Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU outrebounded Washington 49-31 and held the Huskies to a .385 mark from the floor.
Three stars:
CU’s KJ Simpson: Posted his first double-double of the season and second of his career with 21 points and a career-high-tying 10 rebounds. Simpson also had seven assists and three steals.
CU’s Eddie Lampkin Jr.: Finished with his third consecutive double-double and his fourth of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
UW’s Keion Brooks Jr.: Scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half and went 4-for-8 on 3-pointers.
Up next: CU completes the first homestand of the Pac-12 schedule against Washington State on Sunday (noon, Pac-12 Network).
When Colorado suddenly found itself without freshman standout Cody Williams ahead of one of the biggest nonconference games of the season earlier this month, the Buffaloes responded by toppling nationally-ranked Miami away from home.
When the Buffs suddenly were without senior leader Tristan da Silva for a key matchup in the Pac-12 Conference opener, they did the same. CU was able to answer a huge second-half charge by Washington with one of its own down the stretch, pulling away late for a 73-69 win at the CU Events Center on Friday night.
Da Silva suffered an injured ankle at practice on Thursday, and the Buffs also played without freshman reserve Bangot Dak, who has been battling an illness. CU also once again played without Williams, who missed his fourth consecutive game due to an injured left wrist, and reserve guard RJ Smith, who missed his fifth straight game due to a lower leg issue.
Boyle said afterward that Smith is done for the season.
“We for sure missed those guys out there, but it’s just next-man up at that point,” said CU point guard KJ Simpson. “Our team, with our depth, everybody is capable of going out there, and we trust everybody on the floor. It just goes to show how much this team really wants to win.”
The personnel issues forced all five of CU’s starters to play at least 29 minutes, with Simpson falling just 49 seconds short of playing the entire game.
The Buffs shot .441, the low mark in eight home games this season, and finished with more turnovers (15) than assists (14) for just the third time this year (the first time at home). Yet the shorthanded Buffs were able to lean heavily on the Tad Boyle-era program pillars of defense and rebounding to prevail.
CU held Washington to a .385 mark, including .281 in the first half, and outrebounded the Huskies 49-31. UW’s top two scorers, Keion Brooks Jr. and Sahvir Wheeler, finished with 20 and 17 points, respectively, but they went a combined 14-for-38 from the floor.
“I knew we had enough talent in our lineup, in that locker room, to win this game,” Boyle said. “But I also knew our margin for error with Tristan going out, and already being shorthanded with not having RJ and not having Cody, you keep losing quality players out of your lineup and your margin for error goes down significantly. I think you saw that tonight.
“The good news is, we didn’t play our best and we found a way to win this game. That’s what good teams do. That’s what high-character teams do. That’s what teams with toughness do. And we beat a quality team, a talented team, in Washington.”
CU used an 8-0 run in the first half to help build a 32-26 lead at halftime, but UW surged ahead with a 15-2 run that gave the Huskies a 63-56 lead with just under six minutes remaining.
The Buffs, however, dominated those final six minutes, answering with a 13-2 run before outscoring the Huskies 17-6 the rest of the way. CU recorded stops on nine of UW’s final 12 possessions.
Wheeler hit two free throws with 42.6 seconds left to keep the Huskies within two points, but Simpson answered with two free throws with 16.6 seconds left to push the lead back to four points.
Simpson turned in a superb all-around game to lead the Buffs, approaching triple-double territory with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Eddie Lampkin Jr. recorded his third consecutive double-double and his fourth of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Julian Hammond III, J’Vonne Hadley and Luke O’Brien all finished with 11 points for the Buffs.
“Really proud of our guys and how they handled the adversity,” Boyle said. “Not only from the end of practice (Thursday) until the game, but also during the game when we certainly didn’t play our best.”
CU Buffs men’s basketball 73, Washington 69
WASHINGTON (8-3, 0-1)
Brooks 7-17 2-3 20, Wood 4-13 2-3 14, Meah 3-4 1-1 7, Mulcahy 2-4 2-2 6, Wheeler 7-21 3-4 17, Breidenbach 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 2-5 0-0 5, Holland 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 10-13 69.
COLORADO (10-2, 1-0)
Lampkin 5-11 7-12 17, Hadley 5-13 0-0 11, Hammond 4-8 0-0 11, O’Brien 5-10 0-0 11, Simpson 6-14 8-12 21, Carrington 1-2 0-0 2, Diop 0-0 0-0 0, Ruffin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 15-24 73.
Halftime — Colorado 32-26. 3-point field goals — Washington 9-27 (Brooks 4-8, Wood 4-11, Johnson 1-2, Holland 0-1, Mulcahy 0-2, Wheeler 0-3), Colorado 6-15 (Hammond 3-6, O’Brien 1-2, Hadley 1-3, Simpson 1-3, Ruffin 0-1). Rebounds — Washington 31 (Brooks 8), Colorado 49 (Lampkin 12). Assists — Washington 14 (Wheeler 7), Colorado 14 (Simpson 7). Turnovers — Washington 9 (Wheeler 2, Mulcahy 2, Breidenbach 2); Colorado 15 (Lampkin 5). Total fouls — Washington 21, Colorado 16. Fouled out — Meah. A — 7,799.