Colorado falls short to UCLA, eliminated from Pac-12 Tournament

Freshman guard Quincy Allen hugs Tristan da Silva after losing the 2023 PAC-12 game against UCLA on March 8, 2023 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)

Colorado’s Pac-12 Tournament run came to a close Thursday as they fell short of the UCLA Bruins, 80-69. In their third match-up of the season, the Bruins proved too much to handle for the Buffaloes.

With this loss, Colorado now waits until next week for an opportunity to play in the National Invitation Tournament as UCLA moves on to the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament where they will play the winner of Oregon-Washington State.

Colorado came out similar to their start against Washington. 3-pointers from Julian Hammond and Tristan da Silva put Colorado out to a 6-0 lead early, but the veteran presence of UCLA saw them go shot-for-shot all game. Colorado and UCLA would trade baskets in what became a very exciting first half.

The lead would flip-flop between the two teams and it seemed like whenever one team would gain some momentum, the other responded in suit. Head Coach Tad Boyle spoke about his team’s toughness and determination after the game.

Sophomore guard KJ Simpson exclaims in frustration after a referee calls a fowl during the 2023 PAC-12 game against UCLA at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. March 9, 2023. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)

“I was really proud of our guys’ fight and the way they scrapped, and I believe in this team a lot and I was really pleased with our effort,” said Boyle “Obviously not the result. Never pleased with this result, but it was a frustrating game obviously on a lot of fronts, but our guys fought and that’s all you can ask as a coach”

Colorado entered halftime with just a one-point lead, 38-37. It was a full-team affair in terms of offensive production for Colorado with seven players all ending the half with points. It was the Amari Bailey show for UCLA as he finished the half leading his team with 12, followed by Tyger Campbell with seven. The game had all the makings of being a dogfight until the end.

The second half began much like the first with each team going shot-for-shot, but it would be Bailey who would take over and dominate the second half. Bailey would finish the game with 26 points on 8-12 shooting while going 2-3 from deep. Veterans Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Campbell had dominant games as well, finishing with 16 and 18 points. UCLA would take control of the game with around 10 minutes left in the game. A small run by Colorado saw them get within one with seven minutes left but that would be the closest they would get.

Head coach Tad Boyle reacts to a call from the referee during the second half at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. March 8, 2023. (Kara Wagenknecht/CU Independent)

With just under a minute left in the game, Boyle’s frustrations came to a tipping point. Red hot, Boyle received a double-technical foul and was thrown out of the game. A major point of contention all game had been the free-throw discrepancy between the Buffs and the Bruins. After the game, Boyle addressed his heat-of-the-moment display and set the record straight.

“To me, the difference in the game was our inability to get to the free-throw line,” said Boyle. “Our inability to get to the free-throw line was the difference in the game and our turnovers. They are very active with their hands, and they got their hands on a lot of balls and we had 15 turnovers. They had nine. Take away the four points they got on me, it
was a seven-point game. Our guys, again, they scratched and they fought and they clawed, but we couldn’t get to the
free-throw line.”

In all three match-ups this season against UCLA, Colorado has has the Bruins on the ropes. Yet, they just could not seem to get over the hump. All the credit goes to UCLA, who are not only the number one seed in the tournament but the number two-ranked team in the nation and they certainly looked like it today.

Despite a tough way to potentially end their season, the future is bright for Colorado basketball. With a solid core of players, all of whom can return next year, and a recruiting class that features the number-one ranked player in the nation, it is going to be a fun time to be a Colorado basketball fan. More importantly, the culture that is being built around this program is contagious. Hammond spoke after the game about the culture in the program.

“We come in every day, we work hard, but I think a big part of it is that a lot of our players like each other,” said Hammond. “We do stuff off the court all the time together. We’re a very close team. So even when we’re going through these slumps and losing games and having a hard time on the court, that won’t affect how close we are or cause conflict off the court or anything like that. I think that’s special.”

While Colorado’s tournament run has concluded, there is still plenty of great basketball to play. For now, Colorado will have to wait and see if their postseason will continue.