CORVALLIS, Ore. — Colorado put all five starters in double figures Saturday and the Buffaloes’ men’s basketball team collected its program-record 22nd regular season victory, a 73-57 win over Oregon State at Gill Coliseum.
Tad Boyle‘s Buffs won their sixth straight to improve to 22-9 overall and wrap up their Pac-12 season at 13-7. OSU fell to 13-18, 5-15.
The win also marked CU’s first six-game winning streak to end a regular season since the 1954-55 season and the first six-game conference winning streak since 1996-97.
Eddie Lampkin led Colorado with 17 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. KJ Simpson added 15 points and seven assists, J’Vonne Hadley tallied 15 points and seven rebounds, Tristan da Silva scored 12 and Luke O’Brien chipped in 10.
Dexter Akanno led the Beavers with 15 points.
The Buffs took command early and never let up, using an early 7-0 run to grab a lead they never relinquished. CU held a 14-point edge at the break, 41-27, and extended the margin to as much as 22 in the second half as the Beavers never managed to cut the deficit to single digits again.
The Buffs were once again without the services of Cody Williams (ankle) and Julian Hammond III (knee) but they had more than enough weapons to take care of the Beavers.
Colorado shot 47.5% from the floor (29-for-61) while holding the Beavers to 37.5% shooting (21-for-56). CU also held a commanding 43-29 edge on the boards, including 15 offensive rebounds that produced 21 second-chance points.
Colorado is now 90-6 in the Boyle era when it hits the “gold standard” of holding an opponent to 40 percent shooting or less and also having at least a plus-8 rebound margin.
“Just a great win,” Boyle said. “I’m so proud of this team for what they’ve overcome this year. To win 22 games, which is more regular season games than any team in Colorado history, says a lot about this group and all we’ve had to overcome to do it. This team just has a toughness, a competitiveness about them and they’re coming together at the right time.”
The Buffs will now turn their attention to next week’s Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. They open play Thursday at T-Mobile Arena as the third seed in a 9:30 p.m. (MT) game against the winner of the No. 6 and No. 11 seeds.
“Hopefully we’re playing three games in three days and competing for a championship on Saturday night in Las Vegas,” Boyle said. “But we’ve got to take care of business on Thursday between now and then and get our bodies right, our minds, everything right. There’s no doubt in my mind, this team will be ready to go when we tip it off.”
HOW IT HAPPENED: After Oregon State scored first, the Buffs answered with a 7-0 run and Colorado never trailed again.
The Beavers did manage to keep it close for the first eight minutes, cutting CU’s lead to 14-10 before the Buffs answered with an 11-2 run to take firm control. O’Brien hit a pair of buckets, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and a da Silva dunk gave the Buffs a 25-12 lead with 8:22 to play in the half.
That was enough to spark an Oregon State timeout and the Beavers came out of the break to cut Colorado’s cushion in half with an 11-4 run.
But the Buffs slowly rebuilt their edge. Simpson drained a long 3-pointer, then hit O’Brien in the corner for another trey to build Colorado’s lead back to 12.
Hadley then connected on a pair of free throws with :01 on the clock to send the Buffs into the halftime break with a 14-point edge, 41-27.
The Buffs shot 17-for-36 in the opening half with nine assists.
“We were really sharing the ball,” Boyle said. “Great offense. That’s all you can ask for as a coach and guys are playing unselfishly.”
Colorado then steadily built its lead in the second half. The Buffs used an 11-0 run to take a 52-30 lead, getting a 3-pointer from Simpson and a da Silva steal and dunk to push Colorado’s lead to 22 less than three minutes into the half.
Oregon State then made a brief run, slicing Colorado’s lead to 15 with a quick 7-0 run. But the Buffs answered with a J’Vonne Hadley 3-pointer off a Simpson offensive rebound, an Eddie Lampkin Jr. basket inside and another Hadley bucket to push CU’s lead back to 20, 61-41, with 11:21 to play.
Lampkin had an excellent game on both ends of the floor.
“Eddie was dialed in tonight,” Boyle said. “When Eddie’s dialed in mentally like that, he is so good.”
Colorado then held the Beavers at bay down the stretch as they never came closer than 12 over the final minutes.
Now the Buffs hope they can get Williams and Hammond back in time for the conference tournament and be at full strength — something that has been a rarity this year.
“It sure will be nice if we can get Cody and Julian back,” Boyle said. “I don’t know if we will or won’t, but if we don’t, we’re moving this train forward and we’ll be okay. But for us to be at our best, those guys coming back would be helpful.”
DECISIVE MOMENT: After the Beavers pulled to within four midway through the first half, the Buffs used an 11-2 run to push their lead to double digits. OSU never came closer than six again in the first half and never cut the lead to single digits in the second half.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs enter the Pac-12 tournament with plenty of momentum and confidence and they also added to their NCAA Tournament resumé with another road victory.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado shot 47.5% from the floor (29-for-61) while holding the Beavers to 37.5% shooting (21-for-56) … CU also held a commanding 43-29 edge on the boards, including 15 offensive rebounds that produced 21 second-chance points … Colorado is now 90-6 in the Boyle era when the Buffs hit the “gold standard” of holding an opponent to 40 percent shooting or less and also having at least a plus-8 rebound margin.
NEXT UP: The Buffs will be the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 tournament and begin play next Thursday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a 9:30 p.m. (MT) game against the winner of Wednesday’s game between the No. 6 and No. 11 seeds.
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Story by Neill Woelk, Contributing Editor for CUBuffs.com. Content courtesy of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
