Rivalry renewed: Colorado men's basketball dominates CSU Rams

Pat Rooney, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
·5 min read

Dec. 9—While going winless in the first two Pac-12 Conference games, the Colorado men's basketball team displayed several consistent shortcomings. One of them was the habit of falling flat immediately after halftime.

That certainly wasn't the case on Thursday night.

Squaring off against state rival Colorado State for the first time in three years, the Buffs finished the first half strong before burying the Rams immediately after halftime, paving the way for a decisive 93-65 victory at the CU Events Center.

The 130th meeting between the rivals featured an infusion of electricity when new CU football coach Deion Sanders entered the arena early in the second half. Shortly after Coach Prime vacated the facility, the Buffs put the finishing touches on the largest margin of victory against CSU since a 31-point win in Boulder on Feb. 6, 1945.

"We showed tonight how good this team can be," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "Our defensive intensity, our energy level tonight was really good from our first unit to our second unit."

The two Pac-12-opening losses, which included wasting a 15-point lead with 14 minutes remaining at home against Arizona State exactly one week earlier, featured a CU team that committed 38 turnovers in the two defeats. CU matched a season-low with just eight turnovers against the Rams.

CU also had shot just .257 on 3-pointers (9-for-35) in its previous two home games but went 10-for-26 against CSU with a 7-for-12 mark in the second half. KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva led the 3-point barrage, combining to go 8-for-14.

CU (5-5) used a 10-2 run to end the first half and take a 38-30 lead at the break. Unlike the previous two games, the Buffs kept their momentum rolling after halftime, beginning the second half with a 15-6 run to take a 17-point lead. CU kept adding on from there.

CSU (6-4) kept things close during the first half by starting 6-for-8 on 3-pointers. An active Buffs defense that forced 10 turnovers in the first half started taking away the good looks for the Rams in the second half, holding CSU to a .379 mark from the field over the final 20 minutes.

"We've been losing close games, and it's usually because of the run the other team goes on at the start of the second half," Simpson said. "At halftime, we were really focusing on let's play 40 complete minutes of basketball. We did for the first half, now let's finish it off and start strong. That was a big focal point at halftime."

Simpson knocked down a career-high five 3-pointers and paced the Buffs with 27 points. Da Silva added 15 points and Nique Clifford broke out of an early-season slump in a big way, going 6-for-9 with 13 points and four rebounds. CU went 21-for-33 in the second half and finished with an overall field goal percentage of .567, just a few fractions off the season-high mark of .576 set during a win against Texas A&M last month.

CU's complete dominance included sizeable advantages in points in the paint (54-24), points off turnovers (20-10), second chance points (18-8) and fast break points (21-12).

"The first thing on the board in our defensive game plan tonight was take away threes, and they had six in the first half. They're supposed to get six in the game," Boyle said. "They ended up with nine. We did a better job in the second half. We knew they have good 3-pointers throughout their lineup. Guarding the 3-point line against CSU was critical. We didn't do a good job of that in the first half. We did a better job in the second half."

Snapshot: CU Buffs vs. CSU Rams

Turning point: CU dominated CSU on either side of halftime, finishing the first half on a 10-2 run before firmly taking control with a 15-6 burst to start the second half.

Buff of the game: KJ Simpson. The sophomore point guard provided a huge spark, going 10-for-18 with a career-high five 3-pointers while finishing with 27 points, three rebounds and three assists.

What's next: The Buffs will tackle finals in the classroom before hosting North Alabama on Dec. 15 (6:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

Colorado 93, Colorado St. 65COLORADO ST. (6-4)

Moors 1-4 1-3 3, Lake 2-9 2-2 7, Rivera 2-6 2-3 8, Stevens 6-9 0-0 15, Tonje 3-9 0-0 7, Jackson 4-6 1-2 10, Palmer 1-3 0-0 3, Cartier 2-5 3-3 7, Hebb 0-0 1-2 1, Young 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-52 12-17 65.

COLORADO (5-5)

da Silva 6-11 0-1 15, Lovering 1-1 0-1 2, Clifford 6-9 0-0 13, Hadley 2-3 5-6 9, Simpson 10-18 2-3 27, Gabbidon 2-5 0-0 4, O'Brien 5-9 0-0 10, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Hammond 2-3 0-0 5, Wright 1-4 0-0 2, Mains 0-0 0-0 0, Ruffin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 38-67 7-11 93.

Halftime — Colorado 38-30. 3- point field goals — Colorado St. 9-21 (Stevens 3-4, Rivera 2-3, Jackson 1-2, Palmer 1-3, Lake 1-4, Tonje 1-4, Cartier 0-1), Colorado 10-26 (Simpson 5-8, da Silva 3-6, Hammond 1-1, Clifford 1-3, Gabbidon 0-1, Miller 0-1, O'Brien 0-3, Wright 0-3). Rebounds — Colorado St. 23 (Moors, Rivera 4), Colorado 42 (Hadley 9). Assists — Colorado St. 9 (Stevens 3), Colorado 16 (Hadley, Simpson, Hammond, Wright 3). Total Fouls — Colorado St. 14, Colorado 17. A — 10,033.