Preseason tournament games are never easy to predict and few likely expected Richmond to give Colorado as much trouble as it did on Monday night.
Fortunately for the No. 18 Buffs, they pulled away late in a 64-59 win over the Spiders at the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 4-0 Colorado men’s basketball team is now set to face Florida State, which beat UNLV in its semifinal game, in the beach bracket championship game on Tuesday at 2 p.m. MT (CBS Sports).
The Buffs and Seminoles last faced each other in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, a second-round game that was won by Florida State.
Colorado got off to a quick start defensively against Richmond but soon fell victim to the excellent shooting of Jordan King, who led the Spiders with 23 points.
However, CU’s offensive duo of Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson proved stronger as the two upperclassmen scored 15 and 23 points, respectively. J’Vonne Hadley was the Buffs’ defensive star, racking up four steals and a block.
On the night, Richmond still outshot Colorado from the field, 45% to 43%.
Head coach Tad Boyle’s Buffs are now one win away from their first preseason tournament title since winning the 2019 MGM Main Event in Las Vegas.
4-0 🦬#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/w1acBcZbBH
— Colorado Men's Basketball (@CUBuffsMBB) November 21, 2023
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