Tag: Washington State Cougars

KJ Simpson credits defense following Colorado’s semifinal win over Washington State

KJ Simpson has a new chip on his shoulder

On Thursday night, the Colorado men’s basketball team held the Utah Utes to 58 points in the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals. Twenty-four hours later, the Buffs held the Washington State Cougars to 52 points, the fewest they’ve scored in a game all season.

Colorado didn’t put up too many points, either, only scoring 58. But it was enough to give the Buffs a spot in Saturday’s final Pac-12 championship game.

That total of 52 also matched the fewest points allowed by the Buffs all season, and the Cougars turned the ball over a season-high 19 times. Washington State’s leading scorer was Isaac Jones, who scored only 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting with CU’s Tristan da Silva providing the clamps.

WSU saw its backcourt of Myles Rice and Jaylen Wells combine for 21 points on 8-of-23 shooting from the field and seven turnovers, largely being hounded by Pac-12 All-Defensive honorable mention KJ Simpson. Andrej Jakimovski, the Cougars’ sharpshooter, only hit one shot on seven attempts.

“I’m just proud of myself on defense,” Simpson said after the game. “Coach talks about it, it doesn’t take just one person, it takes a whole team, not just me. But I feel a lot of guys are going out there guarding tough positions. J’Vonne Hadley is doing a great job guarding the other guy’s forward position. This whole team (does). But for me, personally, I think I just have a chip on my shoulder not being first team All-Defense and going out there and proving everybody wrong, and trying to be a leader on the defensive end for this team.”

The Buffs have highlighted their focus on defense all year, but haven’t been able to show up consistently. In their last three games, however, they haven’t allowed more than 60 points in a game. They’ve stepped up defensively amid a push for the NCAA Tournament, which they should now be a lock for.

The last time Colorado gave up 60 or more points was against the Oregon Ducks, who scored 75 points in their home loss to the Buffs 10 days ago. Now the No. 4 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament, the Ducks are the only foe standing in front of a third-seeded Buffs team riding an eight-game winning streak.

Saturday’s Pac-12 Tournament championship game between Colorado and Oregon will tip off at 7 p.m. MT on Fox.

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Boyle’s CU Buffs punch ticket to final Pac-12 Tournament championship game

Colorado will be playing in the Pac-12 championship game

Twelve years after winning their first and only Pac-12 men’s basketball title in 2012, the Colorado Buffaloes will play in the historic conference’s final championship game.

Head coach Tad Boyle’s third-seeded Buffs punched their ticket to the Pac-12 Tournament title game by beating second-seeded Washington State in the semifinals late Friday night, 58-52. Colorado, now riding an impressive eight-game winning streak, is set to battle No. 4 seed Oregon on Saturday (7 p.m. MT on Fox) for the Pac-12 title.

Against the Cougars, Colorado’s defense stepped up late, holding WSU to only two points in the game’s final three minutes. KJ Simpson led the Buffs with 12 points, Tristan da Silva had 13 and J’Vonne Hadley gutted out 12.

If the Buffs weren’t already an NCAA Tournament lock after beating Utah in the Pac-12 quarterfinals, they should be now. Although beating the Ducks and securing an automatic bid would be the preferred route.

Check out some of the best pictures from Colorado’s Pac-12 Tournament semifinal win over Washington State:

Late Washington State surge spoils Buffaloes’ senior day

Jaylyn Sherrod, Quay Miller, Charlotte Whittaker and others had their senior day spoiled by Washington State

Colorado women’s basketball’s late-season woes continued on Saturday as Washington State was too much for the Buffs to handle in a 72-63 senior day loss.

Two long scoring runs by the visiting Cougars ultimately ruined the day for the Buffs, who finish the regular season at 21-8 overall and 11-7 in the Pac-12.

Senior Maddie Nolan hit a 3 early in the third quarter to give CU a 10-point lead but from there, WSU went on a 21-8 run to quiet the CU Events Center. Entering the fourth quarter, CU led 50-47 following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Jaylyn Sherrod, who was also playing in her final regular season home game.

Both teams exchanged baskets throughout the fourth quarter, but an Aaronette Vonleh breakaway layup gave CU a five-point lead at 63-58 with 2:56 remaining in regulation. Unfortunately, that would be Colorado’s final basket as the Cougars closed the game on a 14-0 run.

Sherrod, Nolan, Charlotte Whittaker, Quay Miller, Tameiya Sadler and Sophie Gerber were all honored after the game for senior day.

Colorado will now head to the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas needing to make a deep run to secure a top-four seed in the subsequent NCAA Tournament. The Buffs will be the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament, meaning they’ll face the currently undecided No. 12 seed on Wednesday at 1 p.m. MT.

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Photo Gallery: Ducks’ bubble close to bursting after home split

Oregon had to settle for a split with the Washington schools this past weekend when a sweep was needed to keep its NCAA hopes alive.

There’s no two ways about it. The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team needed to sweep the Washington schools at home this past weekend just to keep the NCAA tournament bubble intact.

Phase I went Oregon’s way with an 85-80 win over the Huskies on Thursday as Jermaine Couisnard scored a career-high 27 points. It wasn’t pretty, however. The Ducks held a 20-point lead in the second half before doing their best to blow it. Fortunately, Oregon hit free throws down the stretch to hold off those pesky Dawgs.

But free throws would ultimately doom the Ducks on Saturday as Phase II of the weekend sweep fell short in a 62-56 loss to Washington State. Oregon missed six from the charity stripe, going 8-of-14. A six-point loss, six points left off the board. There’s the game.

Now not only do the Ducks (16-8, 8-5 Pac-12) need to rack up as many wins as possible down the stretch, but they need to make a serious run in the Pac-12 tournament in order to participate in March Madness and avoid playing in the NIT for the third straight season.

Hopefully, that magical run begins in six days as Oregon goes to Corvallis to play the Beavers.

Here are the best pictures from Oregon’s games with the Huskies and Cougars.

MBB Recap: Oregon can’t overcome Washington State in the final minutes

The Oregon Ducks lost 62-56 on Saturday afternoon to the Washington State Cougars.

The Oregon Ducks lost 62-56 to the Washington State Cougars on Saturday afternoon. It was not a game they could afford to lose at this point in the season, and now a road to the NCAA Tournament is unlikely outside of a Pac-12 Tournament run.

The Ducks trailed for most of the game, but it was rarely by a large margin. Every time the Cougars went on a run, Oregon would respond with a run of their own. Down the stretch, however, the Ducks couldn’t get shots to fall, which allowed the Cougars to secure the win.

The dagger came with around 30 seconds to play. After a Jermaine Couisnard three-pointer, the Cougars drew a foul and went to the free throw line up 58-56. After Jaylen Wells of Washington State made his first shot and missed his second shot, the Ducks were unable to secure the rebound, Washington State grabbed the ball and drew another foul. This time, Myles Rice made both shots to seal the game.

An NCAA tournament bid hinges on a must-win game vs. Washington State for the Ducks

The Oregon Ducks are on the NCAA Tournament bubble midway through February, with a big opportunity vs. Washington State coming up.

This is unfortunately a position that fans of the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team have become familiar with over the past few years.

It’s nearing the middle of February, and Dana Altman’s squad is currently fighting hard to secure a bid into the upcoming NCAA March Madness Tournament. The Ducks are currently 16-7 on the year with an 8-4 record in the Pac-12. Despite being tied for second place in the conference, Oregon is still on the outside looking in when it comes to the tournament bubble.

However, they’ve got a great chance to pick up a massive win this coming weekend with Washington State coming to town. The Cougars are currently tied with the Ducks for 2nd in the Pac-12 with wins in seven of their last eight games. The NET rankings currently have Washington State just inside the bubble, but this game between the Cougars and Ducks on Saturday could be meaningful for whoever wins, according to ESPN.

Four losses in its previous six conference games made Oregon a tough call for inclusion when Bubble Watch made its 2024 debut. Ultimately what made the difference was that the Ducks have a feasible, if narrow, path from where they are now (outside the field) to a bid. An excellent start would be a win against Washington State in UO’s next game. Dana Altman’s group already defeated the Cougars in Pullman. Securing the season sweep over WSU would improve Oregon’s profile ahead of an upcoming three-game road swing.

The Ducks have been dealing with some injuries and absences over the last few games, losing Keeshawn Barthelemy and Mookie Cook for the season while Nate Bittle has missed three games with an illness. There’s a hope that Bittle can return for Saturday, though, which would be big for Oregon’s chances.

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Led by Frida Formann’s huge night, Colorado women’s basketball outlasts Washington State

Frida Formann and Aaronette Vonleh were offensive saviors in CU’s road win at Washington State

The No. 6 Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team won another low-scoring contest on Friday night, defeating Washington State at Beasley Coliseum, 63-57. The win moved CU to 18-3 overall and 8-2 in Pac-12 play for the year.

Most of CU’s offensive output came from two players: Frida Formann and Aaronette Vonleh. Formann tied a career-high with 27 points while going 6-for-9 from the 3-point line. Vonleh complimented Formann’s outside shooting by outworking the Cougars in the paint, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds. The rest of the Buffs went a combined 8-for-33 from the field.

Besides those two, Colorado’s offense was again stuck in neutral as the Buffaloes scored 63 or fewer points for the fourth straight game. However, they’ve still managed to win three of those games.

On the boards, Quay Miller set a new season-high with 15 rebounds.

Washington State also looked out of sync for most of the night with the Cougars playing their first full game without star guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who suffered a season-ending injury last weekend. All 57 of WSU’s points came from its five starters.

CU will finish its season-long four-game road trip on Sunday against the Washington Huskies. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.

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Colorado women’s basketball eyeing eighth Pac-12 win at Washington State

JR Payne’s Buffs are looking to down the defending Pac-12 tournament champs

Especially on the road, there aren’t any easy games in the Pac-12 this year. The conference currently owns six ranked teams in the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll, including Colorado at No. 6.

Despite upsetting new-No. 8 UCLA on Sunday, Washington State (15-6, 4-4 Pac-12) remains unranked, but the Cougars did receive two votes in Monday’s coaches poll. Colorado (17-3, 7-2), which lost to Washington State in last year’s Pac-12 semifinals, will be in Pullman on Friday looking to win its first game of February.

Star center Bella Murekatete and guard Charlisse Leger-Walker have each contributed big for a WSU team that has won four of its last five games. However, Leger-Walker will miss the rest of the season after suffering an ACL injury in Washington State’s win over UCLA.

Although the Cougars aren’t garnering as much attention as the Pac-12’s premiere teams, let’s not forget they’re the defending conference tournament champions.

After splitting last weekend’s road trip to the Pac-12’s Oregon schools, the Buffs sit second in the conference standings. Leading the way for Colorado is veteran point guard Jaylyn Sherrod, who was named to the John R. Wooden Award late-season watch list earlier this week.

 

Friday’s tipoff between Colorado and WSU is set for 8 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.

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PHOTOS: Colorado’s final Pac-12 trip to Washington State’s Beasley Coliseum

Check out some of the best photos from Colorado’s trip to Beasley Coliseum

In Colorado men’s basketball’s final Pac-12 trip to Beasley Coliseum, the Big 12-bound Buffaloes fell to Washington State, 78-69.

Colorado trailed for 37 minutes on Saturday and received little offensive production outside of KJ Simpson. While the Buffs made things interesting late in the second half, Myles Rice and Isaac Jones stepped up for the Cougars when needed.

Simpson led the Buffs with 25 points and Tristan da Silva had 16, but Colorado shot only 38.6% from the field. Washington State, meanwhile, made just over 45% of its shots.

Look back at some of the best pictures from Colorado’s final Pac-12 visit to Pullman:

Washington State snaps Colorado’s four-game winning streak

Colorado’s late rally fell short at Washington State

KJ Simpson was once again spectacular, but too many other Buffs went cold on Saturday in Colorado men’s basketball’s 78-69 loss at Washington State.

Not including Simpson, who scored a team-high 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting, the Buffs went 11-for-46 (24%) from the field. J’Vonne Hadley and Cody Williams combined for only one made field goal and Luke O’Brien was held scoreless for the second time this season.

Defensively, Colorado allowed WSU guards Jaylen Wells and Myles Rice to score 17 points each.

While the Buffs shot well from deep (7-for-17), this game was decided in the paint. Colorado was outrebounded 40-35 and allowed the Cougars to score 16 second-chance points. Even more, the Buffs missed 11 layups.

Following a strong offensive performance at Washington on Wednesday, head coach Tad Boyle’s Buffs (15-6, 6-4 Pac-12) entered Saturday on a four-game winning streak. They’ll now look to begin a new streak next Saturday at Utah.

As for the Cougars, they improved to 15-6 overall and 6-4 in the Pac-12.

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