Colorado Hosts No. 4/3 UCLA Sunday

THE SEASON: Colorado is 15-14 overall and ninth in the Pac-12 Conference at 7-11 after falling to USC, 84-65, at the CU Events Center on Feb. 23. The loss snapped a three-game home win streak and means the Buffaloes will finish sub-.500 in league play for the first time since the 2017-18 team was 8-10. The 11 league losses tie for the most in the Tad Boyle era (7-11 in 2014-15).

Last week, Colorado picked up a road split in the desert. The Buffaloes began with a 67-59 win at Arizona State, 67-59, on Feb. 16 before falling to No. 8 (AP & Coaches) ranked Arizona, 78-68, on Feb. 18.

The win over Arizona State snapped a six-game road losing streak, the Buffaloes' longest since the 2018 calendar year (five games in 2017-18, one in 2018-19). Colorado completed the road portion of its regular season schedule with a 2-8 record in Pac-12 play, 2-9 overall.

Colorado is 11-3 at home and wraps up the regular season with two more at the CU Events Center. The Buffaloes are averaging 73.2 points at home, nearly eight points per game more than on the road (65.4 ppg). The Buffaloes have enjoyed a plus-10.9 scoring margin at home. Colorado is shooting 46.3 percent at home, compared to 40.1 percent in road games. The Buffaloes are holding opponents to 62.4 points on 41.9 percent from the field at home compared to 71.5 points and 45.4 percent in road contests.

On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Colorado is second in steals (7.8) and offensive rebounds (11.4 orpg), third in turnover margin (+0.8), fourth in rebounding (37.5 rpg) and fifth in rebound margin (+3.8) and defensive rebounds (26.0 drpg).

Colorado has allowed 64.9 points during conference play, ranking third on the league charts. Colorado held California to 46 points, tying for the fourth-fewest by the Buffaloes against a conference opponent in the Pac-12 era. The Buffs have held five conference opponents to 46 or fewer in the Pac-12 era, three have come this season.
46 Points Or Fewer Allowed In Pac-12 Games
Date - Opponent, Result
12/31/2011 – vs. Utah, W 73-33
3/4/2017 – vs. California, W, 54-46
1/5/2023 – vs. Oregon, W 68-41
1/7/2023 – vs. Oregon State, W, 62-42
2/2/2023 – vs. California, W, 59-46

In addition, the Buffaloes gave up just 59 points at Arizona State, the lowest by an opponent on their own home floor this season. It's the fewest allowed by Colorado in a Pac-12 road game since Stanford had 53 on Feb. 19, 2022.

Colorado has made 63 of its last 75 free throws over the last five games (.840). While still shooting a Pac-12 low 69.4 percent from the line overall, Colorado has improved its mark to 71.6 percent in conference games which ranks sixth on the league charts.

Junior forward Tristan da Silva leads Colorado at 16.1 points per game on 50.9 percent shooting from the field while averaging 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals an outing.

He's the second leading scorer in the Pac-12 by average since Jan. 1, at 18.4 points per game over that 14-game span. During that time he's hitting 50.8 percent from the field (96-189), 45.6 percent from 3-point range (26-57) and 86.7 percent from the free throw line (39-45).

Da Silva has scored 20 points or more in six of the last nine games including five-straight, the first by a Buffalo since Josh Scott had five in a row from Dec. 2-19, 2015. He has 11 games of 20-plus points this season, the most since Derrick White had 15 in 2016-17.

On the Pac-12 charts, da Silva is sixth in scoring and 3-point shooting (.398), ninth in steals, 12th in overall shooting and 14th in free throw percentage (.744).

Sophomore KJ Simpson leads Colorado in assists (109) and steals (41) and is second in scoring at 15.9 points per game. He led Colorado against USC with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Simpson dished out a career and team season-best seven assists at Arizona to go along with 12 points. He had 12 points and six rebounds at Arizona State. Simpson averages 4.4 rebounds overall but has upped that to 5.8 per game over the last five.

Simpson made his first four free throw attempts at Arizona before missing the fifth and ending his team season-best consecutive free throw streak at 22.

Against Stanford, Simpson hit all 11 free throw attempts, a career-high and the best by any Pac-12 player this season. It's the best performance by a Buffalo since McKinley Wright IV went 11 for 11 against Washington State on Jan. 27, 2021.

On the Pac-12 charts Simpson is sixth in free throw percentage (.815), seventh in scoring, assists and steals and 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Sophomore Lawson Lovering leads Colorado in blocks (26) while ranking fourth in rebounding (4.6 rpg). Lovering had nine points on 4 of 6 shooting with a team-high seven rebounds against USC. He
had eight points, hitting 4 of 7 from the field, with five rebounds, two blocks and two steals while playing a career-high 35 minutes at Arizona. He has made 36 of 60 (.600) from the field during conference play.

Lovering is 11th in blocked shots (0.9 bpg) and 14th in offensive rebounds (2.0 orpg) in the Pac-12.

Luke O'Brien is averaging 5.6 points and is third on the team in rebounds at 5.0 rebounds per game. He leads Colorado in rebounding in Pac-12 play at 6.0 per game, which also ranks 13th on the league leaderboard.

O'Brien tied a season high in scoring with 12 points against USC. He
had nine points, nine rebounds and two assists at Arizona, leading Colorado in rebounding for the eighth time this season.

O'Brien is averaging 9.7 points and 7.0 rebounds over the last six games.

Javon Ruffin is averaging 6.0 points and is second on the team in 3-point percentage (.358) and third in 3-pointers made (24). Ruffin had 13 points at Arizona, his most in a conference game, setting a personal-best with five field goals made and tying a career-high with three 3-pointers. He had 10 points and a career-high seven rebounds at Arizona State. Ruffin made both his free throw attempts against the Sun Devils, extending his consecutive made streak to 16. Ruffin is 28 of 32 from the line for the season (28-32) and 17 of 18 in Pac-12 play (.944).

Nique Clifford is averaging 6.1 points and 3.4 rebounds while ranking second on the team in blocks (19), third in assists (43) and fourth in steals (22). He had eight points and four rebounds at Arizona.

Graduate senior Jalen Gabbidon is averaging 4.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. He made his sixth start of the season at Utah. Fellow graduate senior Ethan Wright tied a team season-high with three blocks at Arizona State.

Julian Hammond III is averaging 6.0 points and is second on the team in assists with 51. He had 11 points, including a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line, at Utah.

ABOUT THE BRUINS: No. 4/3 (AP/Coaches) UCLA is 24-4 overall and leads the Pac-12 at 15-2. The Bruins have won seven straight including a 78-71 decision at Utah on Feb. 23. UCLA averages 74.2 points per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the field. Defensively, UCLA allows a league-low 59.8 points per game. The Bruins also top the Pac-12 in steals (8.6 spg), offensive rebounds (11.8 orpg) and turnover margin (+6.1).

Senior Jaime Jaquez, Jr., leads UCLA at 17.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting 49 percent from the field. Jaylen Clark averages 13.1 points and leads the Pac-12 in steals at 2.6 per game. Tyger Campbell averages 12.4 points and is fourth in the Pac-12 in assists at 4.8 per game. Amari Bailey averages 10.1 points while shooting 48.9 percent from the field.

SERIES RECORDS: This will be the 25th meeting between Colorado and UCLA with the Bruins holding a 17-7 advantage. UCLA won this season's first meeting, 68-54 in Los Angeles on Jan. 14, and has won
six of the last seven overall. The series is tied at 5-5 in Boulder.

AGAINST RANKED TEAMS: Colorado is 2-2 against ranked teams in 2022-23. The Buffaloes had nonconference wins over No. 11 Tennessee, 78-66, on Nov. 13, and No. 24 Texas A&M, 103-75, on Nov. 18. In Pac-12 play, Colorado dropped a 68-54 decision at No. 7/6 UCLA on Jan. 14 and 78-68 at Arizona on Feb. 18.

Colorado's win over No. 24 Texas A&M gave the Buffaloes two wins over ranked teams away from home for the first time since 2012-13.It marked the first time since 2016-17 that the Buffaloes have won their first two games of a season against ranked opponents.

Colorado's win over the No. 11/11 ranked Vols is its first against a ranked opponent away from Boulder since the Buffaloes beat No. 13/12 Dayton, in Chicago, on Dec. 21, 2019. It's the highest ranked team the Buffaloes have defeated away from Boulder since the 92-88 overtime win over No. 6 Missouri in the quarterfinals of the 1990 Big Eight Tournament in Kansas City.

Colorado's 25 wins over ranked opponents in the Tad Boyle era is by far the best in team history. In fact Boyle coached teams, with a record of 25-44, have accounted for 36 percent of wins over ranked opponents (69) since 1949-50.

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Players Mentioned

Nique Clifford

Tristan da Silva

Jalen Gabbidon

Julian Hammond III

Lawson Lovering

Luke O'Brien

Javon Ruffin

KJ Simpson

Ethan Wright