Colorado's second-half rally not enough to catch No. 2 seed Marquette
Once again Sunday, Colorado showed that its NCAA tournament seeding belied its potential, as the No. 10-seeded Buffs pushed No. 2 Marquette into the final minute of their second-round matchup.
But missed shots down the stretch from the Buffs and some clutch free throws on the other end made the difference as Marquette closed out an 81-77 win to end Colorado's season.
"I thought we had our chances at the end," head coach Tad Boyle said. "Had some good looks, didn't go in. It's disappointing. But I've got a lot of respect for Marquette. They're a hell of a team, hell of a program. But I love this team, I love these guys. I love those guys in that locker room. They've got nothing to hang their heads about. They competed their tails off, not just here in Indianapolis but in Dayton the other night, in the Pac-12 tournament, since basically the middle of February.
"Great year, 26 wins. Something to be proud of."
After a dominant first half from Marquette (27-9) in which it shot 67.9 percent from field, Colorado (26-11) eventually found its offensive footing in the second half to stay in the game. The Buffs came out of the gates on a 10-2 run to dissolve their 11-point halftime deficit and refused to go out without a fight.
It was reliable stars Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson who not surprisingly helped reignite Colorado's chance to advance to its first Sweet 16 berth under coach Tad Boyle. As Simpson (13 points) and da Silva (15 points) recorded a combined 28 points after halftime to help outscore Marquette 43-36 in the second half, this second round matchup came down to the wire.
"We just all had the mentality of I'm not giving up," Simpson said. "We've done that throughout the whole year. We've shown that throughout the whole year. That was just the mindset, that we can go out there and we can still come back and never give up and never give up on the effort."
What ultimately hurt the Buffs the most were two missed wide-open 3-point opportunities in the last few minutes from Simpson (with 3:15 remaining) and freshman Cody Williams (with 1:17 on the clock).
Williams was later sent to the stripe with 21 seconds left and missed the first free throw before making the second, leaving the Buffs down 79-77. Colorado needed to foul to have a chance to extend the game, but because it wasn't close to putting Marquette in the bonus yet, it took four fouls and a lot of time before the Golden Eagles' David Joplin finally went to the line with 7 seconds left.
Joplin made both foul shots to put the game out of reach.
After Marquette hit 6 of 13 3-pointers in the first half, Colorado clamped down and allowed the Golden Eagles to make just 3 of 8 in the second half, which was helped by sharpshooter Kam Jones (4 3s in the first half, none after halftime) losing minutes while playing with four fouls.
Tyler Kolek, however, was still Colorado’s kryptonite in the paint throughout the game as he led Marquette with 21 points overall (10 of 14 from the field) and 11 assists.
Even though the Buffs’ season comes to an unfortunate ending, their 2024 run in the tournament was one to remember with the defensive battle against Boise State in the First Four, Simpson’s game-winning jumper in a high-scoring duel with Florida and putting 2-seeded Marquette up against the ropes.
Colorado's 26 wins this season set a program record.
"Part of the pride that I have in this year's team, in winning 26 games, is overcoming the things that we had to overcome as a group," Boyle said. "Not just individually. The individuals who got injured and came back and had to rehab, but the guys that didn't, that were around for -- and had to pick up the slack for some of these guys when they were out. That's what a team does. That's why I love this team."
