Colorado
18-17,8-12Pac-12
Utah Valley
27-8,15-3WAC
Buffs Fall To Utah Valley In Second Round Of NIT
March 19, 2023 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER — Colorado's defense had no answer for Utah Valley's offense Sunday night and the Buffaloes dropped an 81-69 decision to the Wolverines in the second round of the NIT at the CU Events Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs ended their season 18-17 while the Wolverines, the WAC regular season champs, improved to 27-8 and will host Cincinnati in the NIT quarterfinal round.
The two teams traded the lead eight times in a first half that ended up knotted at 38-38. But UVU used a 7-0 run to open the second half, then put together another 7-0 run midway through the period to break a 58-58 tie and the Buffs never came closer than four again.
Colorado 7-foot sophomore Lawson Lovering led CU with a career-high 21 points and he also had a team-high seven rebounds. Ethan Wright scored 17 points, including Colorado's only four 3-pointers, and Tristan da Silva added 12.
Trey Woodbury led four Wolverines in double figures with 25 points.
Colorado shot a respectable 47 percent (29-for-62) from the floor, but the Buffs hit just four of their 19 3-point tries — with Wright hitting all four.
That was no match for UVU, as the Wolverines shot 56 percent (33-for-59), including 60 percent in the second half (17-for-28), and 9-for-17 for the night from long range.
The Buffs also lost the rebound battle, 32-30, as CU was outscored 43-31 after intermission.
"There are no bad teams playing anymore at this time of the year and Utah Valley is a helluva team," Boyle said. "My thanks go out to everybody that came tonight. Our fans have been great. We just didn't give our part defensively. When you're watching NCAA Tournament games or NIT games, it doesn't matter, the teams that guard are the teams that advance and we didn't get stops tonight."
HOW IT HAPPENED: After a first half that featured 10 ties and eight lead changes, the two teams fittingly entered intermission tied at 38-38.
But Utah Valley used a 7-0 burst out of the break to take a 45-38 lead. The Wolverines hit six of their first eight field goal tries of the half and with 13 minutes remaining, Colorado still trailed by six, 54-48.
"Our offense kind of left us in the second half," Boyle said. "These games come down to who can guard, get stops and string stops together."
Colorado did momentarily find its rhythm on both ends after a timeout. Da Silva scored five straight points while the Buffs held UVU scoreless for 3:15 and with just under 11 minutes to play, Colorado had shaved its deficit to one, 54-53.
Three minutes later, da Silva tied the game at 56-56 with a three-point play and the Buffs appeared to be on the verge of taking control.
But Utah Valley regained momentum minutes later with a 7-0 run, capped by a Woodbury 3-pointer for a 65-58 lead, and the Buffs never completely closed the gap again.
Colorado did manage to cut the deficit to four with just more than four to play. But the Wolverines answered again to push their lead back to eight, 73-65, with 2:54 remaining and they pushed their cushion into double digits a minute later after CU's third miss in a row.
The Wolverines then kept the Buffs at bay in the final minute to end Colorado's season.
"It was a winnable game, but Utah Valley was better tonight," Boyle said. "That's an NCAA Tournament team. They deserve to be in there."
CU's big lead of the first half was a five-point edge, 32-27, on the heels of a 7-0 run. Utah Valley's big lead was also five, 11-6, and it also came thanks to a 7-0 run.
The Buffs got a big boost in the first 20 minutes from big man Lawson Lovering. The 7-foot sophomore was 5-for-7 from the floor for 11 points, and he added four rebounds, a block and a steel.
The Buffs also received nine points from Ethan Wright — all on 3-pointer — and eight from Luke O'Brien as Colorado shot 17-for-31 from the floor.
But the Wolverines were equally efficient from the floor, shooting 16-for-31, including 6-for-11 from long range.
TURNING POINT: After Colorado fought back to tie the game at 58-58 midway through the second half, UVU used a 7-0 run to regain control. The Buffs never came closer than four again.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado came up two victories short of the 20-win mark, just the fourth time in Boyle's 13 years in Boulder that CU hasn't won at least 20 games … Colorado also fell to 89-8 in home non-conference games in the Boyle era.
KEY STATISTICS: The Wolverines shot 56 percent (33-for-59), including 60 percent in the second half (17-for-28), and 9-for-17 for the night from long range.
LOOKING AHEAD: Boyle has one of the nation's top recruiting classes coming in next year, including forward Cody Williams, a five-star recruited considered to be one of the best players in the nation. CU could also return the vast majority of its starting lineup from this year, including Tristan da Silva, KJ Simpson, Luke O'Brien, Nique Clifford, Julian Hammond III and Lawson Lovering.
"Next year could be one of the best years Colorado basketball has ever had," Boyle said. "I really believe that."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
