Colorado pulls away from Utah, reaches Pac-12 semis

Field Level Media|published: Fri 15th March, 01:53 2024

Mar 14, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Colorado Buffaloes center Eddie Lampkin Jr. (44) celebrates in the first half against the Utah Utes at T-Mobile Arena. credits: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

KJ Simpson stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists Thursday night as third-seeded Colorado advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Conference tournament with a 72-58 win over sixth-seeded Utah in Las Vegas.

Eddie Lampkin Jr. added 17 points and 12 boards for the Buffaloes (23-9), who won their seventh straight game and helped their chances to earn an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Tristan da Silva scored 14 points for Colorado, which earned a 38-26 advantage in points in the paint.

Branden Carlson and Hunter Erickson each scored 13 points for the Utes (19-14), who could be bound for the NIT after losing three of their last four games. Cole Bajema added 10 points but made only 3 of 13 shots.

Poor shooting hampered Utah all night as it connected on just 21 of 64 attempts from the field (32.8 percent). The Utes were even worse from 3-point range, going 8 of 30 (26.7 percent) for the game and 2 of 16 (12.5 percent) in the second half. The Utes also lost the battle of the boards 47-37.

The Buffaloes pulled away with an 8-0 run late in the second half, capped by a three-point play from J'Vonne Hadley with 3:48 left for an insurmountable 68-52 cushion.

The first half was played in two distinctly different parts. The first 9 1/2 minutes were all Colorado as it owned a double-figure lead before the second TV timeout and pushed it to 27-13 on da Silva's 3-pointer at the 10:32 mark.

Utah then mounted its first pushback. Beginning with an Erickson 3-pointer, the Utes rattled off 15 straight points in a span of 5:04, taking the lead with 5:08 remaining in the half when Ben Carlson fed Gabe Madsen for a layup.

The half's remainder was a collection of missed shots with Utah going scoreless for the final 2:47 after Branden Carlson dunked. The Buffaloes didn't do much better but were able to take a 33-30 edge to the break after Lampkin found da Silva for an inside hoop.

The teams were whistled for only six fouls in the half, just one on Colorado.

—Field Level Media

Latest