Colorado
15-14,7-11Pac-12
USC
20-8,12-5Pac-12
Buffs Fall To Trojans At Home
February 23, 2023 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER — Colorado struggled on the offensive end and had no answer for Southern California on the defensive end Thursday as the short-handed Buffaloes dropped an 84-65 decision to the Trojans at the CU Events Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs fell to 15-14 overall and 7-11 in Pac-12 play while the Trojans improved to 20-8, 12-5.
Colorado led by five early and still had a two-point edge, 14-12, six minutes in. But the Trojans caught fire, hitting six of their first nine 3-point tries, and built a 13-point lead midway through the first half, one they held to halftime.
The Buffs did make one run just past the midway point of the second half, shaving a 17-point deficit down to eight, but that was as close as they could come. USC rebuilt its lead to double digits and pushed its cushion to 20 in the final minutes.
KJ Simpson led CU with 18 points and six rebounds and Luke O'Brien added 12 points and five boards. With regular reserves Jalen Gabbidon and Javon Ruffin unavailable, redshirt freshman Quincy Allen saw his most extensive playing time as a Buff and finished with seven points. CU leading scorer Tristan da Silva was held to six points on 2-for-9 shooting, just the second time in the last 14 games he hasn't scored in double digits.
Boogie Ellis led five Trojans in double figures with 21 points.
Colorado shot just 36 percent from the floor (24-for-66), including a 6-for-28 night from 3-point range. The Trojans hit 57 percent of their shots (33-for-58), including eight of their 19 tries from beyond the arc.
Colorado also lost the rebound battle, 41-33.
"We weren't good enough and USC was terrific from the get-go," said Boyle, whose Buffs lost for the third straight time to the Trojans. "We gave them no resistance. We had nobody to guard Boogie Ellis and he just did what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it. For some reason our team's fight wasn't there tonight defensively. That's the first time that's happened this year."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado opened the game by jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead on buckets from Nique Clifford and Simpson in the first two minutes, and still held a 14-12 lead at the 14:02 mark after a Lawson Lovering basket.
But the Trojans began to catch fire — especially from beyond the arc — and the Buffs' offense went stale at the same time. Southern California put together a 13-2 run that saw the Trojans hit five straight field goal tries while the Buffs went 1-for-7 over the same stretch.
Midway through the half, USC had a 25-16 lead.
Colorado finally ended its offensive woes but never found an answer for USC's 3-point shooting. The Trojans hit six of their first nine attempts from long range, and with 4:41 left in the half the Buffs were down by 15 after Ellis buried a long 3-pointer.
"Ellis played a phenomenal game," Boyle said. "He's a terrific player. He wasn't gonna let them lose and I felt like he made every big play."
CU did manage to briefly shave the deficit to 10 on a Simpson basket and Allen 3-pointer. But the Trojans responded and sent Colorado into intermission trailing 43-30.
USC finished the half shooting 17-for-27, including 6-for-11 from beyond the arc. The Buffs shot just 13-for-31 and just 2-for-10 from 3-point range.
"You let a team come into your own building and shoot 57% from the field and out-rebound you by eight, it's going to be tough to win a game unless you're really making shots and executing your offense at a high level," Boyle said. "We didn't do it consistently. And USC was the better team."
Colorado did manufacture a brief comeback in the second half, outscoring the Trojans 11-2 in a surge that cut the Trojans' lead to eight. Allen started the burst with a 3-pointer, Ethan Wright drained back-to-back treys and Lawson Lovering slammed home a dunk to cut the Trojans' cushion to 55-47 with 12:58 still left to play.
But that was as close as the Buffs could come. USC slowly built its lead back to double digits as Colorado endured a 1-for-8 stretch on the offensive end and couldn't come up with consecutive stops defensively.
USC extended its cushion to 19 with seven minutes to play with a 10-0 run and the Buffs never really threatened again as USC built its lead to 20 in the final minute.
TURNING POINT: A 13-2 USC run in the first half turned a two-point Colorado lead into a nine-point Buffs deficit and Colorado never came closer than seven again.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado shot just 36 percent from the floor (24-for-66), including a 6-for-28 night from 3-point range … The Trojans hit 57 percent of their shots (33-for-58), including eight of their 19 tries from beyond the arc … Colorado also lost the rebound battle, 41-33.
WHAT IT MEANS: The loss dropped the Buffs into ninth in the Pac-12 standings with just to conference games remaining.
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to UCLA on Sunday in a 2 p.m. game at the CU Events Center, then wrap up the regular season March 4 with a 3:30 p.m. game at home against Utah.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
