," Boyle said. "I've encouraged him that when he's open, let it fly … He was alert enough and confident enough on that last one to knock that thing down and that basically put the game away."
Colorado took control early with a 9-0 run after an opening bucket from WSU, with Simpson scoring five points in the surge.
The Cougars briefly cut the Colorado lead to five but the Buffs responded with an 8-2 burst to push their cushion to double digits. Julian Hammond III drained a long 3-pointer to start the run and Hadley added a corner trey to give the Buffs a 23-12 edge with 9 minutes to play in the first half.
But WSU didn't go away quietly. Jakimovski nailed three straight 3-pointers for the Cougars and with 3:24 to play in the half, Colorado's lead had been narrowed to four, 29-25.
Simpson, though, responded with a personal 6-0 run. The junior point guard hit three free throws, then recorded a steal and layup to bump Colorado's lead back to nine, 34-25. Colorado then closed the half with a Harrison Carrington bucket and free throw to take a 10-point edge into the break, 39-29.
TURNING POINT: After WSU closed Colorado's lead to one with just more than 3 minutes to play, the Buffs responded with a 9-0 run to put the game away.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs once again responded without the services of two of their best players. CU received some key contributions from a number of players — a development that will bode well as the conference season hits full swing.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado shot 50 percent from the floor (24-for-48) … The Buffs hit 22 of 26 free throws while the Cougars hit six of their eight charity tries … CU had a 22-15 edge in points off turnovers and the Buffs won the rebound battle, 30-28.
NEXT UP: The Buffs head to the desert next week for a pair of Pac-12 contests. CU plays at No. 4 Arizona in a 7:30 p.m. game Thursday (ESPN) before heading to Arizona State for a 6 p.m. game Saturday (ESPNU).
