Buffs survive First Four, advance deeper into NCAA Tournament

The Colorado Buffaloes are past the First Four and into the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a grueling 60-53 win over the Boise State Broncos to secure a No. 10 seed and a date on Friday with the Florida Gators.

Despite tying a school record for wins in a single season at 24 and making the Pac-12 Championship game, the Buffs were one of the last four at-large schools selected into this year’s field. That meant a quick Wednesday affair to fight for their season. And boy was it a fight. The rock-throwing contest had seven lead changes and seven ties, with the Broncos jumping out to their biggest lead of four, with just four minutes to play. That’s when seniors KJ Simpson and Tristan Da Silva led the black and gold on a 17-6 run to close the game with a win.

“We finally played with unbelievable toughness,” Tad Boyle told the broadcast after the game. “I thought our defense was great all night. Our guys were locked in. We made enough plays down the stretch.”

To Boyle’s point, Simpson was having a down offensive night, led a swarming Buffs defense that held Boise State to 34%  shooting. But the Broncos stayed in it because they grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, out-glassing Colorado on the game by 10 in total. And Da Silva with the help of fellow senior Luke O’Brien kept Boise State’s leading scorer and Moutain West first-teamer Tyson Degenhart to just six points on three-of-ten shooting. Degenhart was in foul trouble early thanks to an aggressive Eddie Lampkin.

While Lampkin’s effort and decisions may have been bad at times throughout the game, he came away with the game’s biggest play, a last-ditch offensive rebound and tip putback attempt, as the shot clock hit zero on the Colorado offense to stretch the Buffaloes, lead to two possessions with 33 seconds left. At 54-49, it also ended up being the game’s clinching bucket.

Simpson’s effort was maybe most impressive as the Buffs leading scorer on the season still hit his average of 19 but it took 18 shots to get there. But Simpson was everywhere and snagged 11 of the Buffs 31 rebounds in the game, while adding four assists and two steals. It was Simpson who scored eight points of the Buffs 17, hitting a bunch of free throws in the pressure cooker. Before Simpson called knockout, it was Da Silva who buoyed Colorado’s offense, pouring in a game-high 20 on 11 shots.

The win means 25 on the season for Boyle’s crew, the new mark for most in a single season in school history. The Buffaloes now travel a few hours west from Dayton to Indianapolis where they’ll take on Florida at 2:30 on Friday.

“Haven’t even thought we looked at them,” Boyle said after the game “Talk to our assistants, you know, we got short prep, which is just the nature of the beasts. So we’ll get rest tomorrow. Get down to Indy and cram for the Gators”

Indy is the site of Colorado’s last advancement past the round of 64, happening with a win over Georgetown in 2021. The NCAA Tournament win on Wednesday was the Buffs third under Boyle in his 14 years leading CU. The program hasn’t made the Sweet 16 since 1969, well before the field has expanded to its familiar 64. Even without a win, Buffaloes hoops will be on its biggest stage maybe ever on Friday with the men and women playing NCAA Tournament games on the same day for the first time ever—JR Payne’s group plays Drake at 5 p.m.