Colorado came into the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals fresh off an impressive 72-64 win over Washington on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the No. 9 seed Buffs faced the regular season champion UCLA Bruins, a team they had lost to twice coming in. That said, they played well against the No. 1 seed Bruins at times in both previous matchups, and an impressive first-half performance gave the Buffs a 38-37 advantage into halftime in Las Vegas.
In the first 20 minutes, it was a balanced effort offensively for Colorado, and Ethan Wright’s 10 points off the bench, including two threes, led the way. Fellow former Ivy League standout Jalen Gabbidon tacked on eight points to go along with two deep balls of his own.
In short, the Buffs’ offense was prolific in the first half with a 58% mark from the field and a 7-of-12 start from deep. Colorado allowed UCLA to shoot 50% from the field in its own right, a big reason why the Buffs only had a two-point lead at the break.
The second half was a ragged affair early, replete with turnover problems on both sides until UCLA started to seize momentum.
Following a David Singleton three with just under 11 minutes remaining that gave UCLA a 55-49 lead, it looked as if the top-seeded Bruins would cruise in the second half.
Big shots from Julian Hammond III and Tristan da Silva cut the Bruins’ lead to 59-58, and da Silva continued to produce late. A three from da Silva gave the Buffs a 61-60 lead with 5:30 left, setting up what could’ve been a great battle down the stretch. After that, however, a 7-0 run keyed by Amari Bailey gave UCLA a 67-61 lead with 4:01 left.
A combination of Colorado being unable to recapture its offense and a late Tad Boyle ejection finished off an 80-69 loss.
Da Silva’s 17 points led Colorado, followed by Hammond’s 14.
The loss ended Colorado’s Pac-12 Tournament run, and it remains to be seen whether the Buffs will receive a postseason tournament invite. They’ll find out on Sunday afternoon, and even though the NCAA Tournament looks far out of reach, the NIT and College Basketball Invitational remain possibilities for the Buffs.
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