Senior guard J’Vonne Hadley goes up to dunk the ball during the game against Stanford University at the CU Events Center on Sunday, March 3, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
The University of Colorado Boulder men’s basketball team lost in the Pac-12 Conference Championship game 68-75 to the Oregon Ducks on March 16. The Buffaloes beat Utah and Washington State to advance to the final and were on an eight-game win streak heading into the game. Despite coming up just short of their first Pac-12 Championship since 2012, the team’s late-season success propelled them to a No. 10 seed in the March Madness tournament. Though they are in the field of 68 teams, they will play Boise State in a play-in game on Wednesday for a chance at the No. 7 seed Florida Gators.
“I’m proud of our guys. I’m proud of our team. I’m proud of what they’ve done over the last four, four and a half weeks, and we’re not going to let this one game define us, because what these guys have done over that period of time is nothing short of amazing, in my opinion,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said in a press conference after the championship loss. “So we’ve really come together. We’ve played well, well enough to win. Unfortunately tonight we didn’t. Oregon had a lot to do with that.”
The Buffaloes end the season with a 24-10 record, tied for the most wins in school history. They had a hot start with only two out-of-conference losses but hit a rough stretch in the middle of the season that saw three straight losses. With just a slim chance of making the March Madness tournament CU Boulder then went on to win their last six games of the regular season, propelling themselves to a No. 4 seed and a bye in the Pac-12 tournament.
Tristan da Silva (left) and Luke O’Brien (right) box out a player during the game against Stanford University at the CU Events Center on Sunday, March 3, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
For their first game of the conference tournament, they faced off against the Utah Utes, who they had a 1-1 record versus during the regular season. The contest stayed tight throughout the first half, but as the game progressed the Buffaloes found a groove and ended the game with a 72-58 win. K.J. Simpson led the team with 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, along with a 17-point and 12-rebound night for Eddie Lampkin Jr.
In the semifinals, the Buffaloes squared up against Washington State, who in a surprise season ended second in the conference standings. The game started slow with both teams struggling to shoot the ball, and as time went on it looked like it was going to be a battle of defenses. The Buffaloes found a small lead for the majority of the second half, and with only a few seconds remaining, Lampkin Jr. hit a big free throw to seal the 58-52 win. In the end, both teams shot a combined 42%, but the Buffaloes’ nine steals and 19 forced turnovers were the difference makers, propelling them to the Pac-12 Championship game. Simpson played every minute of the game and led the team with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Junior guard KJ Simpson reaches to grab a loose ball during the game against Stanford University at the CU Events Center on Sunday, March 3, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
“I think for both teams, the experience, a lot of tough possessions, shots weren’t falling that usually fall. But we as a team understood that we had to guard defensively,” Simpson said in a press conference after the six-point win. “No matter if our offense was clicking, as much as it has been the whole season, we just had to guard. And it came down to that late in the possessions, late in the game, and we did that. That’s why we were able to come out on top.”
In their second conference championship game since 2021, the Buffaloes squared off against the Oregon Ducks for the last iteration of Pac-12 men’s basketball. After another slow start, the Buffaloes went on a 12-0 run and held a 20-11 lead midway through the first half. The Ducks then made a comeback of their own to retake a three-point lead going into halftime. The game stayed extremely tight throughout the second half, but in the closing minutes, the Ducks were as efficient as possible. They scored a total of 42 second-half points to hold off CU 68-75 for the win. Oregon had a total of 46 points in the paint compared to only 18 for the Buffaloes, along with 23 points off turnovers compared to none for CU Boulder. But in the end, it was the Ducks’ N’Faly Dante who single-handedly led his team to win the conference championship, making all 12 of his shots for 25 points and nine rebounds.
Senior center Eddie Lampkin Jr. defends against Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud at the CU Events Center during the game on Sunday, March 3, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
“Obviously, a disappointed locker room, especially how far we’ve come and what we had to go through to — out of all the games to lose the championship, it stings. But we believe we’ve got more basketball left,” Simpson said. “Obviously, like I said, everyone’s disappointed, but we can’t dwell and we can’t sit and mope around about this one loss.”
It was a hard way to end the tournament for the Buffaloes after they had won their previous eight straight games, but they ran up against Dante and an Oregon team at the peak of their powers in Las Vegas. Though they fell just short, both Simpson and Tristan da Silva were named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament team. Over the three games, Simpson averaged 19 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists while da Silva averaged 12 points, three rebounds and two assists during the tournament. Though he struggled to stop Dante in the final, Lampkin averaged 11 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists and was a pivotal piece of the team’s first two wins.
“I feel like the last eight games we played the way that we thought we were supposed to play the whole season. Kind of seeing the work that we put in pay off. Making that run, finishing third in the Pac-12, kind of put us where we wanted to be,” da Silva said in a press conference after the loss. “And I have ultimate trust in each and every single one of the players, each of my teammates. And it’s a fun group to be around. It’s a fun group to play with. I’ll definitely miss them when all this is over. But once again, we’ve still got some basketball ahead of us.”
Senior forward Tristan da Silva hugs head coach Tad Boyle during the senior night celebration before the game against Stanford University at the CU Events Center on Sunday, March 3, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
The road is not over for the Buffaloes, as their eight wins in their last nine games helped propel them to a No. 10 seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Though a No. 10 seed, the Buffaloes were one of ‘the last four’ teams in the tournament and will face Boise State in an effort to make the official first round of March Madness. Similarly to the Buffaloes, Boise State finished third in the Mountain West conference with a 22-10 record, with big wins against St. Mary’s and Colorado State.
If the Buffaloes win they will face off against No. 7 seed Florida Gators, who also lost in their conference championship game. If they also win that game, they will most likely play the No. 2 seed Marquette who similarly lost in the Big East Championship to No. 1 seed UConn. It looks like the Buffaloes got matched up with many of the other runner-up teams from the conference tournaments, but it includes some of the biggest programs in the sport. Other teams in the same side of the bracket as the Buffaloes are Wisconsin, Kentucky, Duke and Houston, all of whom have the skill to make a deep run. Despite that, the Buffaloes’ late-season success earned them a spot in the tournament, and hopefully, they can make a deep run themselves.
Junior guard KJ Simpson reacts with his team after making a three-point shot during the game against Stanford University on Sunday, March 3, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
“It’s a new life, like being reborn. We put ourselves in a position where our fate is in someone else’s hands and that’s always a dicey situation,” Coach Boyle said publicly after the tournament selection show. “We came up short but now we have new life. That’s what March is all about, it’s March Madness. It’s just nice to be a part of it.”
The Buffaloes will match up against the Boise State Broncos in the ‘First-Four’ play-in game in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday, March 20, tipping off at 7:10 pm MST and live on TRUtv. If they win, the Buffaloes will face the Florida Gators on Friday, March 22 at 2:30 pm MST on TBS.
Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Eli Gregorski at elgr9735@colorado.edu
