UCLA’s experience, resolve prove too much for beat-up Buffs
BOULDER – The young Colorado Buffaloes (15-15, 7-12 Pac-12) showed signs of life that were missing from the team’s performance against USC on Thursday night, but eventually came up short against No. 4 UCLA (25-4, 15-2 Pac-12), losing 60-56 in a back-and-forth battle.
The Buffs came out on Sunday afternoon with a different energy, a different intensity, than they did in Thursday night’s home drubbing at the hands of the Trojans, and it showed right from the opening tip. With the fourth-ranked Bruins in the house, the Buffs came out ready to prove they belonged.
“Losing is losing. The feeling is the same in your stomach, and just your disgust and frustration and anger, whatever you want to call it,” said CU head coach Tad Boyle postgame. “But there’s a different feeling today after the loss than after Thursday night’s loss… We competed tonight.”
In the first five minutes of Sunday’s contest, the Buffs quickly jumped out to an 11-2 lead in front of a raucous CU Events Center crowd, making life difficult for the talented Bruins offensively and capitalizing in transition.
The Buffs maintained that lead over the next few minutes with opportunistic offense, relentless pressure on the offensive boards, and suffocating defense, before the first half turned upside down. At the 8:45 mark of the first half, Lawson Lovering, the only Buffs big man that plays rotation minutes and the anchor of their defense, picked up his second foul trying to collect a rebound, and was forced to sit the remainder of the half.
“Losing Lawson to that second foul was painful,” said Boyle. “It was too physical of a game, I thought, to risk (him getting a third). I kicked myself the other night for not playing Tristan (da Silva) against USC in the first half with two, but I don’t question the decision I made with Lawson tonight.”
With Lovering off the floor and the Buffs forced to go to a smaller lineup, the UCLA offense was finally able to breathe, and they took advantage. Without any shot-blocking presence in the paint, the Bruins were able to attack the rim for some easy baskets, before star forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. got going.
The UCLA veteran scored an efficient 10 points on 5/7 shooting in the opening half, eight of them coming after Lovering’s second foul. The Buffs had plenty of opportunities to hold a solid lead heading into halftime, but instead led by only two after UCLA guard Jaylen Clark finished off a lob to beat the buzzer.
To start of the second half, the Bruins showed their resolve and championship experience, silencing the gold-laden crowd with seven quick points. Senior floor general Tyger Campbell knocked down a tough floater in the lane, and followed it up with a pull-up three in transition to give UCLA their biggest lead of the game at that point.
To the Buffs’ credit, they continued to battle, withstanding every punch and every run that the steely Bruins threw at them. Getting contributions from every Buff on the floor, they continued to weather the storm whenever the occasion called for it.
The hill for the Buffs to climb got even steeper with just over five minutes to play when junior forward Tristan da Silva came down awkwardly going for a rebound, and exited the game with an ankle injury. He did not return.
“I don’t have a feel for how severe it is,” Boyle said. “It is his ankle, it’s not his foot, which I’m really thankful for because the way he was holding his foot I was afraid it was a fifth metatarsal thing.”
Despite losing one of their stars, the Buffs didn’t fold, but continued to battle. Back-to-back threes from Luke O’Brien and Nique Clifford immediately following da Silva’s exit gave CU an 52-50 lead heading into the under-four media timeout.
In those final minutes, however, the Bruins showed how they’ve escaped sticky situations just like this one time and time again over the last few years. They locked in on defense, deliberately and stubbornly probed for good looks on offense, and Campbell and Jaquez Jr. made the necessary plays to put Mick Cronin’s group over the top.
“Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez are all-conference players in this league,” Boyle said. “They’ve shown it year after year, game after game, and they made every play down the stretch that UCLA needed them to make, and they made a few more than we did. That was the difference in the game… I’ll tell you what, I’m gonna have a drink when I find out both those guys are gone from UCLA because I’ve got unbelievable respect for both of them.”
After a stepback jumper by Campbell put the Bruins in front, freshman forward Adem Bona stepped over from the weak side to deny a KJ Simpson layup attempt that would have tied the game. Campbell collected the loose ball and calmly relayed it to freshman phenom Amari Bailey for a dunk that salted the UCLA victory away.
The loss marks yet another missed opportunity for the Buffs against UCLA, after blowing a second half lead last month in Los Angeles. It’s also CU’s third straight loss and fourth in their last five games.
Simpson led the Buffs with 14 points, but struggled from the floor all night. Da Silva added 13 points before leaving with the injury, and O’Brien recorded his first career double-double, putting up 13 points and 10 rebounds.
CU struggled from the free throw line yet again on Sunday, shooting 13/23 and leaving far too many points on the board to beat an elite team.
On the UCLA side, Jaquez Jr. poured in 17 points and Campbell added 14 with six rebounds. The Bruins made just one three-pointer, but stuck to their identity, attacking the paint and taking care of the basketball to grind out the win.
CU has an extended break following the loss, which will be much needed after da Silva’s name was added to the already lengthy injury report. Jalen Gabbidon, Javon Ruffin, and J’Vonne Hadley all missed Sunday’s game.
The Buffs have just one regular season game left before heading to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament in a few weeks. They will celebrate senior day next Saturday, when Utah comes to town. Tip-off will be at 3:30 p.m.
