Buffs Host Seton Hall Tuesday In NIT

NIT POSTSEASON FACTS: Colorado makes its second-straight National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance and 13th overall. The Buffaloes are a No. 3 seed in one of four eight-team regions.

The Buffaloes are 13-11 all-time in the NIT, winning the title in 1940. Colorado also has a runner-up finish in 1938, a third place showing in 1991 and a semifinal appearance in 2011.

Overall, this will be Colorado's 29th postseason tournament past the conference level. Head coach Tad Boyle leads the Buffaloes into their 11th national-level postseason appearance in 12 possible seasons (no postseason in 2020 due to covid). Included in that span is a school-record seven-straight appearances from 2011 to 2017. Prior to that seven-year run, no Colorado team had participated in the postseason more than two consecutive years.

Colorado is 54-74 in all-time postseason play, including conference tournaments; 25-29 on the national level (NCAA, NIT, CBI).

THE SEASON: Colorado is 17-16 overall coming off a quarterfinal appearance at the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament. The Buffaloes, the No. 9 seed, defeated No. 8 Washington 74-68 in the first round on Nov. 8, before falling to top-seeded UCLA, 80-69, in the quarterfinals on Nov. 9. Colorado has clinched a .500 or better overall record for the eighth-straight season and 12th time in 13 years under head coach Tad Boyle.

The Buffaloes finished 8-12 in league play, tying with Washington for eighth place in the final league standings. Colorado finished sub-.500 in league play for the first time since the 2017-18 team was 8-10. The 12 league losses are the most in the Boyle era (7-11 in 2014-15).

On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Colorado is second in steals (7.6 spg), third in overall rebounding (37.3 rpg), offensive boards (11.2 orpg), defensive boards (26.1 drpg) and turnover margin (+0.3) and fourth in scoring defense (66.8 ppg), 3-point defense (.318) and rebounding margin (+3.8).

Colorado allowed 64.5 points during conference play, ranking second 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 led the Pac-12 during conference play in 3-point defense, allowing opponents just 30.2 percent from long range. The Buffaloes held UCLA to just one 3-point field goal and shot just 7.1 percent (1 for 14), both opponent season lows.

Junior forward Tristan da Silva leads Colorado at 16.0 points per game on 50.6 percent shooting from the field while averaging 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals an outing. Da Silva averaged 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists at the Pac-12 Tournament. He led the Buffaloes with 17 points against UCLA. Da Silva had 18 points, on 7 of 11 shooting, and tied a career-best with five assists in the win over Washington.

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

On the Pac-12 charts, da Silva is sixth in scoring and 3-point shooting (.402) and ninth in overall field goal percentage and steals.

Sophomore Lawson Lovering leads Colorado in blocks (30) while ranking fourth in rebounding (4.6 rpg) and averaging 4.4 points per contest. He averaged 9.0 points and shot 70 percent from the field at the Pac-12 Tournament (7-10). Over his last five games, Lovering has upped his numbers to 8.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. During conference games, Lovering led the Buffaloes in shooting at 56.9 percent (41-72).

Lovering is 11th in blocked shots (0.9 bpg) and 14th in offensive rebounds (1.9 orpg) in the Pac-12.

Luke O'Brien is averaging 6.0 points and leads the Buffaloes in total rebounds (166) while ranking second on a per game average (5.4). He led Colorado in rebounding in Pac-12 play at 6.2 per game, which ranked 12th on the league leaderboard.

O'Brien averaged 9.0 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds at the Pac-12 Tournament. He notched his second career double-double, and second in three games, with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Washington. He was 6 for 10 from the field logging career-highs in field goals made and attempted.

O'Brien had a team-high seven rebounds against UCLA, leading the Buffaloes in rebounds for the 11th time this season and ninth time in the last 13 games.

O'Brien has made 24 of his last 46 from the floor (.521) and is averaging 9.4 points and 7.4 rebounds over the last five games.

Julian Hammond III is averaging 6.8 points and is second on the team in assists with 64. He has started the last three games, averaging 16.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the field in those contests.

Hammond co-led the Buffaloes in scoring at the Pac-12 Tournament at 17.5 points per game while averaging 4.0 assists and shooting 59 percent from the floor. He had a career-high 21 points hitting 7 of 12 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw line in the first round win over Washington. He had 14 points and a career-best six assists vs. UCLA.

He originally stepped into the starting role against Utah and co-led the Buffaloes in scoring with 15 points while adding five assists and five steals.

It was the first 15-5-5 game by a Pac-12 player this season and the first by a Buffalo in exactly 15 years. Marcus Hall had 22 points, seven assists and six steals against Kansas State on Mar. 4, 2008. Hammond's five steals were a personal best and his five assists tied a career high (vs. Arizona, Mar. 11, 2022)

Nique Clifford is averaging 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds while ranking second on the team in blocks (20), third in assists (48) and fourth in steals (24). He recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and a personal-best 11 rebounds against Utah. After being held without a rebound against USC, he has 29 the last four games (7.3 rpg).

Graduate senior Ethan Wright was Colorado's third-leading scorer at the Pac-12 Tournament, averaging 9.5 points along with 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He had 10 points with four rebounds against UCLA, just his third double-figure game of the season. Wright has 29 points over the last three games (9.7 ppg) after scoring just 18 over the previous seven contests. He tied season-highs with five rebounds and three assists, along with nine points, against Washington.

Graduate senior Jalen Gabbidon tied his season-high with 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field in the Pac-12 quarterfinal against UCLA. He was 2 for 2 from 3-point range against the Bruins after being just 2 of 11 from 3-point range in regular season conference play.

Both Wright and Gabbidon good showings on Senior Day against Utah. Wright had 10 points against the Utes, his first double-figure scoring game against a Pac-12 opponent and second-best overall this season. Gabbidon had five points and four rebounds against Utah after missing the previous two games with an injury.

MISSING BUFFS: Sophomore KJ Simpson missed Pac-12 Tournament and the regular season finale against Utah game after being diagnosed with mononucleosis. His status for the NIT will be evaluated this week. Simpson leads Colorado in assists (111) and steals (43) and is second in scoring at 15.9 points per game.

On the Pac-12 charts Simpson is fifth in steals, sixth in free throw percentage (.817), seventh in scoring and assists and 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5) and minutes played (31.8 mpg).

Junior J'Vonne Hadley has missed the last nine games and is expected to miss the remainder of the season with an injury to his right (shooting) hand. Hadley averaged 8.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 52.5 percent from the field. He was Colorado's leading rebounder and ranked second on the team in field goal shooting and third in scoring and steals at the time of his injury

Javon Ruffin has missed the last five games with a knee injury. He was averaging 6.0 points and is second on the team in 3-point percentage (.358) and fourth in 3-pointers made (24).

Colorado has featured nine different starting lineups this season, its most since the 2017-18 team had 11.

ABOUT THE PIRATES: Seton Hall is 17-15 overall and tied for sixth in the Big East Conference with a 10-10 record. The Pirates fell to DePaul in the first round of the Big East Championship. Seton Hall has dropped four of its last five and six of eight overall. The Pirates are the second-best scoring and shooting defense in the Big East allowing only 65.1 points per game on 41.6 percent from the field. Offensively, Seton Hall averages 68.5 points while shooting 44.2 percent. The Pirates average 8.3 steals per game.

Senior guard Al-Amir Dawes leads Seton Hall at 12.6 points per game and is an 83 percent free throw shooter. Graduate KC Ndefo averages 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Senior forward Tyrese Samuel averages 10.9 points per game and leads the Pirates in rebounds (5.8 rpg) and shooting percentage (.555).

SERIES RECORDS: This will be the first meeting between Colorado and Seton Hall. The Buffaloes are 13-8 against teams that currently make up the Big East Conference. Colorado's last game against a Big East opponent was its 96-73 win over Georgetown in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

PAC-12 POSTSEASON WRAP: Colorado went 1-1 at the Pac-12 Tournament, moving to 17-11 all-time in the championship. With the win over Washington, Colorado improved to 9-1 all-time in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The Buffaloes have won at least one game in 11 of their 12 Pac-12 Tournament appearances.

Colorado moved to 8-9 in the championship as the lower seeded team and is 9-2 as the higher seed. Seven of Colorado's 11 Pac-12 Tournament losses have come to the top two seeds.

Colorado was the No. 9 seed for the first time and marked the program's lowest since 2015, when the Buffaloes were the No. 10 seed. Colorado also tied for eighth in the 2014-15 standings, but lost tiebreakers to drop to No. 10.

Colorado is 30-46 all-time in conference postseason tournaments. The Buffaloes were 4-20 in the Big Eight Tournament between 1977-96 and 9-15 in the Big 12 Championship between 1997-2011.

Head coach Tad Boyle owns more than half of Colorado's all-time conference tournament wins. He is 19-12 in conference tournament action, including a 2-1 mark in Colorado's final year of the Big 12.

SINGLE SEASON SCORING: Tristan da Silva eclipsed 500 points for the season during the Pac-12 Tournament win over Washington on Mar. 8. He became the 30th Buff to reach that mark and first since Derrick White in 2016-17. He moved into the Top 20 after scoring 17 against UCLA.

Da Silva has 529 total points, tying Emmett Lewis for 19th on CU's single season list and is 15 away from reaching the top 15.

Colorado Season Points
Rk.        Player    Season Points
10.        Stevie Wise        1989-90 599
11.        Cory Higgins       2009-10 587
12.        Donnie Boyce     1993-94 582
13.        Chauncey Billups 1996-97 555
14.        Richard Roby      2007-08 545
15.        Jaquay Walls      1999-00 544
            Cliff Meely         1969-70 544
17.        Jo Jo Hunter       1980-81 535
18.        Askia Booker      2014-15 532
19.        Tristan da Silva    2022-23 529
            Emmett Lewis     1976-77 529

Players Mentioned

Nique Clifford

Tristan da Silva

Jalen Gabbidon

J'Vonne Hadley

Julian Hammond III

Lawson Lovering

Luke O'Brien

Javon Ruffin

KJ Simpson

Ethan Wright

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