The Colorado men’s basketball team took care of business in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals Thursday night, handling the Utah Utes, 72-58, to advance to Friday’s semifinals.
The win came at the hands of KJ Simpson and Eddie Lampkin Jr., who both tallied double-doubles on the night. Simpson went for 18 points and 10 rebounds while Lampkin finished with 17 points and 12 boards.
However, the team effort and ability to adjust ultimately helped the Buffs win their third matchup with the Utes. After allowing an early lead to dwindle due to some hot 3-point shooting from Utah, the Buffs held the Utes to just 2-of-16 shooting from deep in the second half.
“We’re really proud of this group,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said, “especially to win a game like this when we certainly didn’t play our best in the first half. Gave them six 3s, and we weren’t in
sync offensively. I thought we’ve been so good offensively
all year. I thought we kind of over-dribbled a little bit, didn’t
have the movement we normally do. We talked about it at
halftime. The credit goes to these players. They’re a veteran group
who understand how to win, understand what it takes to
win, and they made adjustments at halftime.”
The Buffs’ defense held Utah to 21-of-64 (32.9%) shooting from the field as no Ute scored more than 13 points.
The victory also saw the return of standout freshman Cody Williams, who came off the bench after missing the last four games due to an ankle injury. Julian Hammond III (knee) remained unavailable.
Colorado should have secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament with the win, although it will still come down to Selection Sunday.
The No. 3 seed Buffs will face the No. 2 seed Washington State Cougars in Friday’s second Pac-12 Tournament semifinal game. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. MT on Fox Sports 1.
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