Colorado tops Boise St. to advance for March Madness Friday game vs. Gators
DAYTON, Ohio — On to Indianapolis.
It wasn’t pretty, but the phrase “survive and advance” literally was invented for these moments, and that’s exactly what the Colorado men’s basketball team did on Wednesday night.
In a rugged and hard-fought affair, the Buffaloes made the plays down the stretch, posting a 60-53 victory against Boise State in an NCAA tournament “First Four” showdown at Dayton Arena.
CU posted its program-record 25th win of the season and will face seventh-seeded Florida in a first-round battle on Friday in Indianapolis.
Boise State led 49-45 late when KJ Simpson, shaking off a sub-par shooting night, found Tristan da Silva for a 3-pointer. That started a 9-0 run for the Buffs, with Simpson accounting for six of those points. Simpson scored the go-ahead points on a pair of free throws that gave CU a 50-49 lead with 3:42 left. Simpson then added a pullup flip in the lane before Eddie Lampkin gave CU a 54-49 lead with a follow-up bucket.
While CU’s offense managed to come alive late, the Buffs’ defense was active and intense all night, holding Boise scoreless for more than four minutes during the late surge.
Simpson finished just 6-for-18, but he posted a double-double with 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Simpson went 6-for-6 at the free throw line, hitting all of them in the final 4 minutes. Da Silva was one of the exceptions to the offensive struggles as he went 7-for-11 overall and 3-for-6 from long range, finishing with a game-high 20 points.
CU held Boise to a .343 mark and finished 14-for-15 at the free throw line.
COLORADO (25-10)
da Silva 7-11 3-3 20, Lampkin 6-8 1-1 13, Hadley 0-3 2-2 2, O’Brien 2-3 1-1 5, Simpson 6-18 6-6 19, Williams 0-4 0-0 0, Ruffin 0-1 1-2 1, Dak 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 14-15 60.
BOISE ST. (22-11)
Degenhart 3-10 0-0 6, Stanley 1-9 2-2 4, Agbo 8-14 0-0 17, R.Anderson 6-15 1-2 14, M.Rice 1-9 0-0 2, C.Martin 4-8 2-2 10, Meadow 0-0 0-0 0, Young 0-2 0-0 0, Whiting 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-67 5-6 53.
Halftime — Colorado 26-24. 3-Point Goals — Colorado 4-15 (da Silva 3-6, Simpson 1-5, Hadley 0-1, O’Brien 0-1, Ruffin 0-1, Williams 0-1), Boise St. 2-18 (R.Anderson 1-3, Agbo 1-6, C.Martin 0-1, Stanley 0-1, Degenhart 0-2, M.Rice 0-5). Rebounds — Colorado 31 (Simpson 11), Boise St. 41 (Stanley 11). Assists — Colorado 12 (Simpson 4), Boise St. 4 (M.Rice 2). Total Fouls — Colorado 13, Boise St. 17.