Colorado claims pivotal road win against Oregon
In a back-and-forth battle in Eugene, Colorado claimed a pivotal Quad 1 win and sole possession of third place in the Pac-12 Thursday night with a 79-75 victory against Oregon.
Harping on the road woes this season (3-7 away from CU Events Center) was not an option for the Buffs (12-7, 21-9 Pac-12) as their climb toward Selection Sunday continues. The Ducks are also in a similar situation and were tied with the Buffs at 11-7 in Pac-12 games heading into the matchup resulting in a gritty battle in the Pacific Northwest that came down to the wire.
Close calls in the final minute swayed the game in the Buffs' favor after an Oregon possession arrow was overturned following a block by N’faly Dante and when KJ Simpson didn’t pick up a shooting foul after a disputed Oregon shot attempt.
It was these key moments that allowed the Buffs to create separation by a possession late with a J’Vonne Hadley second-chance layup.
Every bucket had to be earned Thursday evening, but high-scoring performances from Hadley (20 points), Tristan da Silva (22 points) and Simpson (17 points) helped keep the Buffs in contention.
Among the Buffs, Hadley was a key contributor on the Ducks’ floor as he recorded his third double-double this season with 12 rebounds in addition to his scoring. Also, Hadley had a career night from deep going 4 for 4 on 3-point attempts. Of the 20 points that Hadley scored, 18 of them came in the second half.
Throughout the game however, the 12 lead changes were keeping each squad working for all 40 minutes.
The closeness in the matchup was also demonstrated through the Ducks almost identical offensive production with Dante’s 20 points, Jackson Shelstad’s 23 points and Jermaine Couisnard’s 17 points on the evening.
The Buffs finished shooting 55% from the field (32-58) while the Ducks trailed right behind shooting 53% (32-60).
Colorado did capitalize by holding Oregon to 29% from 3-point range, but what certainly helped was limiting the Ducks' trips to the line in the second half. Couisnard was the only Oregon player to shoot a free throw in the second half.
The Buffs did not come out very clean in the first half racking up five turnovers within the first five minutes. Later in the first, the Buffs found their rhythm and took care of the ball to assist their cause in picking up a road win over the Ducks.
Colorado's resilience in the stretch to end the season has been one worth noting especially as the Buffs have been without Cody Williams (ankle) for the last three games and Julian Hammond (knee) for the last four games.
Colorado continues the road trip at Oregon State with a 3:00 p.m. MT tipoff Saturday, when it will have a chance to put a nice bow on the regular season with a potential sixth straight win. For now, the Buffs find themselves in good position for the conference tournament with a potential 3-seed and a first-round bye.