Buffs eliminated from NIT
Colorado’s season came to an end Tuesday night after their 76-68 loss to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
The Buffs defense never found the key to stopping the Bonnies offense who went 29-55 from the field and 10-20 behind the three-point line. The game featured back and forth shooting that caused the score to tie seven times and change eight. The Buffs in the end were not able to keep up with the Bonnies, shooting 25-58 from the field, making only seven of the twenty-five attempted three-point shots.
“We weren’t locked in mentally ready to play tonight for whatever reason and that’s something I’ve got to look at myself,” head coach Tad Boyle said. “Maybe I didn’t do a very good job getting our team emotionally ready to play tonight. Maybe I just took it for granted. I didn’t take Saint Bonaventure for granted, I promise you that.”
The Bonnies starting five, a group composed entirely of seniors, jumped out early on the Buffs. They outscored Colorado 10-2 for the first four minutes of the game.
It would take a timeout, and five consecutive points from Keeshawn Barthelemy off the bench to get the Colorado offense going.
Barthelemy would go on to lead the team in points with 15 by the end of the game.
The Buffs would not take their first lead until nearly eight minutes in off a layup by Barthelemey that put them up one. The lead was short lived as the Bonnies responded with a layup of their own.
The lead consistently changed between the two teams until a floater by K.J. Simpson put the Buffs up five with less than two minutes to play in the first half. They would finish the half up three.
The second half was especially rough for the Buffs defense. The Bonnies, who were shooting 45 percent from the field in the first half, cranked it up to 55 percent from the field in the second. On top of that they shot 55 percent from behind the three-point line. St. Bonaventure outscored Colorado 40-29 in the second half.
Even after a 7-0 scoring run by the Buffs to open the second, they could not hang on to the lead. With only seven minutes passing, Colorado found itself again trading the lead with the Bonnies.
The game remained within two scores for the majority of the second half. Colorado tied it with less than three minutes left to play off a made free throw by Tristan da Silva.
Key misses by Battey and Jabari Walker, combined with a costly turnover caused the game to get out of reach of the Buffs in the closing minutes. The Bonnies outscored the Buffs 8-0 in the final two minutes of play.
St. Bonaventure’s bench saw only 14 minutes of playing time and only six points scored. Altitude was not a factor for the Bonnie’s starters.
With the loss and elimination, Battey has played in his final game as a Buffalo. He scored 14 points. Tristan da Silva was the only other Colorado player to hit double figures in the score chart with 13.
St. Bonaventure will go on to play the Oklahoma Sooners Mar. 19 in Norman, Oklahoma in the second round of the NIT.
Colorado will turn towards the offseason to get ready for the next season.
“We were a young team this year and I mean we didn’t try to use that as an excuse, but we competed and that’s how the season ended.” Barthelemy said. “We’re just gonna take that in the off season to get everybody better and see where it takes us next year.”
