Quick break
Why the Buffs misplaced: N’Faly Dante was why the Buffs misplaced, however committing 13 turnovers in opposition to simply three for Oregon loomed massive as properly.
Three stars:
1. Oregon’s N’Faly Dante: The Geese’ middle was unstoppable, ending 12-for-12 with 25 factors, 9 rebounds and three steals.
2. Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad: The regular freshman went 8-for-10 on the free throw line with 17 factors and 5 rebounds.
3. CU’s KJ Simpson: Ended a stellar late-season push by going 8-for-8 on free throws with 23 factors, six rebounds and 4 assists.
Up subsequent: CU seemingly has earned an NCAA Event berth however should anticipate Sunday’s choice present at 4 p.m. MT.
LAS VEGAS — The Colorado males’s basketball staff put collectively a clutch late-season run to seemingly play its approach into the NCAA Event.
The Buffaloes, nevertheless, couldn’t fairly end the job of their remaining look on the Pac-12 Convention match.
CU fell quick in its purpose of bookending its tenure within the Pac-12 with a second match championship, falling to Oregon 75-68 within the title recreation on Saturday evening at T-Cellular Area.
Oregon, which upset top-seeded Arizona in Friday’s semifinals, formally steals a bid for subsequent week’s NCAA Event, whereas the Buffs will anticipate Choice Sunday to study their postseason destiny.
The Buffs had no reply for Oregon massive man N’Faly Dante, who adopted his 10-for-10 taking pictures efficiency in opposition to CU final week in Eugene by going 12-for-12 with 25 factors and 9 rebounds. Dante was named the match’s Most Excellent Participant.
The defeat ended CU’s season-saving eight-game win streak.
“I assumed N’Faly Dante, he was the distinction within the recreation,” CU head coach Tad Boyle mentioned. “We had been attempting to double him tonight, and he scored out of double-teams. He performed extraordinarily properly. He modified pictures on the rim defensively. Oregon performed higher than us tonight. They deserved to win. We didn’t. We had our probabilities. We simply didn’t play properly sufficient.”
Even with Dante’s dominance, the Buffs performed properly sufficient defensively to win, as Oregon’s .459 mark included a 2-for-17 effort on 3-pointers and a .327 subject purpose proportion for each participant not named Dante. CU shot .426 and went a formidable 21-for-23 on the free throw line. But as has usually been the case this season when the Buffs have struggled, turnovers made the distinction.
The Buffs’ 13 turnovers wasn’t a gaudy complete by their requirements this season, but the ultimate turnover margin proved important. After forcing 19 turnovers Friday in opposition to Washington State, probably the most by any CU foe this season, the Buffs compelled simply three in opposition to the Geese.
Oregon appeared to make the most of each miscue, ending with a lopsided 21-0 edge in factors off turnovers.
“Turnover margin, we’re useless final within the Pac-12 when it comes to what number of occasions we flip it over versus our opponent,” Boyle mentioned. “And tonight, that value us the sport, as a result of we had 13 turnovers they usually had three. That’s 10 additional possessions that Oregon has that we don’t. And that’s the distinction in a detailed recreation like this. We’ve received no person responsible however ourselves. Credit score goes to Oregon.”
CU led 62-61 with 4 minutes, 51 seconds remaining after Luke O’Brien’s third 3-pointer of the evening, however the Buffs’ offense sputtered from there. Colorado dedicated its remaining two turnovers throughout a 10-2 Oregon run that gave the Geese the ultimate Pac-12 title. CU’s solely factors throughout that stretch got here on an inside bucket from Eddie Lampkin, which stored the Buffs inside 66-64 with 2:25 to play, however Dante answered with a dunk and a tip-in to push Oregon’s lead again to 6 going into the ultimate minute.
KJ Simpson led the Buffs with 23 factors, six rebounds and 4 assists, incomes a spot on the all-tournament staff alongside Tristan da Silva. It was a bittersweet Pac-12 finale for this system, with Boyle, da Silva and Simpson all battling tears through the postgame press convention. But inside 24 hours, the Buffs will study when, the place and in opposition to whom they are going to play once more.
“I really feel just like the final eight video games we performed the way in which we thought we had been presupposed to play all season,” da Silva mentioned. “Sort of seeing the work that we put in repay making that run. Ending third within the Pac-12 sort of put us the place we needed to be. I’ve final belief in each one of many gamers, every of my teammates. It is a enjoyable group to be round, it’s a enjoyable group to play with. I’ll positively miss them when all that is over. However we’ve nonetheless received some basketball forward of us.”
OREGON (23-11)
Evans 1-4 2-4 4, Dante 12-12 1-1 25, Couisnard 5-19 4-5 14, Shelstad 4-12 8-10 17, Tracey 3-6 1-2 8, Oquendo 1-5 1-2 3, Rigsby 2-3 0-0 4, Diawara 0-1 0-0 0, Reichle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 17-24 75.
COLORADO (24-10)
da Silva 3-10 2-2 9, Lampkin 3-5 1-2 7, Hadley 1-3 5-6 7, O’Brien 3-9 2-2 11, Simpson 6-12 8-8 23, Williams 3-6 3-3 9, Dak 1-2 0-0 2, Ruffin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 21-23 68.
Halftime — Oregon 33-30. 3-point subject targets — Oregon 2-17 (Tracey 1-2, Shelstad 1-4, Diawara 0-1, Rigsby 0-1, Evans 0-2, Oquendo 0-2, Couisnard 0-5), Colorado 7-22 (O’Brien 3-6, Simpson 3-8, da Silva 1-4, Dak 0-1, Hadley 0-1, Ruffin 0-1, Williams 0-1). Rebounds — Oregon 31 (Dante 9), Colorado 34 (Hadley 7). Assists — Oregon 14 (Couisnard 8), Colorado 16 (da Silva 5). Turnovers — Colorado 13, Oregon 3. Whole fouls — Oregon 16, Colorado 21. Attendance — 12,912.