While the CU Buffs fully expected the atmosphere they were given inside Moby Arena on Wednesday night, it was still too much for them to handle in an 88-83 loss to Colorado State.
Fueled by their home crowd, the Rams were the aggressor throughout, forcing turnovers and attacking every hole in Colorado’s offense. CSU jumped out to a 15-point lead at the half and although the Buffaloes’ offense made things interesting late, the No. 20 Rams closed out their first win over CU since 2017.
“Colorado State punched us in the mouth and we looked around like we weren’t expecting it for some reason,” CU men’s basketball head coach Tad Boyle said after the game.
The 88 points scored by the Rams, who lost by 28 in Boulder just one year ago, mark the most they’ve ever managed in the 117-year history of the series.
Boyle’s Buffs are now 5-2 on the year while Colorado State remained undefeated at 7-0.
Former Buff Nique Clifford enjoyed a 15-point revenge game and also pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
KJ Simpson led the Buffs with 30 points, a new season-high for the junior point guard After a scoreless first half, star freshman Cody Williams went off for 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the second half.
“For me, it was just if a lane was open and I had an opportunity to attack, I would do that and it worked out,” Williams said. “Our whole team was doing that attacking, which was why we were able to cut the lead down, but then we just couldn’t string together some stops.”
The Buffs are back at the CU Events Center on Sunday for a 3 p.m. MT game against Pepperdine.
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