Colorado
16-15,8-12Pac-12
Utah
17-14,10-10Pac-12
Buffs Top Utah In Regular Season Finale
March 04, 2023 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER — Colorado's Julian Hammond III stepped in for an ailing KJ Simpson to score 15 points and Nique Clifford recorded his first career double-double Saturday to lead the Buffaloes to a 69-60 win over Utah in the regular season finale at the CU Events Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs improved to 16-15 overall and 8-12 in Pac-12 play while Utah fell to 17-14, 10-10.
The Buffs finish as the No. 9 seed in the conference standings and will face No. 8 Washington in the Pac-12 tourney opener Wednesday in Las Vegas at 1 p.m. The winner will play top seed UCLA on Thursday at 1 p.m.
Boyle said after the game that Simpson had been diagnosed with mononucleosis and will not be available for the conference tournament.
Hammond, however, was outstanding in his starting role. The sophomore finished with a career-high five assists, five steals and three rebounds to go with his 15 points while Clifford tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds. Regular starter Tristan da Silva, nursing a sore ankle, came off the bench to score 15 points in 23 minutes and Ethan Wright had 10 points in a starting role.
Rollie Worster led Utah with 15 points.
Colorado trailed in the early minutes but used a 9-0 run to take a 15-7 lead with 11:34 to play in the first half and never trailed again. The Buffs led by 12 at the half and built a 16-point cushion early in the second half. They then fought off several Utah surges down the stretch, never letting the Utes get closer than eight until the final minute.
Boyle, a staunch believer in man-to-man defense, surprised the Utes by employing a zone defense for nearly the entire game. CU held Utah to 33 percent shooting (21-for-63), including 9-for-30 from long range.
Colorado shot 46 percent (25-for-54) and hit eight of 21 tries from beyond the arc. The Buffs also had a 39-33 rebound edge and had 20 fast break points to Utah's three.
"The challenge I gave our team today before the game was, whether we're going to finish this year with a winning record or losing record in the regular season — your choice," Boyle said. "We have three seniors who deserve to be sent out the right way and our guys really got into it. They played their tails off. I wasn't planning on playing 38 minutes of zone but it worked. It was effective and we stuck with it and they did a good job."
HOW IT HAPPENED: After trailing early, the Buffs used a 9-0 run to take a 15-7 edge and they never trailed again. Da Silva had a pair of 3-pointers in the surge and Jalen Gabbidon added one.
The Utes did momentarily cut Colorado's lead down to three, 15-12, after an 0-for-5 CU shooting skid. But the Buffs rebounded to slowly push their lead into double digits as CU's zone defense continued to confound Utah. Da Silva scored inside with 1:13 left in the half and Lawson Lovering delivered a dunk 30 seconds later off an assist from Hammond for a 31-21 lead with just 32 seconds left in the half.
Colorado then produced a defensive stop and Luke O'Brien connected from the baseline just before the buzzer to send the Buffs into the break with a 33-21 cushion.
Utah finished the first half shooting just 8-for-29 against Colorado's zone, including 2-for-15 from long distance, and the Utes did not have a field goal in the final 3:38 of the half.
"They have a lot of good shooters," Clifford said. "We didn't expect to go zone the whole game. We wanted to start it and see how it went and then go man, but it worked out for us and we just stayed in the zone."
Colorado took a 12-point lead, 33-21, into the break and extended the cushion to 16 early in the second half on buckets from Clifford and Wright.
But Colorado went cold on the offensive end and the Utes finally found their shooting eye. Gabe Madsen hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut CU's lead to eight, 41-33, less than six minutes in.
That prompted a timeout from Boyle and the Buffs regrouped as CU pushed its lead back to double digits on a basket from Hammond.
The Utes managed to stay within range, but Colorado had an answer every time Utah cut CU's lead to single digits. A Clifford 3-pointer gave the Buffs a 61-50 lead with just more than three minutes to play and Clifford also came up with some big rebounds down the stretch.
"He was terrific tonight rebounding the basketball for us and he made some plays off the dribble," Boyle said. "With KJ being out now, Nique is an even more important factor. He was terrific tonight defensively and rebounding the basketball, and he made some shots."
The Utes then closed the deficit to six in the final minute, but the Buffs made their free throws in the waning seconds to clinch the win.
"Something we've talked about is next man up," Clifford said of CU playing short-handed. "It's another opportunity for other guys on our team and I felt like we went out there and did what we were supposed to — stick to the game plan. It was a great win for us."
TURNING POINT: Colorado used a 9-0 run early in the first half to take the lead and never trailed again.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs didn't move up in the conference standings, but they did give themselves some confidence and momentum heading into the conference tournament.
KEY STATISTICS: CU held Utah to 33 percent shooting (21-for-63), including 9-for-30 from long range … Colorado shot 46 percent (25-for-54) and hit eight of 21 tries from beyond the arc … The Buffs had a 39-33 rebound edge and scored 20 fast break points to Utah's three.
NEXT UP: The Buffs finish as the ninth seed in the Pac-12 and will open play next Wednesday in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas against No. 8 Washington at 1 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena. The Buffs were swept by the Huskies in the regular season.
The winner will face top seed UCLA on Thursday in a 1 p.m. game.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
