Buffs Aim For Road Sweep At Washington State

Game 21 - Washington State, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024
Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Wash.
Tip: 3:02 p.m. MT
TV: Pac-12 Network (Greg Heister, Eldridge Recasner)
Watch Online: Pac-12 Now App, Pac-12.com
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Satellite: Sirius XM 380 & SXM App (970)
Listen Online: CUBuffs.com
Live Statistics: https://statb.us/v/colo/488747

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 15-5 overall and in second place in the Pac-12 Conference, just one-half game out of first. The top five teams in the Pac-12 are separated by one game and it's only a two-game spread for the top seven.

Colorado has won four-straight after picking up its first true road win of the season, a 98-81 decision at Washington. The win snapped an overall five-game road slide dating back to last year and earned their first win in Seattle since 2015 and secured the first regular season sweep against the Huskies in the Pac-12 era. Colorado's 15-5 overall mark is its best since the 2021 NCAA Tournament team had a similar record after 20 games.

Overall, Colorado is one of the top all-around shooting teams in the country, ranking in the top 11 nationally in all three percentage categories: overall field goal, 3-point and free throws. The Buffaloes are sixth in the nation in field goal percentage (.505), eighth from the line (.785) and 11th from 3-point range (.395).

Colorado is the only program in the nation's top 11 of all three categories (through games of Jan. 25). Colorado also sports top 50 marks nationally in rebound margin (+8.5, 18th), assists (17.1 apg, 25th), scoring offense (81.9 ppg, 30th), win percentage (.750, 37th) and scoring margin (+11.1, 44th).

Against Washington, Colorado shot 33 for 60 from the floor (.5411), hitting the 50 percent mark for the 12th time, the most in one season since the 2009-10 team had 15 in 31 games. Colorado is 11-1 this season, and 105-8 in the Tad Boyle era (since 2010-11), when shooting at least 50 percent.

As for rebounding, a program staple, the Buffaloes have outrebounded their opponent in 18 of 20 games this season with a margin of plus-8.5 per game. Colorado had a season-high 49 rebounds in the home win over Washington.

Colorado leads the Pac-12 in overall shooting, free throw percentage and rebounding defense (29.7 rpg), and ranks second in scoring offense, 3-point percentage and scoring margin and fourth in scoring defense (70.8 ppg), assists and rebounds (37.8 rpg).

Colorado will be looking for its first-ever road sweep of the Washington schools, and if achieved, would be the Buffaloes fourth back-to-back road sweep in the Pac-12 era:

Colorado Road Sweeps:
2012-13 - Oregon-Oregon State
2018-19 - UCLA-USC
2021-22 - *Oregon State-California-Stanford

*-Colorado won both games at Oregon/Oregon State in 2021-22, but were played on different trips during the covid era of jumbled schedules. The win at Oregon State in '22 came on the same trip as the Bay Area (Feb. 15-19, 2022), which gave the Buffaloes the rare conference three-sweep.

INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING: Wooden Award mid-season top 25 watch list member KJ Simpson tops Colorado at 19.0 points, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game while ranking fourth in rebounding (5.2 rpg). He's Colorado's second-leading rebounder in Pac-12 games at 6.0 per contest, while still pacing the Buffaloes at 17.8 points and 4.3 assists.

Simpson flirted with a triple-double in the win over Washington with 16 points, eight rebounds while matching a career-high eight assists. He added three steals and fought through a sub-par shooting night (3 of 10) by hitting 10 of 11 from the free throw line.

Simpson is shooting 50.2 percent from the field, 45.9 percent from 3-point range and 88.3 percent from the free throw line. He is one of three players in the country shooting at least 50-45-85 from those three spots (with a minimum five field goals made per game) and is the top scorer among those players at 19.0 per game.

On the Pac-12 charts, Simpson is first in free throw percentage, third in scoring, steals and 3-point shooting and fourth in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1).

Senior Tristan da Silva is second on the team in scoring at 15.5 points per game while ranking second in assists (48) and third in rebounding (5.3 rpg). Da Silva had 19 points against Oregon State to lead the Buffaloes in scoring for the fifth time this season and 22nd time in his career. Da Silva had 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds against Oregon.

On the Pac-12 charts, da Silva ranks seventh in free throw percentage (.836), ninth in scoring, 13th in defensive rebounds (4.4 drpg) and 19th in rebounding and 3-point percentage (.363).

McDonald's All-American Cody Williams is third on the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game while shooting a team-best 59.8 percent from the field. He had 19 points, hitting 7 of 10 from the field, in the win at Washington. Williams is averaging 17.4 points in his five games since returning from an injury.

Williams earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors on Jan. 22, after averaging 19.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals to lead the Buffaloes in the home sweep of Oregon and Oregon State. He shot 69.6 from the field including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

Williams scored a career-high 23 points in the win over Oregon on Jan. 18, hitting 10 of 13 from the field, including a personal best three 3-point field goals. He dished out three assists and had a pair of blocked shots. His 23 points were the most by a Colorado freshman since Jabari Walker had 24 against Georgetown in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

In the win over Oregon State on Jan. 20, Williams had 16 points on 6 of 10 from the field and grabbed six rebounds, matching a personal-high.

Williams was also honored as Dick Vitale's "Diaper Dandy" of the week, recognizing the nation's best performances in his Dickie V's Stars of the Week.

Senior J'Vonne Hadley averages 11.3 points per game while ranking second on the team in shooting (.582), steals (25) and rebounding (5.5 rpg).

Hadley had a career-high 24 points at Washington, his first 20-point effort in an NCAA Division I game. He was 8 of 10 from the field and 7 of 8 from the line matching personal bests in field goals and free throws made. He connected on his only 3-point attempt and has now made 8 of 13 from long range over his last eight games.

On the Pac-12 charts, Hadley is sixth in field goal percentage (.582), ninth in free throw percentage (.823), 13th in steals (1.3 spg) and 18th in rebounding.

Senior Eddie Lampkin, Jr., leads the Buffaloes and ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in rebounding at 7.6 per game. Lampkin recorded his team-best sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds at Washington.

In all he has eight double-digit rebounding games for the Buffaloes. The Washington double-double was the 12th of his collegiate career, adding his six from TCU.

On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Lampkin is also third in offensive rebounds (2.7 orpg), ninth in defensive boards (4.9 drpg) and 12th in field goal percentage (.534).

Senior Luke O'Brien is averaging 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He leads the team in blocked shots with nine and is fourth in steals (17) and fifth in rebounding.

O'Brien had 10-point efforts in both the Oregon and Oregon State games. He added eight at Washington on 3 of 6 from the field and is shooting 60 percent from the field over the last three games (12-20).

Sophomore guard Javon Ruffin has returned to the lineup for the Pac-12 season after missing the nonconference portion of the schedule recovering from offseason knee surgery. He was initially expected to miss the season, but his rehab went better than expected and began basketball activities Dec. 19.

Ruffin had 11 points and four rebounds at Arizona, leading Buffaloes in scoring for the first time in his career. It was his seventh-career double-figure scoring game and he matched a career-high with 10 field goal attempts.

Junior Julian Hammond III is averaging 7.5 points and is fifth on the team in assists with 39 after dishing out a team-best five against Oregon State. He is eighth in the Pac-12 in 3-point percentage (.412).

ABOUT THE COUGARS: Washington State is 14-6 overall and 5-4 in the Pac-12 after a 79-57 home win over Utah on Jan. 24. The Cougars have won four of their last five, with the lone setback an 81-75 overtime setback at California on Jan. 20. WSU is 10-1 at home this season. The Cougars are averaging 75.7 points while shooting 47.6 percent from the field. Washington State has the second-best scoring defense in the Pac-12, allowing 66.8 points per game. The Cougars lead the league in overall shooting defense (.402) as well as defending the 3-point line (.320).

Fifth-year senior Isaac Jones leads Washington State at 15.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 58.5 percent from the field. Jones had a perfect shooting night in the game in Boulder, hitting 7 of 7 from the field and 2 of 2 from the line, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard Myles Rice is second on the team in scoring at 15.5 points an outing. Senior forward Andrej Jakimovski averages 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds along with a team-best 38 3-point field goals.

SERIES RECORDS: This will be the 27th meeting between Colorado and Washington State with the Buffaloes holding a 19-7 series edge. Colorado has won 10 of the last 14 in the series, including a 74-67 decision during the opening week of the league season on Dec. 31. Washington State holds a 5-4 edge at Beasley Coliseum.

FIVE IN DOUBLE-FIGURES: Colorado had five players score in double-figures in the win at Washington, hitting that mark for the 10th time this season (10-0 in those games). Colorado's 10 games with five in double-digits is tied for second in the nation, trailing only Pac-12 counterpart Arizona:

All Div. I Teams, Most Games where Team had 5+ Players w/ 10+ Points – 2023-24

Team                 Gms
Arizona              11        (19 gms played)
Colorado            10   (20 gms played)
Gonzaga            10        (19 gms played)
Indiana State     9          (19 gms played)
Kentucky           9          (18 gms played)

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Players Mentioned

Tristan da Silva

J'Vonne Hadley

Julian Hammond III

Luke O'Brien

Javon Ruffin

KJ Simpson

Cody Williams